Many teachers shy away from conversations about diversity issues in the classroom--because they feel pressured to cover the mandated curriculum, or because they worry about students' and parents' reactions, or because they're afraid they'll say the wrong thing or won't know how to respond to comments that can make everyone feel uncomfortable. In…

Despite the best of intentions on the part of overworked and undertrained classroom teachers, instructional planning can too often be described as idiosyncratic, haphazard, and lacking any logically or pedagogically defensible structure. In this article, Tim Westerberg highlights the importance of a unifying planning framework that ensures…

Language ideologies--the way our ideas about language and accent both reflect and are informed by our ideas about people and society--influence us in subtle, often subconscious ways. They can shape classroom practices and potentially create barriers to student learning. In this article, learn about two especially harmful language ideologies that…

Correctly harnessed, we can blend the best of our traditional intellectual linear culture--Socrates' wisdom of the 5th century BCE--with the current digital visual culture, creating a new learning and intellectual environment consistent with the cognitive and expressive demands of the 21st century. Four elements of the 21st-century mind could be…

The Clayton Christiansen Institute maintains a database of more than 400 schools across the United States that have implemented some form of blended learning, which combines online learning with brick-and-mortar classrooms. Data the Institute has collected over the past six months suggests three trends as this model continues to evolve and mature.…

Considering that most educators think it is essential to help children attain meaningful, emotionally satisfying lives, teaching should start with developing ways of being that lead to healthy personal development. Teaching mindfulness--practices that focus and calm one's mind--is a key foundation of such development, according to the authors, who…

Although human beings communicate mainly through talking and listening, schools tend to spend little classroom instruction time helping ELLs develop their English oral language skills, writes Wayne E. Wright. In reviewing the research on ELLs' oral language development, Wright concludes that bilingual programs give ELLs the best opportunities to…

Although human beings communicate mainly through talking and listening, schools tend to spend little classroom instruction time helping ELLs develop their English oral language skills, writes Wayne E. Wright. In reviewing the research on ELLs' oral language development, Wright concludes that bilingual programs give ELLs the best opportunities to…

Knight, an author and consultant, writes on the importance of protecting teachers' autonomy and discretion in instructional coaching arrangements in the face of schools' tendency to presume a need for greater top-down control. He describes how valuing autonomy can change how coaches and school leaders think about traditional elements of…

Principals are tasked with being the instructional leaders in their schools--developing teacher's abilities through formal and informal classroom observations and feedback. But how can school districts ensure that principals have the skills they need to fulfill this crucial role? In Clarke County School District in Georgia, central-office leaders…

Reflecting on his own experiences attending integrated schools in the 1960s and 70s, scholar Pedro Noguera argues that, despite the challenges involved, school integration remains essential for providing better educational opportunities for students. At a time when our nation is becoming irreversibly more diverse, Noguera writes, the country's…

New ed-tech tools crop up frequently, leaving teachers little to no time to become familiar with them or adapt them to learning. Professional development that focuses on tool-centered approaches are often insufficient to meet teachers' needs in contemporary classrooms. Therefore, teachers need to develop a level of comfort with using new…

Incorporating virtual reality or augmented reality into classroom instruction and activities not only engages students, it provides learning experiences otherwise unavailable, such as virtually walking on the moon or building a 360-degree animation of a Revolutionary War battle. The author gives examples of ways AR and VR can be used in…

Administrators are often removed from the daily instructional realities in classrooms, while teachers aren't given enough opportunities to lead in their schools, write Christina Steinbacher-Reed and Sam A. Rotella Jr. The result is a wall that prevents the two parties from collaborating in a way that improves school culture, teaching practices,…

For students, the authors argue, the ability to assess their own learning--that is, to actively understand their own progress and trajectory--can have a significant impact on achievement levels. The authors discuss factors associated with "assessment-capable learners" and offer examples of how to foster such characteristics in classrooms.