Does the Common Core State Standards' focus on informational text mean that teachers must teach fiberglass installation manuals and the minutes of National Reserve Board meetings? No, responds literacy expert Timothy Shanahan. "I've pored over the lists of exemplary texts suggested by the standards, and I've not been able to…

The lobby of the college building echoes with the noise of teenagers milling around a table filled with books. Hands flutter over the bright covers, picking them up, flipping them over, thumbing through pages. Welcome to an Elon Academy Saturday at break time, the mid-point pause in this monthly gathering of the more than 70 student participants…

In her 35-year teaching career, which has spanned the secondary and the postsecondary levels, the author has studied both effective and ineffective teaching. In this article, she asserts that there is no recipe or formula for being an effective teacher. Instead, good teaching depends on the teachers' ability to respond to the classroom context and…

A Boston school for grades 6-12 is making a deliberate effort to help students develop ethical minds. Each year, all students take an ethical philosophy class in which they discuss the school's core values and how these values are addressed in the writings of such philosophers as Aristotle and Rousseau. Through these classes, students develop a…

In interviews with several hundred business, nonprofit, philanthropic, and education leaders, the author identified seven "survival skills" that 21st century students need to succeed as workers and citizens: (1) critical thinking and problem-solving; (2) collaboration and leadership; (3) ability and adaptability; (4) initiative and…

Educators and governments are paying increasing attention to international comparisons as they seek to develop effective policies to improve the performance of their education systems. Data from the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) are useful in revealing best practices across the world. Current data show that the United…

This case highlights the challenges faced by the principal of Forest Middle/Senior High School. In the surrounding school community, White middle-class families are increasingly opting to send their children to private schools. Within the school, critical incidents between White teachers and Black and Latino/a teachers and students mirror the…

This article contributes to an emergent literature of empirical studies on how emotion impacts leadership. The purpose of the study was to examine how secondary school administrators derived meaning from critical incidents of significant emotional events retrospectively, and how the understanding impacted leadership. A conceptual framework of…

Since the mid-1980s, a global resurgence of large-scale reform in the field of education has been witnessed. Implementing these reforms has created many dilemmas for change leaders. Following a three-year qualitative research project, the present study explores the dilemmas leaders faced during the implementation of the national curriculum reform…

Case study explores why a group of seven excellent urban high school teachers in Boston Public Schools have stayed in teaching. Finds teachers shared several common characteristics, such as love of teaching, hope and faith in their students, anger at student injustices including racism and poverty. (PKP)

Report on research from 18 states that concludes that high-stakes tests do not lead to higher student achievement. In addition, such tests can decrease student motivation to learn and lead to higher student retention and dropout rates. (Contains 2 figures and 21 references.) (WFA)

Directors of education in Greece operate at prefectural level and are the heads of the local directorates or bureaus of primary/secondary education. Because of the centralized character of the educational system, their role is restricted to facilitating the smooth operation of the local school system and implementing the national policy on school…

Athletic administrators and decision makers within interscholastic athletics are expected to embrace a code of ethics that serves as a set of rules to guide their professional behavior. Included within this code are areas of controversy that present gender-related ethical dilemmas for administrators. Three specific ethical dilemmas involve (1)…

Describes results of study of student attitudes toward high-stakes testing at one Indiana high school and how those results influence how teachers prepare students for the state mathematics and English proficiencies test. (PKP)

Describes how state standards caused one teacher to improve her teaching style. (PKP)