Events of recent years have led many students and parents alike to question why schools work the way that they do. Students have asked why they should have to come to class when they can do the work at home. Community members have questioned why students are having to learn about contentious issues. While not all of questions are equally valid,…

Expertise about how best to address the challenges schools face does not reside solely in the central office. Columnist Joshua P. Starr discusses how district leaders should rethink their roles to ensure that they are focused on the work that only they can do. Some tasks will be better suited to leaders at the school level, and sometimes expertise…

Joe Greenberg explores the importance of amplifying student voices and developing a collaborative mindset in education to inspire a new generation of changemakers. He highlights the role of schools in addressing systemic challenges such as inequality, isolation, and disengagement, advocating for holistic and student-centered learning models. By…

For far too many students, schools are "not" places of belonging. This is due, in part, to the cultural mismatch between schools and students that, despite even the best of intentions, too often leads to student harm and negative student outcomes. Gloria McDaniel-Hall and Nina F. Weisling provide insights for understanding…

New Title IX regulations issued by the Department of Education expand the types of sexual harassment schools must address and give schools greater flexibility in how they handle hearings. But the Supreme Court's recent ruling in "Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo" expands courts' roles in how federal agencies interpret and enforce…

The question of achieving equity remains an enduring concern for K-12 teachers and school leaders. Work toward equity and social justice in K-12 schools requires the authentic participation and engagement of racially marginalized students and families. Van Lac, Érica Fernández, and Katherine Cumings Mansfield offer real-life examples of what it…

Thomas J. Capretta, Jingyang (Max) Zhang, Eric M. Anderman, and Barbara J. Boone revisit Joyce Epstein's 1995 Kappan article on overlapping spheres of influence and family-school partnerships. They highlight one idea from the article that has been largely overlooked -- the role of student voice and leadership. To refocus researchers' and…

Without proper training, the realities of leading a school can overwhelm principals. Specifically, the challenges of leading a school will test principals' abilities to manage operations and implement effective initiatives. Despite knowledge of these demands, author Craig Hochbein writes that aspiring principals often engage in training…

The academic achievement of Black boys in the U.S. has been declining, and Black male mentorship can positively change these outcomes. Schools have tried many interventions to help Black boys receive the academic, social, and emotional support they need to close the performance gap. Some case studies have proven that Black male mentorship works.…

The field of mathematics education has engaged in perennial debate about whether transmission-oriented or constructivist approaches to teaching will best help students learn. Yet, both fluency, learned through step-by-step procedural instruction, and the mathematical flexibility that comes from constructivist methods play an important role in…

Conflict management is one of the most stressful and frustrating aspects of a school leader's job. An inability to overcome conflicting viewpoints, ever more palpable in today's polarized climate, stymies innumerable school reform efforts. Yet, the subject is rarely examined in graduate-level leadership preparation programs or in-service…

The 42 school districts participating in the state of Washington's Inclusionary Practices Project achieved a significant 12.8% increase in inclusion in the least restrictive environment (LRE 1, or in general education for 80-100% of the school day) over four years, surpassing the state average increase of 6.8%. Katie Novak and Helene Paroff…

Despite significant societal changes, the high school experience hasn't changed much in recent decades. Joshua P. Starr reflects on his own high school experiences and that of his son and considers how schools might change their focus away from requiring students to learn specific facts and toward having them develop skills as they engage in rich…

How we should teach mathematics has long been debated by advocates of different instructional approaches. These debates can lead to tensions that are difficult to navigate for those who are new to (or even veterans of) the profession. Educators often propose a "balance" of different approaches as a solution. Charles Munter considers…

If the future of preK-12 education is going to be better than the past, then we need to rethink our fundamental assumptions about what we want from our schools and what we expect those schools to look like. Educators should embrace three core commitments in particular: 1) to treat students as learners whose agency is respected, whose diversity is…