Has Covid-19 Driven a Permanent Wedge Between America’s Public and Private Schools?
If you live in many towns and cities across the United States, you are familiar with the great divide between the public and private schools near you. Read more
Posts
More Summer Learning Opportunities for Teachers
We recently wrote a post about educational programs that can help teachers hone their skills and add to their credentials over the coming summer months.
Today, we would like to widen our lens a little and explore still more opportunities for teachers to learn this summer. These programs can help you get energized and ready for your classroom to open again in the fall or 2021. And you’ll be happy to hear that most of the opportunities we list below are free. Read more
How Far Have Students Fallen Behind During Covid-19?
An analysis of data from 4.4 million students provides answers
You have probably wondered how far students have fallen behind in their learning during Covid-19.
You have probably also heard your fellow teachers offer an opinion on the topic that usually goes something like this . . . Read more
Summer Advancement Opportunities for Teachers
As we move toward spring, most teachers are forced to concede that the 2020-21 school year was the greatest challenge ever in their professional lives. First of all, it was a challenge to teach. And second, this year proved to be a daunting obstacle to career progress. Suddenly, the possibilities of career advancement seemed to fade away – whether that progress meant choosing a teaching specialty, becoming a school principal, becoming head of a department, or finding a job in a different school or school system. Read more
Needed: Black Teachers
Black History Month is an opportunity to remind all Americans of the important role Black teachers have played since Reconstruction in empowering communities politically and socially. But today, it is particularly critical to convince more African Americans to join the profession. The U.S. faces a looming teacher crisis and:
How teachers can confront student’s pandemic-era excuses for not getting work done
“The Cloud Ate My Homework” . . .
There was a time when students could sometimes get out of doing their assignments by telling their teachers excuses like these . . .
- “My dog ate my homework.” We’re not sure if any student ever used this excuse, but it is now considered a classic for not turning in assignments.
- “My grandfather died.” Poor old grandpa died repeatedly in some families, just to give kids an excuse to stay home.
- “I’m sick.” Of course, students do get ill. But many more of them claim to be sick when they aren’t. It’s probably the most common way of getting excused from going to school.
Why Having a Teacher as First Lady Is Bound to Help Education in America
Welcome, Jill Biden . . .
First Lady Jill Biden is clearly smart, resourceful, warm, courageous, and highly supportive of her husband. But she has something else going for her . . .
Jill Biden is a teacher Read more
A Pandemic Reading List for High School Students
If you teach high school students and would like them to develop a historical perspective on the great plagues and pandemics in history, we would like to suggest you let them know about the books on the list that we have compiled below.
One reassuring lesson these books teach is that the current Covid-19 pandemic, horrible as it is, might not be the most frightening or devastating world health disaster in history. Plus, these books contain a varied and useful selection of topics for students to research and explore. What public health initiatives were used to combat these prior pandemics, for example? What countermeasures did people use to combat them, and are there lessons we can learn? How was society changed, and what changes are still visible today? Read more
Mental Health Resources for Teachers During Covid-19
Teaching is one of the most rewarding professions. But we also know that during the current pandemic, teaching has become one of the most challenging.
If you are a teacher and you are becoming discouraged, you are certainly not alone. Read more
Teaching Citizenship Skills to Future American Leaders
Calls to boost civic education are growing, and teachers need help answering that call. The RAND Corporation finds only 1 in 5 social studies teachers nationwide feels well-prepared to support their students’ citizenship education. Consistent with our commitment at the Student Research Foundation (SRF) to support teachers in preparing students for life after high school, we want to share two resources that may help all educators – and particularly those who feel caught between community pressures and lack of resources. Read more