Bringing a Culturally Responsive Lens to Math Class
This article describes how a 7th-grade math teacher created a 3-week unit project to connect math to a real-world issue identified by students. The author outlines a simple 4 step process any math teacher could use to design a similar unit to build student engagement, including tips to ensure all students can demonstrate mastery through… Read More ›
Teaching Tolerance
This website is full of resources to promote diversity and inclusion, including classroom activities and lesson plans, as well as professional development activities and readings. The well organized site includes a section on classroom resources which are aligned with common core standards as well as Teaching Tolerance’s Social Justice Standards. This section includes a large database… Read More ›
Tapping Students’ Interests to Develop Literary Analysis Skills
This article introduces a strategy for increasing student voice in English Language Arts (ELA) classes. A veteran teacher shares how passion blogging on topics of their choice helped students develop key analytical skills such as argument design, and use of evidence. This exercise provided scaffolding before moving on to analysis of complex literary texts, while… Read More ›
6 Strategies to Support the Development of Self-Directed Learners
This article explores several strategies to help students build the skills needed to be self-directed learners. The author, an experienced teacher, explores the importance of helping students develop skills in 3 categories: executive functioning, metacognition, and social-emotional learning. Teachers in any subject can try out the concrete classroom activities suggested here. Source Organization: Education Reimagined… Read More ›
Advancing Equity by Building Development Relationships
This story looks at the importance of building developmental relationships in which adults and youth share power, especially for students from traditionally underserved communities. Developmental relationships are are purposeful relationships built on trust, designed to help young people: Discover who they are Cultivate the abilities needed for them to shape their own lives Learn how… Read More ›
Teaching Students to Think About Thinking
The articles in this issue of ASCDExpress explore metacognition, the ability to understand ones own mental processes and to monitor and influence them. The authors provide both general suggestions for promoting metacognitive awareness and regulation, as well as specific ideas tailored to particular subject areas. Read as a whole this collection of articles offers many… Read More ›
This Pennsylvania District Knows Transformation is a Human First Endeavor
In this article district leaders from Salisbury Township School District, a small public district in PA, detail the first 4 years in their shift to become a student-centered district. They outline their efforts to engage all stakeholders in the visioning process and to provide ongoing deep professional development. This short case study is a great… Read More ›
Pittsburgh-Area Students Tackle Community Challenges in Learn and Earn Program
This article describes a summer learning program in the Pittsburg, PA area. Through the Learn and Earn Program, students conducted research projects in about 15 neighborhoods across the city. They surveyed residents on issues of importance to the community, such as factors contributing to crime rate, feelings about local businesses, and trash problems. Students had… Read More ›
Hearing Youth Voices
This group is a youth-led, action research group where students learn about the different oppressions they face every day and find out why things happen the way they do. Students are free to express themselves; they can sing, rap, do spoken word, dance, draw, and make skits. Hearing Youth Voices creates workshops for youth to… Read More ›
Youth and Adults Transforming Schools Together
This organization was founded in Vermont to increase student voice in decision-making and engagement in learning. Youth and adults participate together in action research to identify areas for growth, share data, and take actions. Teams focus on four areas: rigor, relevance, relationships, and responsibility. The two overview videos provide an excellent introduction to the approach.… Read More ›
Building Support for Student-Centered Learning: A Toolkit
This toolkit provides strategies, resources, and tools for those who would like to build public understanding and engagement around student-centered learning or other education reform efforts. The toolkit is organized around a theory of change that includes three elements: a compelling public story, deep dialogue and conversation, and real youth engagement. The toolkit draws on… Read More ›
Youth Participatory Action Research Hub
This site features a curriculum to empower students to begin Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR). Through YPAR young people are trained to conduct systematic research to improve their their communities and the institutions intended to serve them. The YPAR Hub, a partnership between the University of California, Berkeley and San Francisco Peer Resources, houses the… Read More ›