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

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Social and Emotional Techniques That Help Students Focus on Academic Progress at Mount Desert Elementary

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Blogs on Diversity

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Five Steps to Widening the College Pipeline for African American and Latino Students

Danielle Moss LeeJanuary 5, 2012

Tags Achievement Gap, College Readiness, Diversity, , Urban Schools, Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle (6-8), High (9-12)

After decades of educational attainment gains among African-American and Latino students, American educators find themselves in the midst of a major retraction of many of those gains for the students who can least afford it. In an ideal world, we'd just add curriculum to young minds and stir for stellar academic results.

After decades of educational attainment gains among African-American and Latino students, American educators find themselves in the midst of a major retraction of many of those gains for the students who can least afford it. In an ideal world, we'd just add curriculum to young minds and stir for stellar academic results. Read More

Kicking off 2012 with Two Blog Series

Betty RayDecember 28, 2011

Tags Diversity, New Teachers

Join us for two new blog series featuring weekly posts from two prominent educators.

Seven Ideas for Revitalizing Multicultural Education

Andrew MillerNovember 10, 2011

Tags Diversity, Primary (K-2), Teacher Development, Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle (6-8), High (9-12)

"Not multicultural education, just excellent education." -- William Ayers

I had the privilege of attending (and presenting) at the National Association for Multicultural Education International Conference last week in Chicago

Rights for Transgender Students

Elena AguilarJuly 28, 2011

Tags Bullying, Diversity, Teacher Development, All Grades, California

The driving force behind my work is a commitment to social justice, ensuring that all students get what they need in our public schools regardless of race, class, ethnicity, home language, ability, gender, and sexual orientation.

The High Cost of Sites that Mock Student Vernacular

Belia Mayeno SaavedraMay 18, 2011

Tags Achievement Gap, Diversity, Literacy, , Teacher Development, All Grades

Editor's Note: Today's guest blogger is Belia Mayeno Saavedra, a Community Action Program Coordinator for Youth Radio in Oakland CA.

Please also note that this post examines both student and Internet vernacular. If you are uncomfortable with this type of language, you may wish to read something else. This post first appeared as Sh*t My Students Write and Its Flaws on Turnstyle.

Sh*t My Students Write and Dumb $#!% My Students Say are new meme-sites poking fun at the fumbles and goofs of students. Classroom quotes and essay excerpts are posted by teachers and take the basic meme formula from Sh*t My Dad Says and other quick-and-dirty quotables. But at a time when schools across the country are suffering severe budget cuts, and students enter institutions with increasingly limited resources, what are these sites bringing to the conversation about education?

Using Project-Based Learning to Teach World Languages

Don Doehla, MA, NBCTApril 21, 2011

Tags Curriculum, Diversity, Global Education, Lesson Plans, Project-Based Learning, Travel, High (9-12), California, Geography, World Language Learning

Editor's Note: Today's guest blogger is Don Doehla, French teacher and instructional coach at Vintage High School in Napa, California. Don recently stepped up to become the new facilitator of our World Languages group. He's got some great ideas for teaching world languages, including the use of project-based learning. He shares a few of these tips today. We hope you'll join him in the World Languages group as well.

The world may be small and flat, but it is also multilingual, multicultural, and more and more, it is an interconnected world. Consequently, cross cultural communicative competencies are increasingly important for mutual understanding and cooperation - how is that for some alliteration?! Our students' need to be able to communicate with their neighbors, here and abroad, is increasing with every moment which passes! The borders separating our countries are diminishing in importance as the global culture emerges. The definition of who my neighbor is has changed as well. No longer are we isolated from what is happening across the globe. Recent events demonstrate this quite well! Examples abound for everyone on the planet. We must be able to communicate well and proficiently across the kilometers which separate us.

Escuelas sin Fronteras

Milton ChenJanuary 17, 2011

Tags Diversity, Place-Based Learning, Teacher Development, Travel, All Grades, Arkansas, English Language Arts, California, World Language Learning, New Mexico, Texas

What does this title mean? Put it into Google Translate, or your favorite translation engine, and see. Technology is making it much easier for us to learn other languages.

Paula White on Letting Kids Lead

Betty RayJanuary 10, 2011

Tags Classroom Management, Differentiated Instruction, Diversity, Primary (K-2), Rural Schools, Teacher Development

Editor's Note: Today's guest blogger is Paula White, a grandma, teacher, Apple Distinguished Educator (ADE), DEN STAR, Google Certified Teacher, camper, Gifted Resource Teacher, NETS*T certified, and lover of learning.