The traditional system of education is failing our students. Evidence shows competency-based education (CBE) develops empowered learners who succeed, but effective implementation requires a systemwide, coordinated approach. Competency-Based Education Ignited offers school and district leaders a road map for successfully transitioning to CBE that…

Critical thinking currently represents the necessary ability of an individual to orient himself in a world full of information, it allows him to search for his own identity, to form his own opinions, attitudes. Critical thinking is an individual intellectual process in which the thinker improves and cultivates the quality of his thinking,…

'The knowledge question', addressing what students need to know and learn, becomes particularly relevant during the process of a new school reform. This paper examines the political messages and the role of knowledge in the current curriculum reform initiative for primary and secondary education in Norway (2020). The study is based on a document…

Across the globe, the learning goals of elementary, secondary, and higher education curricula emphasize the development of the critical thinking approach. In Kenya, the curriculum mentions developing critical thinking as one of its objectives, but a critical review reveals that the education system prioritizes competitive exams and rote…

Since the beginning of U.S. public school systems, educators and policy makers have debated what kinds of knowledge and skills that all schoolchildren should acquire. And those debates touch every aspect of a curriculum, its assessment, and its instructional materials. David A. Gamson, Sarah Anne Eckert, and Jeremy Anderson trace the history of…

Ensuring all children and youth thrive as they move through school and into their adult lives requires that they have the opportunity to develop the skills and competencies that will help them land their first job, navigate and overcome the challenges they will face, keep positive relationships, and make good decisions. While families are central…

One of the most pressing concerns identified in current European educational discourse is about the transitions of students from school to higher education and from educational institutions to the labour market. Government anxieties over the precariousness of the future has led to increasing regulation and measurement of "skills" and…

K-12 education in the United States and across the world is at a turning point. The steady march towards equality and justice within the country has changed the context for the education system. At the same time, rapid and unpredictable changes in society and culture have created new expectations for education, changing what is needed for…

The role of public education has never been more important--it is the bedrock of democracy. The failure to provide an equitable public education that enables equal access to opportunity unravels the American dream. Competency-based education holds promise as a uniquely powerful model for fostering equity, but only if equity is an intentional…

In the twenty-first century, learning takes place almost everywhere, at all times, on all kinds of paths and at all kinds of paces. With the click of a mouse or the touch of a screen, young people and adults can access a wealth of information, analyze it, and produce new knowledge at any time. These learning opportunities break wide open the…

Competency education, an educator-led reform, is taking root in schools and districts across the country. In some states, state leadership has cleared the path with policies to advance competency education. This paper seeks to map out the terrain of the district implementation strategies being used to convert traditional systems into personalized,…

Much attention has been given to the idea that librarians working in K-12 schools who graduate from school library programs are not simply book-shelvers, quietkeepers, and break-givers to other teachers. Rather, they are important members of the school community's instructional team and are certified educators qualified to deliver instruction…

This qualitative study used focus groups to identify the knowledge about the "Arts du Cirque" Program implemented in a primary school and to explore perceptions of its impacts. Data are based on the discourse of school staff members, parents and other members of the community of an elementary school. The impacts on students are…

In this article, teachers who seek a career as a school administrator envision their leadership will be transformational and charismatic, yet they are often surprised by the conflict and confrontation that is an inevitable part of school administration. This disconnect between the ideal of the vision and the reality often produces disappointment…

Classrooms across the country are discovering the power of service-learning--the ideal way to help students develop social and academic skills while giving back to their community. Now for the first time, there's a practical how-to guide on using serving-learning to promote inclusion and differentiate instruction for students with and without…