If you can believe the daily flood of mass media stories, journal articles, and white papers, the United States is facing a STEM worker crisis. Business leaders and politicians warn that the nation is falling hopelessly behind in the global economic race because our students are unprepared for and uninterested in science, technology, engineering,…

When most educators think of STEM education, they think of fully integrated projects seamlessly combining all four disciplines--science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Although such transdisciplinary STEM units are ideal, writes Vasquez, they are not the only way to give students valuable STEM experiences. She gives examples of two…

For the 12 years that Michael Bloomberg was mayor of New York City, the Big Apple was home to the nation's largest experiment in implementing the business model of education reform. The numbers of public school closings and new charter schools soared, while the high school student assignment system was overhauled to be driven by choice. By…

"If I've learned anything from the Visible Learning research," writes noted researcher John Hattie, "it's that almost everything in education works. The key question is not, What works? but, Is it working sufficiently above the average of all possible influences? Research has shown above-average effects for leaders who…

As the first principal of a new Title 1 school in Texas, Deborah Brennan faced the challenge of where to begin improving instruction when a school's population bears no resemblance to the traditional Response to Intervention pyramid (in which 75-85 percent of students flourish with Tier 1 instruction). In contrast, nearly 300 of the 850…

It must have seemed simple to the framers of No Child Left Behind. For years, they had poured more and more money into federal programs for schools, yet reading performance had not improved. It appeared that the money had gone down a rat hole, and Congress was ready to hold schools accountable. It was time to get tough. Unfortunately, the…

A lot of people talk about the value of formative assessment, but Carol Ann Tomlinson points out that, too often, it is reduced to a mechanism for raising end-of-year-test scores when it should be an ongoing exchange between a teacher and his or her students designed to help students grow. When aligned with current content goals, it can help…

"Mastery is a term that all educators use and believe they understand well. But when pressed to describe precisely what it means to 'master' a concept, skill, or subject, everyone has a different definition," assert Thomas R. Guskey and Eric M. Anderson. The father of the mastery learning approach, Benjamin S. Bloom, left the…

What's the best way to turn around a persistently low-performing school? Is it better to simply replace the principal and teachers, or is it necessary to reopen under new charter management? Maybe policymakers are asking the wrong question, writes Halley Potter. What if, instead of replacing the adults at the school, we changed the mix of…

"A school can't be both paternalistic and loosey-goosey, both structured and open-ended," writes Michael Petrilli. "Students either call their teachers by their first names, or they don't. Either they wear uniforms, or they don't." In this article, Petrilli looks at what poor students and their more affluent…

Forty-six states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Department of Defense schools have adopted the Common Core State Standards. Adoption was only the first step. Ensuring that the standards will improve student learning will require new assessments, curriculums, instructional materials and resources, and professional development.…

The adoption of the Common Core State Standards by 46 states and the District of Columbia represents a dramatic departure in U.S. education. In the past, national efforts to improve education have been directed by the federal government and have emphasized resources or organizational structure. In contrast, the Common Core State Standards in math…

The Common Core State Standards have been adopted by 46 states and the District of Columbia. They enjoy a huge following of well-wishers and supporters who are optimistic that the standards will boost achievement in U.S. schools. Setting aside the cheerleading and fond hopes, what are the real chances of success? The most reasonable prediction is…

So much has changed in the last 30 years. Diversity is on the verge of extinction--diversity of curriculum, instructional practices, and assessment. The nation is moving into an era that will link Common Core standards with a Common Core curriculum taught by teachers who will assess student learning through a slate of Common Core exams and be…

Has the academic achievement gap between high-income and low-income students changed over the last few decades? If so, why? And what can schools do about it? Researcher Sean F. Reardon conducted a comprehensive analysis of research to answer these questions and came up with some striking findings. In this article, he shows that income-related…