Recognizing the need for information in public education, Congress mandated in the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) that all states create and disseminate annual school performance report cards. A decade after NCLB passed, school report cards are widely available for nearly every school in the country. As the amount of school performance data…

The Common Core math standards promote several important differences in how math concepts are taught and should be talked about. These changes will make it easier for younger students to comprehend and adapt to more complex concepts in the later grades. This guide should help elementary teachers make changes and adaptations that are in line the…

The author, a teacher in the Seattle public schools, tells the story of a movement begun by teachers at Garfield High School who in January 2013 voted unanimously to refuse to administer the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) test. The MAP boycott spread to seven more Seattle schools, and teachers at 10 more schools signed statements of support.…

A middle school in Boston designs its curriculum and culture--from its nightly homework assignments to its Powerful Speaking Extravaganza--upon a foundation of strengthening students' motivation and ability to do the hard work necessary to accomplish their goals. Roxbury Prep's emphasis on perseverance finds support in a robust body of…

Implementation of Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) into the Camelot Intermediate School curriculum in Brookings, South Dakota, has fostered the development of creative and critical thinking skills in 4th- and 5th-grade students. Making meaning together by observing carefully, deciphering patterns, speculating, clarifying, supporting opinions, and…

Though we do our best to protect children from life's underbelly, bad things happen. Hurricanes, school shootings, divorce, exploding crime rates, economic downturns, child abuse, and acts of terror have become reality for many. Sadly, students are not immune from the chaos that often results. If a child worries that he is not safe or thinks…

More than 50 studies have examined the role of hope in predicting the performance of elementary, middle school, high school, and college students. In each, hope predicted test scores and term GPA. In many studies, hope was a significant predictor of student success even when controlling for previous grades, intelligence, and other psychological…

The authors argue that the prospect of performance can motivate students to learn. He uses a study of the Above and Beyond program at a K-5 school, where students appeared to be more interested in their subjects and learn more effectively when given the opportunity to display or perform in front of an audience.

Every community has individuals or groups who manage to find better solutions to problems than their peers, although everyone has access to the same resources and challenges. Those are the positive deviants.

Responding to the need for game-changing innovation that will catapult student achievement, some school districts seek assistance from school development organizations that specialize in helping schools. But such work presents problems when schools try to adopt and adapt innovation and outside partners face challenges in encouraging schools to…

Ontario embraced a provincial lead improvement plan that was designed to improve its 5,000 schools by focusing on literacy and numeracy, improving high school graduation, and improving public support for education. Its primary strategy was developing networks of educators and building their capacity for growth.

Teacher networks are an important lever for helping schools make change. In order to take advantage of teacher networks, principals must map the existing networks in their schools, identifying teachers and others who serve as experts or advice givers, brokers, and advice seekers. Once these are known, principals can decide on a strategy for…

Helping students become responsible for their own learning is an incredibly challenging task since it requires transforming their previous, passive "sit-and-get" learning style into a go-and-get orientation. The authors present a collection of eight schools that offer valuable examples of how to develop students as self-directed…

The Common Core generally eschews mandating texts in favor of promoting critical analysis and rigor. So it's significant that Shakespeare is the only author invoked in imperatives. His explicit inclusion offers a significant opportunity for educators to rethink how we approach Shakespearean instruction. Rather than the traditional learning of…

The maker movement consists of a growing culture of hands-on making, creating, designing, and innovating. A hallmark of the maker movement is its do-it-yourself (or do-it-with-others) mindset that brings individuals together around a range of activities, both high- and low-tech, all involving some form of creation or repair. The movement's…