Many schools are characterized by a pervasive tension between students and teachers: Teachers want students to learn and so they set high expectations for students. Students become anxious about those expectations and often become resistant to learning, perhaps out of fear that they can't meet those expectations. School leaders can make a…

Motivation involves creating the inspiration "to do" or "to achieve." Some students arrive at school fully motivated. Often, though, the opposite is the case. As a new teacher, the author had assumed what most in the field of education believe to be true: motivation springs from effective curriculum and instruction. Having some perfect blend of…

As students move up through the grades, the academic demands on them increase, and a great many of those increases come in the form of reading. The academic tasks students encounter in the upper elementary grades, and even more so in secondary school, involve a great deal of reading in support of learning new and complicated content. As the…

Sometimes it is important to put aside the research journals, political commentaries, and popular news about the state of education and stop long enough to listen to a voice of a 9-year-old. In this article, the author shares letters from her 9-year-old daughter Lina, who expresses her perspective on what matters most in a classroom. Lina's…

In this article, the author explores common characteristics of some out-of-school learning environments for African American students, drawing on findings from several studies of cultural and community practices--the game of dominoes, high school track and field, and middle and high school basketball. The author focuses on the broader question of…

In agreeing with the College Entrance Examination Board finding that social disruptions during the 1960s were one cause for declining test scores, the author recounts some disruptions that she faced in her classroom. (IRT)

A personalized school is one in which each individual person, whether student or teacher, matters a great deal and has a program that is good for him or her. Today, schools are faced with an equally large transition from arbitrary grouping patterns to personalized learning alternatives. Unfortunately, they are also currently blessed with policy…

The social literacy approach attempts to determine the systemic causes of discipline problems. (IRT)

Description of a parent-initiated open-education year-round elementary school. (IRT)

Experienced teachers often serve as mentors to novices. In this article, the authors explore a new variety of mentorship that is evolving as growing numbers of international teachers are hired to work in U.S. schools. It is stated here that effective mentoring, though not a guarantee, can significantly improve international teachers' cultural…

Teachers and administrators are often directed to distance themselves from the children in their charge. Despite the land mines that accompany personal relationships with students, the authors argue that educators can still learn to build personal relationships with students. Personal-relationship building is one of the most important skills a…

Creating a school as a humane business involves hard work, hard thinking, and degree of risk-taking. All too often finances and inadequate resources are used as excuse for maintaining the status quo. Educators are advised to eliminate bells, PA systems, detention, study halls, tracking, and lock-step scheduling patterns and to institute…

Students have learned social and political responses to the power structure of the schools. A critical self-study by schools is one kind of democratic reaction to the challenge students are offering. (DW)

In this article, the author shares the lesson she learned from her young friend, Mirabel, whose mother was dying. By following the daily path of support taken by Mirabel, she learned that it does not matter whether schools have a hundred kids, a thousand kids, or several thousand kids. Teachers must make sure that they can make room for each one.…