Category: Formal Education

July 3, 2019

I’ve hosted a number of sessions about social and emotional learning (SEL) over the past six months, and one question that’s repeatedly come up is whether SEL is ultimately an attempt to repackage traditional virtues in therapeutic, pedagogical garb so […]

June 20, 2019

The trend in teacher evaluation in recent years has focused on how educators improve students’ academic performance through test scores. But this method often doesn’t take into consideration that some teachers have more difficult students than others, or that not […]

June 18, 2019

STEAM education has become monumentally important in classrooms, and for good reason–the skills students learn in STEAM classes and programs can help prepare them for advanced education classes, training programs, and the workforce. A focus on STEAM education doesn’t mean […]

June 17, 2019

The Kids Count Data Book, an ongoing project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, has been a useful resource for educators and policymakers because it puts indicators of academic achievement in a broader context, covering topics of economic well-being, health, […]

June 12, 2019

Separated by distance and isolated in areas with fewer resources, rural schools typically don’t attract the attention of college recruiters. Traveling three hours to a school with a graduating class of 50 doesn’t make much sense. Not only do rural […]

April 5, 2019

More and more colleges are looking to expand their reach online as a way to stave off enrollment declines and tap into new markets. Indeed, enrollment has grown to about 3.1 million online-only students and 3.6 million students taking at […]

December 4, 2018

Putting aside the question of whether or not the data should be viewed as positive or negative, the bigger picture is that educators of color have been found to bring numerous benefits to students. According to a 2016 report from […]

July 23, 2018

Math tends to provoke strong emotional reactions in students, who usually either love it or hate it. However, research shows that these student attitudes toward math affect their performance. Fortunately, a recent survey indicates these attitudes may be improving, but […]

June 6, 2018

Homework is so engrained in our idea of school that it’s difficult to find an adult who doesn’t remember a teary night struggling with a school assignment. That’s a pattern administrators and district leaders can break. While teachers individually make […]

May 17, 2018

The dunce cap, a ruler on the knuckles, kneeling on rice: Modern teachers wouldn’t think of using these methods to correct students’ behavior. But for all the progress that schools have made in understanding and implementing effective discipline, teachers can […]