Category: study online

DeSantis’ Take on AP African American Studies Was Principled. The Media’s Response Was Not Now, the long answer. My experience is that the press has generally offered a stilted, inaccurate picture of what this debate is all about. As I’ve documented, media coverage related to “critical race theory” has tends to mischaracterize substantive concerns and…

 What Students Should Know About the Power of Practice Whereas repetition plus reward leads to automatic, effortless habits, repetition plus goals for improvement plus feedback generates a different benefit: ever-improving expertise. If you do your homework in the same place and at the same time, day after day, studying will become a habit. If you…

How AI and Other Tech Tools Might be Used to Strengthen Family-School Partnerships One of the many challenges highlighted by the pandemic has been the lack of communication between so many parents and educators, fueling frustration on both sides. Well, back in 2018, I chatted with Heejae Lim, the founder and CEO of TalkingPoints, about…

Schools Are Trying to Do Too Much Over the past year or two, there’s been a lot of talk about educational “unbundling.” I’m glad. After all, more than a decade ago, I helped import “unbundling” into K-12 when I penned the ASCD book Education Unbound, which delved deep into the idea; edited a special section…

‘A Nation at Risk’ Turns 40: Its Roots, Its Legacy Forty years ago this month, in April 1983, the National Commission on Excellence in Education, created by then-U.S. Secretary of Education Terrel H. Bell, issued “A Nation at Risk.” In a furious call to arms, the report declared, “If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted…

‘Celebrating Mistakes’ and Other Ways to Help English-Learners. ‘Sometimes Overlooked’Valentina Gonzalez is a former classroom teacher with over 20 years in education serving also as a district facilitator for English-learners, a professional-development specialist for ELs, and as an educational consultant. Her work can be found on Seidlitz Education and on MiddleWeb. You can reach   …

Forget Taking a Hard Line. Try ‘Soft Tactics’ to Spark Student Motivation Jeffrey D. Wilhelm is Distinguished Professor of Literacy Education at Boise State University. He currently is directing a Dispositions of Democracy project supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities A More Perfect Union grant. His latest book, Planning Powerful Instruction: 7 Must…

Student Engagement Can Be Elusive. Here’s How to Help Daniel Pink, in his bestselling book Drive, states the key to intrinsic motivation is autonomy, mastery, and purpose. I would argue that in education, the order matters. You can’t start with full autonomy (often called voice and choice) or you might end up with anarchy. The…

4 Ways States Are Trying to Fix How They Fund Schools Texas is grappling with whether schools should get funding based on how many students are enrolled or their average attendance. Connecticut lawmakers want more dollars to support high-need students in magnet programs and charter schools. The newly elected governor of Nebraska is proposing that…

A Charter Academy Delivering a ‘Classical’ Education Grows in Popularity Great Hearts Academy launched, in 2001, with 130 students. Today, it operates 33 classical K-12 schools serving more than 25,000 students in Arizona and Texas. At a time when there’s a lot of interest in classic liberal arts school models, and with Great Hearts seeking…