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Designer Learning Experiences: Bridging the Gap for Low-Income and Minority Students

The number of minority students outweighs the number of white students—yet underrepresented minorities still often face a worse quality education than their white counterparts. It’s prime time to meet the needs of a rapidly growing population, and fortunately, as a society, we are actively looking for ways to do just that. As of 2014, minorities have been projected to be over 50 percent of the K-12 student population, according to the U.S. Education Department’s Nation Center for Education Statistics. In the fall of 2014, about 49.8 million students attended public elementary and secondary schools. Of these students, 35.1 million were …

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Hope for High School Dropouts: How Increasing Graduation Rates Will Transform Our Country

Are math and science killing our high school graduation rates? More rigorous math and science requirements for high school graduation are in place. At the same time, dropout rates in this country are up. Is this a coincidence? Research back to 1990 showed that the US dropout rate rose to a high of 11.4 percent when students were required to take six math and science courses, compared with 8.6 percent for students who needed less math and science courses to graduate. The dropout rate is up to 5 percentage points higher when gender, race, and ethnicity are considered. Andrew Plunk, …

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The Dark Side of Educational Technology

There’s no denying that technology has great benefits for schools. However, any conversation that does not include the potential dangers of the widespread use of technology would not be complete. Here we will discuss the dark side of technology when it comes to its use in schools. Tablets are a learning fixture in many K-12 classrooms these days. Teachers, administrators, and parents have all been on board to push for one-to-one tablet programs in classrooms throughout the country. Why? Because a tablet has the potential to provide quick access to information and personalized learning. While few schools have met the …

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The Power of Parents: A Primer on Parental Involvement

Parents play a powerful role in the success of each generation of K-12 students. But these days there are many factors that prevent parents from getting involved. Here, we’ll take a deeper look at these issues—and what we as a society can do about them. What Happens When Parents Don’t Show Up? As educators, we talk a lot about the role of teachers in the lives of students and debate the best ways to strengthen the classroom experience for students from all backgrounds. There is only so much a teacher can do, though, particularly with large class sizes and limited …

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Saving School Libraries: How Technology and Innovation Help Them Stay Relevant

School libraries today have to be different from libraries of the past—or they will just lose their value completely. Stay tuned to figure out some of the changes libraries are making to become more worthwhile than ever before. Public school libraries have always served an admirable purpose in education. In their indirect way, they’ve given students support in learning endeavors and been a go-to spot for information. That said, the first Internet generation now is now rising through the public school ranks. Students now rely on the Internet for more of their information than ever before. Libraries need big changes …

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Reviving Creativity: How to Bring Art Back to Schools

As schools look for ways to slash their budgets, it’s become en vogue to treat art programs as disposable. After all, children need to be prepared for the future, and the future is in STEM, not in the arts, right? Unfortunately, it’s not quite that simple. Some schools find the arts unnecessary, but advocates are fighting to show America that art is still a subject that needs to be taught in schools. What’s the solution? Many schools have to cut their arts programs, and there is simply nothing they can do about that. Budget concerns and testing concerns are often …

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