Principals and superintendents are regularly required to write improvement plans. These are typically derided as being "left on the shelf" when they are supposed to be "living documents". The implication is that educational leaders are not working on their plans the way they are supposed to. Isobel Stevenson suggests that the…

In its well-intentioned effort to create alternatives to public school dropout factories, the charter school sector has created teacher burnout factories. But it does not have to be this way. Charter schools can continue to maintain high standards while creating a more sustainable work environment for teachers. This article examines the teacher…

Every year, children enter PreK and kindergarten with varied early education experiences, and the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the problem. The need to respond to students' changing situations gives school districts and states an opportunity to reconsider how they are helping children and their families make the transition into kindergarten.…

Research tells us that children's social-emotional development can propel learning. A new program, SECURe, embeds that research into classroom management strategies that improve teaching and learning. Across all classrooms and grade levels, four principles of effective management are constant: Effective classroom management is based in…

The author interviewed hundreds of adolescents about what makes them interested in learning, in and out of school. The result is a formula hinging on creating eight conditions that spur kids to take active, motivated roles in their own learning.

Traditional behavioral plans for children with Asperger syndrome often neglect what they need to learn to manage their anxiety and the underdeveloped skills that contribute to their anxiety. School personnel often identify a desirable target behavior and try to reinforce it through rewards (stickers, praise, etc.), which usually does not work.…

This article provides 12 tips for teachers to help make online teaching successful. Included are suggestions with examples, a scoring rubric for assessing student responses in threaded discussions, and examples of student comments. (Contains 1 figure.)

Being a principal, superintendent, dean, provost, or president carries a wide array of responsibilities and burdens. An inevitable part of being a leader is that some decisions are very hard to make which means that leaders carry a huge emotional burden. Author Rick Ginsberg identifies strategies that educational leaders have identified as helping…

In this article, the author objects to what curricularists and teachers often believe that meaningful activities in school have to be scripted, planned to the nth degree and assigned learning objectives and goals ahead of time, or they have no educational worth. Instead, he used Elliot Eisner's classic curriculum text, "The Educational…

Inflation may force teachers to take extreme measures in the fall of 1974. If a strike is coming, the inevitable nastiness can be reduced through careful planning. (Editor)

We have built a world for ourselves that relies almost exclusively on mental processes. (Author)

During a "planning" period in the teachers' lounge of a large American high school, conversation turned to uniform, numerical grading systems versus locally determined letter grades. Then various teachers attempted to apply numerical grades to a colleague's coffee-making skills, and a visiting superintendent missed out on a grade-A cup of coffee.…

Creating a unitary system to support educating handicapped students in their neighborhood general education programs requires that general and specialized services complement and support each other and that all personnel employ instructional strategies that meet diverse students' needs. Restructuring efforts require careful planning,…

Taking students seriously is the key to the student evaluator model. Aided by an experienced evaluation facilitator, students design and carry out evaluations of specific programs in which they are involved. For a project to succeed, those in charge must place their trust in the students and help create a climate of acceptance for the project. Two…