Curriculum storyboards frame learning in clear, compelling ways for students and caregivers. By presenting curricula narratively, students can better grasp connections among concepts and picture learning as a process. Authors and education consultants Heidi Hayes Jacobs and Allison Zmuda share how educators can use storyboarding as a tool to…

Creating a coherent, high-quality curriculum--one that all teachers in a school or department use--can narrow gaps and raise overall achievement. Mike Schmoker makes the case for the primacy of curriculum and describes a process teacher teams can use to create a common, high-quality curriculum.

Increasing student agency doesn't mean having students choose among preselected options in their learning experience. Understanding what it means to have agency and the power of using one's voice are life skills that should start being developed in the classroom. Tanji Reed Marshall, director of P-12 practice at The Education Trust, explains why…

What information addresses teachers' greatest concerns and actually has value to improve their impact on student learning? Thomas Guskey and Laura Link share new research that points to five characteristics for effective instructional feedback.

Questions that challenge the curriculum can put educators on the defensive. Lauren Porosoff discusses helpful ways that educators can be proactive about creating productive and meaningful conversations with parents and community members about curriculum choices and the reasons behind them.

Author and education nonprofit leader Lynne Munson recounts how she helped steer an ambitious curriculum development initiative that worked directly in concert with teachers. More than a decade later, district leaders have learned much more about how coherent, classroom-tested, and teacher-supported curricula can transform student learning. With…

Teaching during a pandemic, with a constant need to invent or learn new ways to instruct and reach students, has been traumatic for many educators. Teachers are feeling burnout, moral injury, and compassion fatigue. School leaders can move teachers--and school systems--toward post traumatic growth by making four shifts to create organizational…

For well over a year, school shutdowns and sputtered reopenings have tested educators' resourcefulness and resolve. As the new school year begins, many are reflecting on small triumphs and lessons learned from that experience. One practice that proved central to many schools' resolve and resilience during this crisis was teachers' collaboration on…

Differentiated instruction has always been about providing every learner full opportunity to grow as much as possible academically, intellectually, and socially. A key principle of differentiation is "teaching up" (Tomlinson, 2021, 2022; Tomlinson & Javius, 2012). Teaching up is of particular importance at this moment in education…

New research shows where we've made progress and what still needs work, especially to retain educators of color. Richard Ingersoll and his team of researchers analyze the best national data to uncover what trends and changes have occurred in the diversity of the K-12 teaching force over time. Their five findings reveal some interesting facts. [A…

Infusing five processes into assignments can help students hone the skills they'll need to address complex problems. The world students will enter is full of complex, unpredictable problems--and students will need sophisticated thinking skills to cope. The authors unpack five thinking processes students need to internalize through opportunities in…

Many educators consider racial equity crucial but feel unsure what initial steps to take to start making positive change in their school. The interconnectedness of all elements of equity work makes taking action on one element difficult, Gutierrez notes--but we shouldn't let that reality lead to inaction or solutions that only involve adults…

When we feel like we matter, we can do our jobs better and feel more fulfilled. For educators, this can make the difference between staying in teaching or leaving. Researchers Shelly Wilfong and Ryan Donlan look at eight elements of the concept of mattering and how they can enhance a teacher's sense of efficacy.

Two advocates of grading reform, Joe Feldman and Douglas Reeves, answer questions about how grading practices and policies could--or should--be influenced by the current pandemic, and by U.S. schools' switch to distance learning. They weigh in on how the K-12 grading landscape will differ this fall--with likely more clarity about learning gaps and…

As consultants who infuse the "Habits of Mind" into schools, the authors explain how spreading these habits through school can increase the whole school's well-being and feed teacher efficacy. They list seven factors that can create a "culture of efficacy" that draws on these 16 habits (thinking dispositions at the core of…