With so many standards to address and templates to fill out, curriculum design and lesson planning can be cumbersome and overwhelming. And every teacher knows the struggle of trying to cover all the required content, which may or may not resonate with their students. In "Streamlining the Curriculum," experts Heidi Hayes Jacobs and…

Explore the web of factors that influence your power as a teacher--and how you can better use that power to foster student agency and empowerment. What kind of power do teachers have? What influences their instructional decision making--and how does that affect students, particularly Black students and other students of color? How can educators…

At the heart of education are two fundamental questions: "What should we teach?" and How should we teach it? Educators striving to design and deliver the best-possible learning experiences can feel overwhelmed by the possibilities. To help them make these critical decisions, Angela Di Michele Lalor identifies five key priorities of a…

"Educating for Justice" teams award-winning principal Julia Bott with scholars Scott Seider and Aaliyah El-Amin to describe schoolwide structures and practices that prepare students at every grade level to challenge injustice and build a better world. Sharing research-backed strategies, concrete tools, and examples drawn from real…

Explore the next step forward for teachers and teaching--one that helps all students gain a deeper understanding of themselves, others, and the world. "Learner-centered classrooms rely on teachers who are willing to change and grow, and on school leaders who are willing to intelligently support them. Change is never easy, but teaching has…

In this 2nd edition of "Focus: Elevating the Essentials to Radically Improve Student Learning," Mike Schmoker extends and updates the case that our schools could be on the cusp of swift, unparalleled improvements. But we are stymied by a systemwide failure to simplify and prioritize; we have yet to focus our limited time and energy on…

In his 2011 ASCD best-seller "Focus: Elevating the Essentials to Radically Improve Student Learning," author Mike Schmoker described a fresh approach to K-12 teaching built on three core elements: a focused and coherent curriculum; clear, structured lessons; and purposeful reading and writing, or authentic literacy. Now, in "Leading…

Curriculum is the core of the classroom experience, but what makes a quality curriculum? What lessons, learning experiences, and assessments are most effective, and how should they be embedded within the curriculum? The answers to these and other questions appear in this definitive, step-by-step guide. Drawing from her work with teachers and…