Preparing students for postsecondary life is among the most important roles that a high school plays. And yet, how schools approach this work, what schools should be preparing students for, and who should be responsible for this work have long been contested. Jeremy Greenfield draws on an emerging body of psychological literature exploring purpose…

Continuous improvement is "an embedded behavior within the culture of a school that constantly focuses on the conditions, processes, and practices that will improve teaching and learning." The phrase has been part of the lexicon of school improvement for decades, but real progress is rare. Based on its observations of about 5,000…

Community schools are a sound education reform strategy that gets results. They start by asking local students and their families what they need to succeed in school, then they reach out to relevant community partners and use the school as the hub for organizing partnerships, services, and supports. By listening closely to the assets and needs of…

Arthur E. Wise, a longtime advocate for K-12 school improvement, reviews 50 years of efforts to promote equal educational opportunities for all children, describing the pros and cons of three main reform strategies: lawsuits focused on funding equity, which have had some success; the standards and accountability movement, which has not; and…

Observing teaching with a practiced, professional eye can yield valuable insights into the specific learning opportunities that students are (or are not) provided. However, recent policy initiatives have emphasized using formulaic rubrics and checklists to rate teacher behaviors and evaluate their use of particular instructional moves. Rather than…

Early colleges are intended to serve students from populations typically underrepresented in college and to prepare those students with the academic skills and dispositions to succeed in college. Another important attribute of early colleges is that they help students earn college credit during their high school years. Many such early colleges are…

The author tells of his work around the country and world on transforming how schools do recess, free play, and outside time by transforming their outdoor spaces to match. Instead of a playground of fixed structures like traditional school grounds, newer spaces are filled with loose materials that children can use to build forts, dens, and tree…

Many teachers are turning to online professional development to meet their learning needs, but the vast array of available opportunities may be overwhelming. This article provides a framework for making sense of common online teacher learning opportunities. It also suggests situations where online professional development may be most useful and…

Thomas Hatch, Rachel Roegman, and David Allen draw on examples from three districts in New Jersey -- one of the most segregated states in the United States for Black and Latinx students -- to present a multidimensional approach to creating equitable learning experiences. This approach begins with a focus on instruction but also takes into account…

"Gerrymandering" is known best as a tool to manipulate boundaries for voting districts, but school districts have long used the same tool to manipulate school boundaries. The author used geospatial techniques--mapping various kinds of demographic data onto school boundaries--to examine public school attendance zones and their effect on…

In 2010, Evanston Township High School in suburban Chicago, Illinois, dramatically changed its freshman year for incoming students. The school detracked freshman English, history, and biology courses for the vast majority of students, thus removing barriers for historically under-represented student groups and providing greater access and…

The Schools of Opportunity Project recognizes public high schools that employ research-based practices to close opportunity gaps. The commended schools illustrate how school quality can and should be measured by far more than just test scores. In doing so, they offer exemplars and a path forward for the nation's schools. The selection criteria for…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) gives educators a fresh opportunity to think through how to ensure that all students achieve at high levels, especially kids from low-income families and kids of color. The new law continues with four principles that had been in earlier iterations, all of which have important implications for students from…

This study finds that schools are poorly prepared to counsel students about community college certificate or associate degree programs. Instead the mantra of college for all continues to encourage youth to spend time and money on bachelor's degrees, for which many students are not prepared to do well. Teachers desire more information on college…

This article offers a commentary on the Common Core State Standards, which were developed by a talented and well-resourced team, and are purported to be of higher quality than many former or existing state standards. However, according to this author, Common Core has become much more than the standards themselves; they are the foundational element…