After years evaluating teacher professional learning programs, researchers Andrew J. Wayne, Jordan Rickles, Mengli Song, Seth Brown, and Michael S. Garet describe a study that changed their perspective. The study's takeaways about the design of teacher professional learning are important for everyone who seeks to create systems to support teaching…

Rural schools, especially smaller ones, offer enormous opportunities for teachers to get to know their students and to cultivate their academic talents. However, students with potential in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) face specific obstacles to having their talents fully realized in rural schools. Joni Lakin, Tamra…

The prevailing cultural narrative about middle school is that those years are extremely difficult, and the best students can hope for is to endure them until finding relief in high school. Nancy Deutsch argues that these years are, in fact, a time of great potential if schools can abandon their stereotypes about young adolescents and create school…

Middle school teacher Michael Yell and education professor Geoffrey Scheurman discuss a decades-long partnership of ongoing professional development opportunities that involve teachers, university faculty, and teacher candidates working together to create personalized, meaningful, and sustained initiatives that enhance the growth and skills of all…

Many schools and out-of-school organizations use social-emotional learning (SEL) programs to boost students' skills. Yet research shows that these programs can be difficult to implement and don't always meet students' needs. In response, Rebecca Bailey, Laura Stickle, Gretchen Brion-Meisels, and Stephanie Jones propose a new approach to SEL…

Although the world is changing rapidly, young people's developmental trajectory has remained the same. Just as in the past, today's young adolescents with still-developing prefontal cortexes are malleable, impulsive, and impressionable. But Phyllis Fagell identifies three areas where today's tweens are different from those of the past. They are…

Formal mentoring is the cornerstone of most teacher induction programs, but teachers receive support from informal mentors as well. The authors report on findings from a study of 57 first-year mathematics teachers in 11 school districts to describe who teachers' formal and informal mentors are, how teachers work with them, and how the functions of…

The BRIDGE Alternative Middle School in Lowell, Massachusetts, serves students ages 12-16 who have exhibited behavioral problems in traditional school settings, including problems such as truancy, multiple suspensions, mental health issues, peer conflicts, family dysfunction, academic problems, and gang involvement. Students referred to BRIDGE are…

School districts shape the conditions in which schools operate and as such can support or undermine school success and thus student success. All of which is to say that school districts matter. This article looks at the success of two districts whose low-income and minority students beat the odds in academic achievement. Lessons from these…

A middle school in Boston designs its curriculum and culture--from its nightly homework assignments to its Powerful Speaking Extravaganza--upon a foundation of strengthening students' motivation and ability to do the hard work necessary to accomplish their goals. Roxbury Prep's emphasis on perseverance finds support in a robust body of education…

This article describes 10 lessons learned from two decades of new teacher induction. These include: (1) A new teacher induction program requires a systemwide commitment to teacher development; (2) Induction programs accelerate new teacher effectiveness; (3) Standards-based formative assessment tools document impact; (4) Induction programs build a…

This article presents a teacher's story regarding the necessity of a laws such as Indian Education for All (IEFA). According to the law, all school personnel are expected to "gain an understanding of and appreciation for the American Indian people." It is deeply rooted in democracy and reflects so much of what the teachers believe about…