As teachers begin shaping lessons for the common standards, many are wondering how to prepare their students for tests that won't be ready for at least two years. Sample items being drafted for those exams offer early ideas of what lies ahead. Two large groups of states are using federal Race to the Top money to create new suites of exams for the…

The author reports on a "flip model" of instruction that has gotten national media attention lately, thanks to its promotion by Khan Academy, the high-profile nonprofit online-tutoring library created by Salman A. Khan, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate who was looking for a way to help his young relatives with their homework. The…

The General Educational Development program, or GED, is undergoing the biggest revamping in its 69-year history, driven by mounting recognition that young adults' future success depends on getting more than a high-school-level education. Potent forces have converged to stoke the GED's redesign. A labor market that increasingly seeks some…

This article reports on a Louisiana study which suggests that new teachers can be as effective as, or sometimes more effective than, their experienced colleagues. Experts say the study, the first of its kind to come out of a state that has implemented a multi-pronged approach to improving its teacher training, shows that it is possible for states…

This article reports on new findings from a forthcoming research review which analyzes 207 studies of school-based programs designed to foster children's social and emotional skills. Roger P. Weissberg, the president of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, or CASEL, the Chicago-based group that sponsored the four-year…

This article talks about UTeach, a teacher-preparation program at the University of Texas at Austin that presents courses through the lens of math and science. The program has drawn widespread recognition in recent years, and it is now a model for revamping the training of math and science teachers on campuses nationwide. Backers of the program…

Across the United States, school districts are adopting benchmark assessments to help teachers modify instruction over the course of a school year. Yet many teachers remain wary. In this article, the author presents views from teachers regarding the benchmarks.

Eight articles, published in various issues of "Education Week" starting in March 1994 and ending July 1995, track the work of eight educational reform design teams: (1) "Back to the Future" (Lynn Olson)--the virtues and values of the past in a modern context; (2) "A Welcome Change" (Ann Bradley)--instruction school…

This article discusses an instructional development system called "holistic" approach, a strategy to improve high school education in Chicago. The initiative includes new curriculum materials, aligned to district standards, as well as assessments and ongoing teacher coaching and training that are designed for the curriculum. The design…

Six articles by Lynn Olson, published in various issues of "Education Week" starting in January 1993 and ending May 1995, describe a Maryland project to improve elementary education in the State: (1) "Winning NASDC (New American Schools Development Corporation) Project Takes Flight" (the basic skills children need to succeed in…