How does the mind work--and especially how does it learn? Teacher's instructional decisions are based on a mix of theories learned in teacher education, trial and error, craft knowledge, and gut instinct. Such knowledge often serves teachers well, but is there anything sturdier to rely on? Cognitive science is an interdisciplinary field of…

For educators, the content of the curriculum really is like oxygen: it is the necessary precondition for improving schools, closing the achievement gap, engaging parents, and preparing teachers. However, when educators take the content of the curriculum for granted, they lose opportunities to coordinate and collaborate. Good curriculum instruction…

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,…

As our nation strives to have all students that graduate from high school be prepared for college or some other post-secondary learning opportunities, we have to confront the reality that we are far from achieving this goal. The problem is most severe with the economically disadvantaged students. For many students, especially those from…

Developing a large and rich vocabulary is central to learning to read. Children must know the words that make up written texts in order to understand them, especially as the vocabulary demands of content-related materials increase in the upper grades. Studies have documented that the size of a person's vocabulary is strongly related to how…

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…

In New York City, as in many places across the country, there is much discussion about strengthening career and technical education (CTE). New York City's approach to Career and Technical Education (CTE) is held up as a model for getting this type of education right. A recent conference highlighted six schools that represented only a fraction…

In February 2011 author Robert Schwartz, along with with two colleagues--economist Ronald Ferguson and journalist William Symonds--released a report, "Pathways to Prosperity: Meeting the Challenge of Preparing Young Americans for the 21st Century," which was published by Harvard University's Graduate School of Education. When they…

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…

The author is a special education teacher in New York and a mother of two children on the autism spectrum. The author's intimate involvement in the education system has made navigating the world of special education for her children easier in some ways, but also infinitely more difficult and heartbreaking in others. Since the passage of No…

There are many different job titles for this position around the country: school librarian, library media specialist, information technology specialist, research technology specialist, and library media coordinator. The position has changed from primarily a traditional librarian position to a balance of teaching and librarianship, and it's…

Kahlenberg and Potter report on research that shows when teachers are engaged in school decisions and collaborate with administrators and each other, school climate improves. The authors add, this promotes a better learning environment for students, which raises student achievement, and a better working environment for teachers, which reduces…

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…