Can choreographing a dance help students grasp the water cycle? Or painting a portrait demonstrate their understanding of the achievements of a historical figure? The Kennedy Center's CETA (Changing Education Through the Arts) program is betting on it. CETA works with schools in the Washington, D.C., area to help teachers integrate the arts with…

There are many important questions teachers and administrators need to ask as they grapple with how to ensure high school graduates are college and career ready. What does it mean to prepare students for a world that is rapidly changing--a world in which science and technology are altering how we live, work, play, and interact? If teachers focus…

This piece showcases three schoolwide art projects that promoted social justice, belonging, and diversity. A yarn bombing in a Missouri elementary school gave students an opportunity to learn cross-curriculum lessons and promote the idea of unity among all cultures and backgrounds. A glass bead mosaic in a First Nations school in British Columbia…

This piece showcases three schoolwide art projects that promoted social justice, belonging, and diversity. A yarn bombing in a Missouri elementary school gave students an opportunity to learn cross-curriculum lessons and promote the idea of unity among all cultures and backgrounds. A glass bead mosaic in a First Nations school in British Columbia…

How can the best of mathematical problem-based learning be applied toward literature classes? Daniel Sussman, an English teacher at Moorestown Friends School in New Jersey, discusses how he uses problem solving tactics to encourage close, critical reading of fiction texts in his Jewish literature and poetry classes. He explores the challenges of…

Wiggins, who has taught in international schools in many countries, describes facets of curriculum, pedagogy, and diverse school communities characteristic of international schools that help forge global-ready graduates. While teaching an interdisciplinary course at the Hong Kong International School, she realized that using internationally…

When Tom Kelner, a 7th grade social studies teacher, realized that under the Common Core standards he'd be responsible for strengthening students' reading, writing, and research skills in his social studies classes, first he panicked. Then he approached Dana Haring, an English language arts teacher on his 7th grade team, and asked if they could…

Improved teacher morale and improved learning for all students go hand in hand. But what, exactly, do we mean by student learning? And what is the aim of this learning? According to Nel Noddings, the success of our efforts to boost teacher morale through greater collegiality, creativity, and continuity will depend on how we answer these questions.…

In too many K-12 schools, notes Hoachlander, science, math, and technology are still taught in isolation from one another--and engineering is barely taught at all. Even when STEM content and skills are presented in an integrated fashion, they are rarely linked to the rest of the academic subjects or to real-world work in STEM fields. Hoachlander…

In a study of highly innovative young people in their 20s, the author found that although many people in the millennial generation want to do meaningful work and make a difference in the world, conventional high schools and colleges are not preparing their graduates to be innovators and entrepreneurs. This is a serious problem, he asserts, because…

School gardens--and efforts to connect gardening to K-12 learning--are burgeoning. Children's gardens--green spaces that keep in mind the way children play and explore an outdoor space--have been one of the biggest recent trends in gardening. Progressive educators have long promoted gardening as an opportunity to connect knowledge about plants,…

Like teachers in many countries with a national curriculum and standardized testing, South Korean teachers find it challenging to include in their curriculums knowledge students will need in the future that doesn't fall within the purview of tested areas. The arts education, character education, environmental education, geography, and education…

Students who struggle with reading comprehension in middle school often lack the academic vocabulary the need to understand grade-level textbooks and other instructional materials. Research shows that to learn a new word well, students need to encounter and use it multiple times in different contexts. The authors describe Word Generation, a…

The author works as a biliteracy teacher in a bilingual school that serves students from K-5th grade. She and her coteacher provide instruction in both English and Spanish to 4th and 5th graders. They have two language arts blocks so that students receive literacy instruction in both their native and second languages, and they teach math, social…

Bethpage Union Free School District in New York is a high-performing district by almost any current accountability measure. Yet administrators and teachers worried that they were not doing enough to prepare their students as critical thinkers for the 21st century. Inspired by the curriculum framework of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, the…