Insights Discover trends, challenges, and successes facing educators and students in our digital age. Editorial Collection Read the latest perspectives from veteran educators on topics that explore what's possible inside and beyond the classroom. Filter by Subject Areas Science Mathematics Social Studies Literacy Numeracy Coding and Computing Cross-Curricular STEM Search Clear Search 5 Principles of a Successful Digital Transition All across the country, school districts are adapting to digital curriculum to give their students the competitive edge they will need once they leave the classroom. Making this transition to digital learning can be fraught with fresh... 9 Steps for Superintendents Guiding a Districtwide Digital Transition Laying the foundation for a modern, digital learning environment can be thrilling — and terrifying. School administrators may be excited by the prospect of students learning at their own pace on devices loaded with interactive,... News Articles Full STEAM Ahead: How Fort Mill Schools Instills Engagement and Passion Sometimes being on top isn’t enough. In 2017, Fort Mill School District in South Carolina became the top-rated district in the state, garnering national acclaim for its students’ academic achievements, and being named to The College... STEM, Science Why Embracing New Ways of Teaching is a Worthwhile Risk This column was submitted by Branchburg Township School Districts’ (NJ) Superintendent of Schools Rebecca Gensel. "Every block of stone has a statue inside it, and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it." -... Coding and Computing 5 Classroom Technology Fears and How You Can Conquer Them Worst case scenario: You’re not totally comfortable with your classroom technology. You're standing in front of an impatient, adolescent audience during the last period of the day, pressing Play on a hilarious video you’ve selected... How Schools Are Bridging the Coding Gender Gap Turning girls onto computers and coding requires strong leadership, said Superintendent Dr. Kristine Gilmore of the D.C. Everest School District in Wisconsin. Computer science classes have long been the domain of boys. While girls and... Coding and Computing, Mathematics, Numeracy 6 Structures and Supports for the Inquiry Based Classroom Human beings are born to question. We are born to ask why. Inquiry begins with acquiring data and information through interactions with our environment. Stimuli provide us with information, and we ask questions to make sense of it... Helping Students Find Their Voice When I attended college, some of my favorite classes were those in which I felt empowered in how I pursued my studies. When my professors provided options, valued my opinion, and shifted the responsibilities for learning over to me, my... How St. Vrain Valley Schools Started a STEM Revolution Eight years ago, St. Vrain Valley Schools in Colorado started a STEM revolution. Today, its students, with projects that stretch from building robots to helping save an endangered species of frog, are reaping the benefits. We are proud... Science, STEM, Cross-Curricular, Literacy, Coding and Computing Science Techbook High School Civics is Cool Again High school graduates don’t know enough about American government. That’s the conclusion of a Department of Education report which highlighted the fact that less than a quarter of high school seniors scored proficient on the 2010... Social Studies, Literacy, Language Arts Social Studies Techbook Column: Building a Child’s Educational Cathedral This column was submitted by Virginia Beach City Public Schools' (Va.) Superintendent Dr. Aaron Spence, Virginia's 2017 Superintendent of the Year. Not long ago, I had the pleasure of spending a day with students from across the... Case Study: Behind the Scenes of Virginia Beach Schools’ 5-Year Tech Plan In 2014, Virginia Beach City Public Schools embarked on a radical digital transformation of its schools. This journey was timed to the arrival of its new superintendent, Dr. Aaron Spence, a native of the area who graduated from a... Science Science Techbook Case Study: DC Everest’s Lessons from a Districtwide 1:1 Conversion Many districts face the same challenges after choosing to embark on a 1:1 digital transition. They need to choose the right devices, the right curriculum supports, and they need to ensure their school board, every school employee, and... Science Techbook 5 Principles of a Successful Digital Transition All across the country, school districts are adapting to digital curriculum to give their students the competitive edge they will need once they leave the classroom. Making this transition to digital learning can be fraught with fresh... Helping Students Search for Truth in an Era of ‘Fake News’ “What is true and what is false?” This reads like a driving question for a unit of study in social studies. But in the current political climate, many people are asking this question in their daily lives. Fake news — the... Social Studies, Language Arts, Literacy 3 Ways ESSA Gets Computer Science Education Right If you're an educator, you're probably already familiar with The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). But questions abound regarding the status of this federal renewal of the No Child Left Behind Act. What education programs will or will... Coding and Computing, Mathematics Column: Managing and Leading Schools: Finding the Right Blend for Principals I sat in the back of a second-grade classroom, watching students being offered a choice. They could respond in two different ways to a text that the whole class had read — a folktale depicting a family’s annual tradition from... Modern Learning in the Great Outdoors In Rocky Mountain National Park, middle school students from St. Vrain Valley School District are sharing a trail with a mountain lion, bear cubs, a coyote, deer, and a skunk intent on spraying the area under cover of darkness. How... STEM, Science, Cross-Curricular, Literacy Navigating Controversial Topics in Middle School Classrooms Lately it seems as if every major issue in the country is dividing citizens. From the recent presidential election to debates about fake news, immigration, and health care, citizens are split on their positions. While having a divide... Social Studies Techbook Teacher Leaders: The (Not So) Secret Catalyst for Change While teacher leaders have always been an important part of a school’s culture, this type of leadership continues to gain much needed attention and momentum in school systems nationwide. There is such a strong need for this type of... 3 Things Teachers and Leaders Do to Personalize Learning The students in Sarah Johnson’s third period Algebra hunch over their desks working through the mysteries of Pythagoras. The room quietly echoes the sound of pencils on paper and the occasional desk squeak. From her perch in the back... 9 Steps for Superintendents Guiding a Districtwide Digital Transition Laying the foundation for a modern, digital learning environment can be thrilling — and terrifying. School administrators may be excited by the prospect of students learning at their own pace on devices loaded with interactive,... STEM for All: How to Create a Healthy STEM Ecosystem Many of the most valuable jobs of tomorrow depend on the STEM education happening in today’s classrooms. The US Bureau of Labor and Statistics projects that by 2020, there will be 1.4 million IT jobs available but only 400,000... Scientific Explanation: Providing a Framework for Understanding Science On almost a daily basis, there are articles in the news that seek to provide a scientific explanation for how or why a given natural phenomenon occurred. The topic may be climate change, nuclear energy, genetically modified food or... 7 Steps to Build Math Assessments Into Your Classroom In the last decade, there has been a growing movement toward integrating assessment in instruction and learning. Research has shown that embedding assessment opportunities for teachers and students provides insights into student progress... 5 Strategies for Using Primary Source Documents in Social Studies Classrooms Use of primary sources was once remarkably scarce, both during in-class instruction and in textbooks. The availability and accessibility of primary sources on the Internet has revolutionized social studies instruction. But how are... 4 Go-To Strategies for Engaging Digital Learners Today’s students live in a world of constant stimulation. Whether it’s Xbox, social media, or television, students have continuous access to highly enticing visual information, entertainment, and connectivity with friends. How do... Disciplinary Literacy: Helping Students Develop Insider Knowledge If we want students to learn biology, why not teach them to think, read and write like biologists? If we want them to learn history, shouldn’t they learn to think, read and write like historians? Approaching core subjects from this... 4 Key Components of Quality STEM Projects As educators, it is our role to create an environment conducive to high student engagement. In my classroom, one way I have learned to maintain student interest in a subject is by putting them in the driver’s seat. Developing quality... Myth-Busting Middle School Student Engagement Picture a student-centered classroom full of inquiry and engagement. Seventh-grade students are in groups—some students are around a computer conducting a virtual lab, others are working with their teacher reading an informational text...