Tag: teacher

Continued support after initial professional learning is essential to see gains in student achievement. A report on effective professional development from the U.S. Department of Education stated that when there are at least 49 hours of professional learning, student achievement on state standardized tests increased by at least 21 percentile points. However,...

Dianne Henderson and Gene Kerns offer practical strategies to help all students reap the benefits of readingA new report says that nearly half of kids read for less than 15 minutes per day. No skill is more essential to students than reading. Every other domain of learning plays...

It has only been in the last decade or so that dyslexia has been recognized as a legitimate issue. In the past, dyslexia has been ignored, discounted, or morphed to fit under existing learning disabilities. With further research and clear evidence, it’s becoming not only recognized and understood but finally addressed in education. The movement is...

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and leaders in Congress have been called to act to address the lack of teacher diversity in our nation’s classrooms in a letter from a coalition of 75 education organizations representing teachers, preservice teachers, school counselors, education staff, principals, superintendents, charter school leaders, education...

The benefits of free, voluntary reading are undeniable, but finding books that are interesting and exciting without being too advanced can be a challenge. This is where leveled readers really come to the fore—they are designed to deliver great stories and interesting nonfiction to learners at a comprehensible level.

Richard Lederer recognizes the original influencersOne of my favorite newspaper corrections reads: "It was incorrectly reported last Friday that this is T-Shirt Appreciation Week. It is actually Teacher Appreciation Week." Well, this year, Teacher Appreciation Week takes place May 6–May 11. Teachers change the world one child at...

There are many paths to becoming a teacher of a second or foreign language: for some, it’s the natural progression from studying a language; others start by giving informal individual, private, or group classes or helping friends study their own language. Having lived in a country where demand for your language is...

Despite multiple studies pointing to teacher professional development as being the most decisive factor in student achievement, funding for such programs can still be hard to find, and there are plenty of different opinions on what types of program are most beneficial.  Last month, the Bill and Melinda...

Andrea Honigsfeld and Maria Dove examine the architecture of co-assessment practices for English learnersThe topic of assessment often weighs heavily on the shoulders of many teachers. More specifically, educators in general have concerns about gathering appropriate and adequate assessment data from a variety...

U.S. Department of Education data show that English learners in grades K–12 in U.S. public schools in the 2015–16 school year numbered over five million students—about 10 percent of all enrolled students—and that roughly three-fourths of public school districts included students who are English learners. Many teachers, including those in small and rural districts, have one or more English...