Educators in a school district that conducts well-designed formative assessments should be able to accurately predict how students will perform on midterms, finals and high-stakes exams. A growing number of experts and administrators insist that if a district excels at formative assessment, its students shouldn’t have to sit through so many high-stakes tests. “We don’t […]

Three chronically underperforming Baltimore City Public Schools are now getting intensive, hands-on guidance from educators at a fourth district school, Commodore John Rodgers, that has achieved a dramatic turnaround. Educators at the struggling elementary and middle schools—Harford Heights, James McHenry and Mary E. Rodman—won’t just follow a set of guidelines. Rodgers’ principal, Marc Martin, has […]

Middle and high school students in Providence, Rhode Island, can earn badges—and class credit—for skills learned in after-school programs. The Providence Afterschool Alliance offers badges to its 2,000 students for completing STEM activities and for displaying skills such as problem-solving, communication and perseverance. “We work to give value to learning beyond the school space” says […]

Districts have several options when introducing a badging program. For students, the process tends to be more intricate because these badges, often awarded for soft skills and career-preparation activities, contain metadata that details what students did to earn the badges. Such higher-tech “open badges” can be shared on social media and live on an online […]

Next time you want to reward students or teachers for going above and beyond, consider how you might turn that recognition into something substantial—something a high-achiever can add to a rˆš©sumˆš© or an e-portfolio. Give them a digital badge for excelling in a skill such as teamwork or leadership, and they can take it with […]

KANSAS CITY, Kansas—Superintendent Cynthia Lane learned the cello a few years ago, but not to fulfill some lifelong dream of soloing with the local symphony. The leader of Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools, who played clarinet in high school, now performs alongside fourth- and fifth-graders in their annual spring strings concert. Fifth-graders also spend months […]

Syracuse City Schools in New York took a stand in 2015 to protect students from what leaders saw as a prejudice in the college application process. The district stopped releasing the graduates’ disciplinary records to colleges, a practice that continues in many other districts nationwide. Syracuse schools also had been under pressure from New York’s […]

The National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE), which helps schools find resources to teach the subject, is among several organizations campaigning for state bills that would mandate media literacy instruction in public schools. “The goal is not to create cynical people who don’t trust anything—it’s about creating informed skeptics” says Michelle Ciulla Lipkin, NAMLE’s […]