When teaching writing, this author states that there is nothing harder than trying to get a quality product, one worth reading, from a high school student. The author, however, has high hopes for the new Common Core standards, which call for students to "write routinely over extended time frames and shorter time frames for a range of tasks,…

In this article, author Jennifer Dubin offers a look into the innovations taking place in the Toledo Technology Academy (TTA), a career-tech school within the public school system in Toledo, Ohio. TTA teaches students in grades 7 through 12 using a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) curriculum, in addition to the traditional…

When this author was in high school in the 1960s, the curriculum was split into three tracks: an academic or college-preparatory track, a general education track, and a vocational track. Upon entrance, students were placed in one of them based on their previous academic records or a measure of ability, typically an IQ score. From the beginning of…

Over the last several years, government and philanthropic studies have been drawing attention to declining postsecondary attainment in the United States. With soaring college costs, many high school graduates are carefully weighing whether to attend college at all. High school students today face a pivotal decision: if they decide to enroll in…

Career and technical education is the part of American high school that provides the link between the needs of the labor market and the needs of young people to be fully prepared to move into the workforce or continue their career-focused education and training beyond high school. Concerns about how to strengthen the economy as well as complaints…

In this article, author Daisy Christodoulou, a former teacher in the United Kingdom, debunks the myth that teaching facts prevents understanding, and she explains why teaching content knowledge is part of the primary mission of education. Throughout this article, she tries to stress that she shares the aims of many of the people whose methods she…

The author discusses four specific strategies for enhancing and supporting the spatial aspects of the science, mathematics, and social studies curricula. However, these four strategies are examples of what can be done, not an exhaustive list. The overarching concept is to embrace the spatial visualizations used for discovery and communication in…

Cognitive science is an interdisciplinary field of researchers from psychology, neuroscience, linguistics, philosophy, computer science, and anthropology who seek to understand the mind. This paper considers findings from this field that are strong and clear enough to merit classroom application. Although many teachers and parents worry that high…

This author contends that contemporary issues classes no longer have currency, as standardized test results are the litmus test for education. In many schools, students are isolated from firsthand accounts and formal study of events that textbooks will one day proclaim as defining experiences of their generation. According to Doyle, schools tend…

Juveniles convicted of serious offenses usually end up in large correctional facilities that focus on punishment--not rehabilitation. The state of Missouri, however, has found a better way to help end the cycle of crime: by creating a network of small facilities that provide therapy and educational opportunities, it has dramatically reduced…

Although the level of controversy varies from one community to the next, biology teachers across the United States struggle to teach evolution. Some face pressure to teach both religious and scientific theories of human origins; others did not have adequate coursework on evolution during teacher preparation. As a result, many biology teachers are…

In the high school history textbooks children read, too often they find that labor's role in American history--and labor's important accomplishments, which changed American life--are misrepresented, downplayed, or ignored. That is a tragedy because labor played (and continues to play) a key role in the development of American democracy and the…

A longtime Latin teacher explains why studying the ancient Greek and Roman world and learning Latin help to achieve one of the central goals of public education: helping students think deeply about how they want to live their lives and what they hope to accomplish. After all, knowing oneself is the first step in achieving success in areas one…

Despite being known as the land of opportunity, the United States is far from equitable when it comes to the mathematics that students have the opportunity to learn. In this article, the authors explore the extent to which students in different schools and districts have an equal opportunity to learn mathematics. Specifically, they discuss…

Now more than ever, high-quality education for all is a public good that is essential for the good of the public. As the fate of individuals and nations is increasingly interdependent, the quest for access to an equitable, empowering education for all people has become a critical issue for the American nation as a whole. No society can thrive in a…