Del Lago Academy Series
This is a four-part series of articles featuring Del Lago Academy Campus of Applied Science, which was created by community members and staff in Escondido, California to offer a more student-centered learning option to the district’s high school students. The school focuses on competency-based practices, personalization, and authentic interdisciplinary learning projects. Articles in the series… Read More ›
Digital Promise Product Certifications
This tool was designed to help districts and schools select ed-tech products that are based on solid research on learning science. Digital Promise has developed a set of criteria that can be used to determine whether an ed-tech product is grounded in research, which is one, though not the only, important marker of a high-quality… Read More ›
10 Reasons Edtech Works Sometimes, But Not All the Time
This article outlines the plans of the EdTech Genome Project, a collaborative effort of more than 100 education research and advocacy organizations, to research the contextual factors that impact education technology (ed-tech) implementation. The organization identified the ten factors hypothesized to have the greatest influence, such as adoption plans and school culture. They are now… Read More ›
Scaling is All the Rage, but How Do You Make It Happen?
It’s fall 2017 in New Hampshire. The state’s Performance Assessment for Competency-based Education (PACE) system is entering its third year. Using this alternative state accountability system, 150 teachers in nine school districts have created 14 performance assessment tasks in mathematics, English language arts (ELA) and science. The tasks have been validated against standardized state tests… Read More ›
How Hands-On Projects Can Deepen Math Learning for Teens
In this article, teachers from Science Leadership Academy, a public magnet school in Philadelphia committed to project-based learning, share the benefits of hands-on projects in math class. Their experiences show that gathering and applying real data brings meaning to the purpose of math which increases engagement. They have also found that through problem-based learning, students… Read More ›
3 Steps to Rethink Failure
This article focuses on the important role failure plays in the creation of future success. It outlines three steps educators can use to help students rethink their negative associations with failure and see its more positive side. The suggestions are general and could be useful to any educator or parent who wants to instill a growth… Read More ›
Culturally Responsive Schools
This issue of ASCD Express focuses on ways to build culturally responsive schools. It features articles on several related topics including the importance of understanding students’ home culture, relevant lessons from the historical study of black academic excellence, and steps school leaders can take to encourage equity school-wide. It also showcases a video on supporting… Read More ›
The Role of School Librarians in OER Curation
Librarians can play an important role in expanding the use of Open Educational Resources (OER) to support student-centered curriculum. This guidebook was created for librarians by the national nonprofit Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education after a study of 15 school districts. The clear overview of OER, outline of the curation process,… Read More ›
The Best Edtech for Students Is Backed by Research
In this article, researchers draw on their experience studying technology and learning to offer advice on selecting effective ed-tech products. While there is a thriving marketing industry surrounding ed-tech, there are few resources to help teachers and school leaders determine which products have the evidence-base to support their claims of positive learning outcomes. The authors… Read More ›
Digital Learning Day Resources
Digital Learning Day, started in 2012, is a yearly event to highlight great teaching practice and showcase innovative teachers, leaders, and instructional technology programs that are improving student outcomes. Schools across the country can plan their own activities to celebrate digital learning and share these ideas with other practitioners through an interactive map. To help… Read More ›
3 Steps to Supporting the Crusade for Better Student Collaboration
This article was written to help school administrators encourage and improve the quality of student collaboration school-wide. The author suggests several strategies for getting all teachers on board and making collaboration a priority. These include articulating desired skills for consistent assessment across classrooms and providing needed scaffolding to teach these skills. This consistent school-wide approach… Read More ›
Making Cooperative Learning Work Better
In this blog, a veteran teacher discusses solutions to many of the problems with cooperative learning in the classroom. Drawing on the research and feedback from fellow teachers, the author offers many concrete suggestions to address 4 common problems, including unequal contributions and interpersonal conflicts. The advice includes suggested activities and links to resources to… Read More ›