There is enormous urgency to actively develop sound plans that address equity, social and emotional well-being, and academic excellence in schools. This blueprint is founded on the belief that all students can succeed when learning is supported by equitable systems. To achieve equity, individuals and systems must truly value all students and their…

As an early Common Core booster, Michael Petrilli had hoped that by now--10 years after most states adopted the standards--the nation's schools would have logged tangible improvements in teaching and learning that resulted in higher student achievement. In this article, Petrilli reviews what Common Core is and discusses the work ahead that is…

In the past few years, four states have established programs that provide public financial support to students who choose to attend a private school. These programs--a tax-credit-funded scholarship initiative in Florida and voucher programs in Indiana, Louisiana, and Ohio--offer a glimpse of what expansive statewide choice might look like. What…

The 10th anniversary of Common Core's launch offers the opportunity to take stock of the impact these nearly national standards have had on student learning, as well as their future prospects. In this article, Morgan Polikoff shares his view that the standards movement in general, and Common Core in particular, have achieved all they are going to…

When it comes to improving student achievement in mathematics, a core belief is that curriculum materials are of the utmost importance. However, the link between a curriculum program and student learning is affected by the ways in which teachers use resources to design learning experiences. In the first half of this commentary, I raise questions…

In this essay, the author argues that English language learners (ELLs) can meet and exceed the Common Core State Standards, and that more complex materials are in fact precisely what they need. Lack of access to such materials is what prevents ELLs from attaining full proficiency in English.

The Common Core State Standards, released in 2010, were rapidly adopted by more than 40 states. Champions maintained that these rigorous standards would transform American education, but the initiative went on to encounter a bumpy path. A decade on, what are we to make of this ambitious effort? What kind of impact, if any, has it had on the…

In the last issue of "American Educator," several scholars argued in favor of a common core curriculum. By common core, they meant that the curriculum should be broadly adopted (enabling improvements in instructional materials, student tests, and teacher training), but also limited (preserving instructional time for districts, schools,…

Discusses sex equity in home economics classrooms: sex equity's effect on student achievement and promoting equity. Focuses on classroom arrangement and organization, bias-free instructional materials, and attending to equity in verbal and nonverbal classroom language and interaction. (CT)

Argues that a school or district's ability to create effective learning conditions depends in large part on the extent to which policies exist to ensure that certain crucial principles are followed. Lists and discusses six policies to be considered by educators attempting to improve the quality of their programs. (FL)

Discusses the instructional effectiveness of using hypermedia as a form of computer-assisted learning (CAL). Methods needed for authoring large hypermedia documents are considered; and criteria for the evaluation of such systems are described, including usability, the effectiveness of guidance tools, and the learning achieved. (20 references) (LRW)

Discusses the military's use of job aids to address the following problems: how to put more training into instructional programs without increasing course length; how to save training development time and money without sacrificing student achievement; how to reduce training products; and how to increase short- and long-term performance. (MBR)

Discusses the importance of determining the reading difficulty of vocational materials. Explains how to determine the readability of materials, using the FORECAST Readability Formula, presenting guidelines on how to select sample passages, apply the Formula, and analyze the data. An example showing the Formula's use is provided. (LRA)

In the past, distance learning evaluations have been conducted as afterthoughts and have relied heavily on reaction questionnaires, which are unreliable and nonrepresentative of the participants involved. Even when evaluations attempted to collect information about changes in student achievement, questions were asked that confused the separate…

An Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) program developer rebuts observations made by Dan B. Fleming and Thomas C. Hunt. Distinguishes areas of program philosophy from secular humanism; points out that achievement test scores are higher among ACE program students; and responds to criticisms of grade program units. (CJH)