On the surface, this trickle-down view of educational change--what T. Nichols calls "innovation-from-above"--makes sense. Teachers learn about new devices, apps, teaching techniques, and leadership strategies as they show up in articles, reports, and other professional resources, or after they have already been implemented elsewhere.…

According to Jim Knight, learning something new--such as a new instructional approach or other innovation--and applying it in practice is complex and involves adaptations that take time. Knight describes the five stages he believes people go through in learning and practicing any innovation, from "non-use," gradually up to the stage of…

Our traditional professional development format at faculty meetings felt tired. While our schools--Constable and Monmouth Junction Elementary Schools in the South Brunswick School District in New Jersey--are known for their commitment to meaningful and innovative professional development for staff, weekly Monday faculty meetings didn't always…

Innovative teaching means the teacher is the creator, but unfortunately it does not necessarily mean the same for the students. Innovation is not just "doing" something new; it is "thinking" of new ways to improve a product, a method, or an idea. How can educators teach students to become better innovators themselves? This…

Most new teachers avoid exposing their vulnerabilities or having peers (or principals) witness their mistakes in teaching. But, France points out, "it's hard to be a great teacher if you can't make yourself vulnerable." Being willing to take risks, make mistakes, expose your own emotions, and hear constructive criticism is necessary if a…

High school instructional leaders describe how they reframed professional learning around autonomy with structured support. The new system, guided by trust and teacher inquiry, sparked innovation that proved critical during the pandemic.

Besides "thinking outside the box," the creativity needed to solve problems often involves thinking differently about the box, finding a new approach or off-beat way to use the materials, conditions, and even constraints that one has. Spencer discusses creative constraint--what happens when a problem solver runs into barriers that make…

The Clayton Christiansen Institute maintains a database of more than 400 schools across the United States that have implemented some form of blended learning, which combines online learning with brick-and-mortar classrooms. Data the Institute has collected over the past six months suggests three trends as this model continues to evolve and mature.…

Elementary students at the Milton Hershey School in Hershey, Pennsylvania, don't just learn knowledge and skills; they put it to work. The school's Innovation Lab for grades K-4 offers students hands-on opportunities to use design thinking to solve problems. In this article, two of the school's educators describe how 2nd graders used design…

Throughout the pandemic, the Getting Smart team (which Tom Vander Ark leads as CEO) worked with public school districts in Kansas, Missouri, and Texas, as well as charter schools in six additional states to support hybrid, virtual, and return-to-school strategies and plans. During the year and a half that education systems spent in crisis…

This author contends that the United States neglects creativity in its education system. To see this, he states, one may look at the Common Core State Standards. If one searches the English Language Arts and Literacy standards for the words "creative," "innovative," and "original"--and any associated terms, one will…

"Whether your state has adopted the Next Generation Science Standards or will soon revise its own science standards, one thing is clear," writes noted science educator Jeff Marshall. "Change is underway--in what is learned, in how we teach, and in how we assess." This article offers five realizations that point to the potential…

The term "best practice" is widely used throughout education despite lack of evidence or consensus concerning which practices are "best." The pervasive use of this term creates three problems. First, it promotes a plug-and-play approach, in which teachers are encouraged to adopt new methods and use them as much as possible but…

Expectations for high-level academic writing, especially in the Common Core era, have never been higher. Middle school and high school students are being asked to do close readings of complex texts and then respond in writing using academic discourse. This is a challenging task for many students, but perhaps none as great as for English language…

In this article, Bryan Goodwin delves into the reason behind addictive use of smartphones, tablets, netbooks, and e-readers, and considers whether introducing them into classrooms will help or hinder learning.