Virginia Beach City Public Schools had decided to embrace differentiation as its philosophy of instruction. Differentiation was added to the teacher evaluation rubric, and by 2003 Virginia Beach launched full force into a division-wide focus on Carol Ann Tomlinson's model for differentiation. (Tomlinson is the author of several books on the…

Opera is music, art, theater, and storytelling. It resembles many musical, visual, theatrical, and literary forms children have already experienced whether they realize it or not. It is an art form that can reach virtually every child on some level because of its emotional power. It can speak to all types of learners because there are many…

The country has entered an era of education reform with an extensive focus on how well it is preparing students to succeed in postsecondary education and careers in a rapidly changing economy, as well as to become thriving, contributing members in its democracy. Although these aims have recast the national conversation in important ways, they have…

Since Finland emerged in 2000 as the top-scoring Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nation on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), researchers have been pouring into the country to study the so-called "Finnish miracle." How did a country with an undistinguished education system in the…

The word "cyberbullying" didn't even exist a decade ago, yet the problem is pervasive today. Simply put, cyberbullying is the repeated use of technology to harass, humiliate, or threaten. When people take to the keyboard or cell phone and craft messages of hate or malice about a specific person, cyberbullying is emerging. And unlike…

The influential report "Teaching Children to Read: An Evidenced-Based Assessment of the Scientific Research Literature on Reading and Its Implications for Reading Instruction," published by the National Reading Panel in 2000, presented recommendations for daily literacy instruction in five key areas: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency,…

Recently, the Modern Language Association (MLA) called for a major reorganization of undergraduate academic programs and even the structure of foreign-language departments. Typically, the initial two years of language instruction are taught by non-tenure-track instructors with little or no voice in the department. Faculty members mainly teach the…

In this article, the author stresses the importance of including the discussion of the war in Iraq in the curriculum. He further shares how, in the spring of 2005, he had asked middle school and high school students what they thought about the Iraq War, what they had learned about the war in school, and what they would like to learn. Their answers…

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is the process by which people develop the skills to recognize and manage emotions, form positive relationships, solve problems that arise, motivate themselves to accomplish a goal, make responsible decisions, and avoid risky behavior. The Collaborative for Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL), at the University of…

In this article, the author discusses five common strategies for making online high school programs effective in one's school district. These are: (1) Prepare students for success; (2) Prepare teachers for success; (3) Use interactive, flexible course designs; (4) Monitor and support teachers; and (5) Monitor and support students. Despite their…

For the past four years, the Center on Education Policy (CEP), an independent nonprofit research and advocacy organization, has been conducting a comprehensive and continuous review of NCLB, producing the annual reports contained in the series "From the Capital to the Classroom" as well as numerous papers on specific issues related to…