STEM By Design / STEM Misconceptions
by Anne Jolly · Published 05/18/2014 · Last modified 11/28/2019
STEM doesn’t deserve some of the fallout that’s pummeled it of late. What’s an education initiative devoted to correcting deficiencies in education to do? Anne Jolly takes on some of the jaw-dropping attacks and works to set the record straight.
Kids on the Cusp / Passion-based Learning
by Mary Tarashuk · Published 04/27/2014 · Last modified 12/15/2019
Upper elementary teacher Mary Tarashuk – who has always viewed “teach” as an action verb – is learning to step back and let students pursue their interests and passions more often, with the help of laptops & content-specific anchor activities.
Effective STEM programs prepare more students to pursue STEM-related careers and help assure economic prosperity, says consultant Susan Pruet. To achieve this level of success, programs must cultivate informed and involved community and school leaders.
Book Reviews / Race, Class and School
by John Norton · Published 04/03/2014 · Last modified 11/24/2019
Teacher José Vilson’s must-read book, This Is Not A Test, cuts through political platitudes into the heart of America’s unresolved contradictions: public education and democratic principles; equity and privilege, race and class, says reviewer John Norton.
Thomas Newkirk urges us to consider how, in a test-crazed culture, we can stay focused on what matters for our students. Holding On To Good Ideas in a Time of Bad Ones is not a literacy ‘how-to’ book, says Jenni Miller, but important nonetheless.
Though the author tackles many reform issues and includes significant research, reviewer Emily Barksdale found Unleashing the Positive Power of Differences: Polarity Thinking in Our Schools both too broad and too dense to help teacher leaders.
Closing the Achievement Gap / Two Teachers in the Room
by Elizabeth Stein · Published 01/27/2014 · Last modified 11/23/2019
Current policies & practices supported by education reformers do not assure that students with disabilities can achieve Common Core standards, says special educator Elizabeth Stein. Inclusion students and teachers are trapped in a tangled web.
Strong Partnerships / Two Teachers in the Room
by Elizabeth Stein · Published 12/15/2013 · Last modified 11/26/2019
Although professional development, administrative support & common planning time are all very important and necessary, writes Elizabeth Stein, what matters most in achieving effective inclusion is how the two teachers in the room are approaching the experience.
Guest blogger Carolyn DeCristofano shares ways that she and her curriculum writing colleagues have put math square in the middle of the STEM action.
This is a must-read book for teacher leaders, says our reviewer, offering the stories of 8 educators who seek a new kind of teacher role in America’s schools.
