WHAT WORKS IN EDUCATION The George Lucas Educational Foundation

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

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Comprehensive Assessment: A New York City Success Story at School of the Future

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Project-Based Learning from Start to Finish

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A Parent's Guide to 21st-Century Learning

Blogs on Student Engagement

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Projects and Partnerships Build a Stronger Future

Suzie BossJanuary 11, 2013

Tags Project-Based Learning, Student Engagement, New Mexico

On a visit to the Architecture, Construction, and Engineering Leadership High School in the old town area of Albuquerque, New Mexico, you might be struck at first by what this unique public charter school lacks. There are no classes in the traditional sense. No bell schedule. No cafeteria. No hallways -- just a big, open space in an industrial building that once housed a call center. On the perimeter are eight classrooms that are assigned to projects, not teachers.

Two Questions for Penny Kittle: On Teacher Burnout and Motivating Teenage Writers

Todd FinleyJanuary 9, 2013

Tags Literacy, Student Engagement, Teacher Burnout, High (9-12), English Language Arts

Penny Kittle

Write Beside Them: Risk, Voice, and Clarity in High School Writing is a compelling and seminal work on the practicalities of teaching writing to high school English students from New Hampshire teacher and literacy/instructional coach Penny Kittle. You can also watch the speech she gave when that book earned her the 2009 NCTE Britton Award. I've used the book and accompanying DVD for three years now, and my English education pre-service teachers have called the unequivocally helpful text "warm, inspiring and intelligent," "100 % heart," and hailed the author as "a writer's teacher of writing."

Deeper Learning: A Collaborative Classroom Is Key

Rebecca AlberDecember 31, 2012

Tags Student Engagement, Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle (6-8), High (9-12)

What's ideal when it comes to collaboration in our classrooms? Here's one coveted scenario: several children gathered at a table engaged in a high-level task, discussing, possibly debating an issue, making shared decisions, and designing a product that demonstrates all this deeper learning.

Teaching Presentation Skills with Ignite

Andrew MillerDecember 28, 2012

Tags Performance Assessment, Student Engagement, Middle (6-8), High (9-12)

I know that, in my project-based learning classroom, students did presentations all the time for a variety of purposes. One of the key components of a PBL project is the 21st-century skill of presentation or communication. We know that this presentation can take on any number of shapes, from something formal to a podcast or even a poster session. I always struggled with getting quality presentations from my students. I used a variety of teaching techniques and examples, but there is one that I know can really help improve presentation skills: Ignite!

Believing in Students: The Power to Make a Difference

Dr. Richard CurwinDecember 26, 2012

Tags Best Practices, Student Engagement, Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle (6-8), High (9-12)

After a morning Discipline With Dignity training, the high school principal and I walked to the cafeteria to eat lunch. He said, "I love your session, but it's not practical." I responded with my view that it was practical because it works -- but it’s just not easy.

Kicking A Digital Addiction: What Happens When Students Must Unplug

Bill SmootDecember 21, 2012

Tags Mobile Learning, , Student Engagement, Technology Integration

When I explained the assignment, the classroom erupted in cries and groans. Students in my sophomore “The Individual and Society” course were to spend 48 hours, from 7:00 p.m. Friday to 7:00 p.m. Sunday, without electronic media. The course examines the relationship between the individual and society in three modes: politics, economics, and culture. This was an assignment during the third mode, and we were exploring how electronic media shape an individual’s relation to the larger culture.

Deeper Learning: Performance Assessment and Authentic Audience

Shawn CornallyDecember 20, 2012

Tags Comprehensive Assessment, Formative Assessment, Performance Assessment, Student Engagement

In a conversation with a veteran educator -- a man with years of experience teaching English and acting as a headmaster -- I was confronted with a prejudice so ingrained in my teaching that I was almost embarrassed to admit it.

He said, "You know, when I ask a student to write a paper and turn it in to me, that's ridiculous; I'm the worst audience they could have."

I was intrigued.

Working with Students Who Have a Hard Time Collaborating

Robin NewtonDecember 18, 2012

Tags Project-Based Learning, , Student Engagement, All Grades

You already know collaboration is essential to today's classroom -- especially in the age of Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills Framework (P21). Students who truly collaborate construct knowledge together. When we ask students to collaborate, we’re asking them to take responsibility for their learning.

Okay. You get it. Collaboration's important. But how do you motivate productive collaboration within your classroom? First, figure out what's going on with the uncollaborative student.

A Joyful, Brain-Friendly Classroom

Elaine KennedyDecember 17, 2012

Tags Primary (K-2), Project-Based Learning, Student Engagement, Upper Elementary (3-5), Middle (6-8)

I took my handicapped dog of 15 years for a walk in the grass. Maddie has gone from not being able to walk on her hind legs (a neurological problem) to gradually being able to walk with an awkward, back-legs-don't-really-know-where-they're-landing gait. Let me relate Maddie’s experience to brain-compatible elements that my teachers implement at New Morning School every day.

Snapshot of a Deeper Learning Classroom: Aligning TED Talks to the Four Cs

Heather Wolpert-GawronDecember 13, 2012

Tags Comprehensive Assessment, Differentiated Instruction, Student Engagement, Middle (6-8), High (9-12)

Edutopia is pleased to premiere the first blog in a new series designed to showcase compelling examples of how students are developing 21st century skills through a deeper-level of learning. Through this blog series, we hope to increase awareness and encourage replication of successful models.

Chris Anderson, TED curator. (Photo credit: Pierre Omidyar via Wikimedia Commons)

As many of my readers know, this year I have been dedicated to using the 21st Century four Cs. The four Cs are a rubric of sorts that help align lessons to more reality-based learning and assessing.