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…

The learning sciences span multiple fields, including psychology, computer science, and neuroscience. In particular, cognitive psychology focuses on complex operations that occur inside the brain. Attention to these hidden processes can reveal ways to promote lasting learning. Pooja Agarwal and Henry Roediger draw on research in both the…

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…

The COVID-19 viral pandemic affected all facets of life, including schooling. In March 2020, schools abruptly ended face-to-face instruction and transitioned to emergency remote instruction. David Marshall, David Shannon, and Savanna Love surveyed teachers nationally between mid-March and early April 2020 to understand their experiences during…

The Common Core State Standards emphasize higher-order thinking, problem solving, and the creation, retention, and application of knowledge. Achieving these standards creates greater cognitive demands on students. Recent research suggests that active play and regular exercise have a positive effect on brain regions associated with executive…

When it comes to measuring the quality of a school, policy leaders tend to embrace standardized tests as the go-to indicator, whereas parents and community members tend to rely on reputation, word-of-mouth, and what they perceive with their own eyes. The authors suggest a better approach: a new framework that looks at three categories of inputs…

Whether they work in a rural, urban, or suburban district, all teachers should expect to confront children who have had adverse childhood experiences involving trauma. All teachers should understand how trauma affects students' social, emotional, and academic growth. The more that teachers understand how traumatic experiences affect student…

The Every Student Succeeds Act grants states new flexibility to create more balanced assessment systems with a greater role for formative assessment. Drawing on lessons learned over three decades of research and reform, we argue that state and local leaders should take the lead in designing new assessments guided by two core principles: First,…

The transformation of the Kansas City, Missouri Public Schools (KCMSD) has been long overdue. Multiple superintendents and administrations, using billions of dollars of desegregation funds ventured to transform the district by creating magnet schools, themed schools, and career-focused high schools. Missing from these initiatives, but included in…

The Gary and Jeri-Ann Jacobs High Tech High is a project-based charter school opened in 2000 as part of an initiative by business leaders frustrated by the lack of workers qualified to meet the demands of the 21st-century economy. It is the founding campus of what has become a network of 11 charter schools in the San Diego area that are…

Argues that it is essential that alternative schools continually ask themselves: What is learning?'' Suggests that such schools must view the way the student values himself and his needs, the way he relates to other people, and the way he operates within the educational institution -- given the variables that will affect what a student learns at…

"Learning as a subversive activity" is about working with public school students to debunk the shallow conception that achievement equals learning. That means exposing the power relations that keep in place such a narrow definition of what counts and exploring the implications of those powerful forces for students' lives and for society at large.…

This article closely follows an address given before the American Association of School Administrators (Atlantic City, February 18, 1969).

The author travels 400 years into a future boasting honored teachers and cherished children, but lacking butterflies (extinct because of 20th century pesticide residues). The big advance, besides miniaturized solar collectors, is people's inability to tell lies. Perceptions are trusted, and emotions are accurately read. Also, children are taught…