WHAT WORKS IN EDUCATION The George Lucas Educational Foundation

Log In

We share evidence-based K-12 learning strategies that empower you to improve education.

Featured:

School Transformation Through Arts Integration at Bates Middle School

Teacher leading a class in dance with arms outstretched

Featured:

Five Keys to Successful Social and Emotional Learning

Featured:

How to Thank a Teacher

Blogs on Education Trends

Education Trends

RSS

Get insight from educators on the latest ideas and innovations changing the way students learn.

"American Teacher" Examines Impact of Long Hours and Low Pay

S. Jhoanna RobledoSeptember 30, 2011

Tags Teacher Compensation, All Grades

It is a truth universally accepted that teachers -- most, if not all -- commit to the classroom because they love what they do. But shouldn't they be paid well, too, and prized for their contributions to society? That's the question posed by American Teacher, an absorbing, insightful and ultimately depressing documentary that joins the national fray over teacher compensation and turnover.

Why Civic Education Needs a Boost

Suzie BossSeptember 30, 2011

Tags Middle (6-8), High (9-12), All Grades

The next U.S. president won't be selected for more than a year, but election season is already in full swing. With it comes a timely -- if not urgent -- opportunity to help students become more engaged citizens.

Education Nation: Early Ed, Innovation and Some Unanswered Questions

Betty RaySeptember 30, 2011

Tags Accountability, Achievement Gap, Education Reform, All Grades

Last year, the first-ever Education Nation summit in New York City took a lot of heat for under-representing the teacher perspective. They dropped a divisive bomb from the get-go by screening the movie Waiting for Superman. Then they followed up with a panel discussion that pitted controversial then-DC chancellor Michelle Rhee against the head of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten. There was a clear pro-charter agenda which made for some controversial (and ratings-friendly) sound bites. And it really peeved a lot of teachers.

Math Education Professor Dor Abrahamson: Making Math Meaningful (Video)

Zachary FinkSeptember 28, 2011

Tags All Grades, California, Math

You should know right up front, I'm not a math guy. Left to my own devices, wandering the halls of just about any school, I gravitate to the social studies and art project rooms. It's not that I'm afraid of mathematics, I just like the stuff I can grab onto. Math always seemed too intangible.

A Primer on Curriculum-Sharing Sites

Vanessa VegaAugust 30, 2011

Tags Curriculum, Online Learning, Open Education Resources, Professional Learning Network (PLN), Teacher Development, All Grades

When I was teaching, the single greatest way for me to prepare was to have conversations with my colleagues who had taught the concepts before. For one, this helped all of us develop a common discourse, which was inevitably clearer once we were working through our thoughts in trying to explain ideas to each other.

Have We Been KIPP-notized?

David MarkusAugust 25, 2011

Tags Achievement Gap, Charter Schools, Comprehensive Assessment, Education Reform, Principals, , Student Engagement, Teacher Development, High (9-12), California

When the Edutopia coverage team arrived at the campus of KIPP King Collegiate High School in San Lorenzo, California, I was carrying some extra baggage. About five years ago, I had viewed televised reports about the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) schools in Houston and New York City, showing sixth, seventh and eighth graders, mostly African American and Latino, dressed in school uniforms and expressing their devotion to KIPP and its intensive approach to learning.

Connecting Project-Based and Blended Learning

Bob LenzAugust 3, 2011

Tags Blended Learning, Curriculum, Education Reform, Project-Based Learning, Technology Integration, Middle (6-8), High (9-12)

This guest blog post was written by Brian Greenberg, Envision School's former Chief Academic Officer.

Don't listen to the current education reform rhetoric: There is more than one way to educate a child. In fact, sometimes very different approaches can yield terrific results when combined together.

The Next Generation of School Turnarounds

Anne OBrienJuly 25, 2011

Tags Accountability, Achievement Gap, Education Reform, Teacher Development, All Grades

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that one of the areas where the federal government has focused its efforts in education recently is on school turnarounds. They want to identify chronically low-performing schools and concentrate on making them better -- significantly better -- quickly.

Debunking those Pesky Classroom Myths

Ben JohnsonJune 29, 2011

Tags Classroom Management, Education Reform, Student Engagement, Teacher Development, All Grades

We have all heard the following classroom myths: If you want discipline to go well, don't smile until Christmas, and, if you want to have good classroom management, never turn your back to the students.

A Different Perspective: Teaching to the Test

Ben JohnsonJune 20, 2011

Tags Accountability, Comprehensive Assessment, Education Reform, Standardized Testing, Student Engagement, All Grades

What does "teaching to the test" mean? I haven't actually ever seen this literally happen in a classroom: "Class, remember the answer to question 12 is A, 13 is B, and 14 is D." But, as much as it is maligned, isn't a form of teaching to the test the point of why we teach in the first place? I'm wondering how students can be successful on the state standardized test if we don't teach to it?