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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More School Time, Well Spent, Boosts Academic Achievement and Engagement at Edwards Middle School

high school girls in a step dancing class

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Five Keys to Successful Social and Emotional Learning

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A Parent's Guide to 21st-Century Learning

Anthony Bencivenga

Tony Bencivenga, MA, is an innovator, instructional leader, and staff developer in project-based learning, constructivism, interdisciplinary planning, cooperative learning, middle school teaming, reality-based learning, media literacy, and social/emotional learning. During his thirty-seven years in education, he has been a middle school teacher and administrator as well as a university instructor and a coordinator of graduate-degree programs in education. In 2005, Bencivenga retired as principal of Benjamin Franklin Middle School, in Ridgewood, New Jersey, to undertake additional work in higher education and to work on a book on the social-emotional needs of teenagers.

Blog Posts

Tags Social and Emotional Learning

Recess Struggles: Students Help Teachers Maintain a Peaceful Playground

January 8, 2007

At lunchtime recess on elementary school playgrounds, ball fields, and schoolyards across the nation, the joyful sounds of children at play are often interrupted by shouts of distress: "She took my basketball!" "He cut ahead of me!" "It's my turn!" "You cheated!" "Stop pushing!"

Tags Social and Emotional Learning

On the Air: A Student's Dream Fulfilled

October 4, 2006

This is the fourth post in a series on student television broadcasts and how such programs foster students' academic and social and emotional development. Visitors may want to read the previous posts first:

Tags: , Middle (6-8), New Jersey

Tags Social and Emotional Learning

Student Broadcasters: Feature Stories Reflect Local and Global Awareness

October 3, 2006

This is the third post in a series on student television broadcasts and how such programs foster the students' academic and social-emotional development. Readers may want to read the other posts in this order:

Tags Social and Emotional Learning

Lights! Action! Camera!: Student News Coming Your Way

August 30, 2006

This post is the second part of a three-part blog entry. Read part one.

Tags Social and Emotional Learning

Small Screen, Big Success: Creating a Student-Produced Television Program

August 9, 2006

In an earlier post, I posed the question "How do we begin to create a school culture that values social and emotional well being while promoting academic success?" I suggested that it begins with a shared vision.

Tags Teacher Leadership

A Shared Vision: Reading Parents' Minds

April 4, 2006

How do we begin to create a school culture that values social and emotional well-being while promoting academic success? I believe it starts with a shared vision.