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…

A Michigan school district established a districtwide reading board as a different but necessary alternative to a response to intervention model. The reading board sought a new way to acknowledge the depth and breadth of individualized diagnoses, instructional needs, and social justice in their school district. In addition, the reading board…

IDEA provides essential guidance and legal support for students with disabilities, yet its conceptual and systemic framework tends to promote a focus on student deficits. Thus, teachers and IEP team members may have low expectations of students with disabilities and fail to encourage the development of their talents. Lisa DaVia Rubenstein, Charles…

This study re-envisions the Nation's Report Card from a "whole child" perspective that considers not just students' academic achievement, but also their physical and mental health. Jaekyung Lee's integrated analysis of the National Assessment of Educational Progress and the National Survey of Children's Health datasets reveals that many…

The COVID-19 pandemic and social unrest offer an opportunity to clarify what learning is and rethink how to design and assess a "good" school. Schools -- online, hybrid, or in-person -- should foster learning for all students. Yet, too often, schools paradoxically act as both drivers of equity and reproducers of inequities, both inviting…

Little attention has been given to better understanding how to effectively evaluate the work of instructional coaches. This study by Evthokia Stephanie Saclarides and Sarah Theule Lubienski illustrates how a new evaluation system for coaches was implemented in one mid-size, urban district. They describe two ways in which the Evaluation Tool…

Every year, children enter PreK and kindergarten with varied early education experiences, and the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the problem. The need to respond to students' changing situations gives school districts and states an opportunity to reconsider how they are helping children and their families make the transition into kindergarten.…

It is clear that the COVID-19 pandemic will have a devastating effect on students in need. Barnett Berry calls for greater cross-sector collaboration among schools, universities, nonprofits, and other organizations that serve children to help meet the needs that already exist and that will arise as the pandemic continues. He describes the work of…

The most efficient and effective framework for organizing mental health services in schools is through a multitiered system of support. This framework typically features three increasingly intense tiers intervention providing a continuum of care for all students in the school, not simply those identified as having a disability. Tier 1 universal…

The New Mexico Rural Revitalization Initiative (NMRRI), an innovative program to enhance the growth and development of rural communities, involves schools and students as part of a holistic approach. The program requires community members to take responsibility for revitalizing their economy and fosters an entrepreneurial spirit among students.

In this reply, the author agrees with Eric Jensen on several important points, among them: that neuroscientific data are relevant to educational research, that these data have already proved useful, and that neuroscience alone should not be expected to generate classroom-ready prescriptions. He sharply disagrees with him, however, on the prospects…

Superintendent of Trenton (New Jersey) Public Schools discusses process and challenges of implementing whole-school reform models in his district and the educational benefits derived there from. Argues that results thus far support New Jersey's approach to whole-school reform in urban districts. (PKP)

Describes findings of Rand analyses of New American Schools (NAS) approach to whole-school reform. Includes description of the Rand Corporation's role; a brief history of New American Schools; the conceptual framework of the Rand studies; and a summary of the findings grouped into three broad areas: the evolution of designs, implementation of the…

Charter schools that have partnered with nonprofit, for-profit, and public organizations have leveraged a wealth of human, financial, and organizational resources to help the schools improve. The authors suggest that all schools can learn from the charter schools' experience. (Contains 8 endnotes.)

Proposes six principles to follow when teaching students to think. Aimed at teaching thinking as an indivisible process rather than as a set of discrete skills, the principles involve active learning, the articulation of thinking, intuitive understanding, structuring courses developmentally, motivating learning, and establishing a positive…