Study examines effective teaching practices
Some long-held teaching practices have not been effective, such as customizing instruction to learner styles, according to a report from the National Research Council’s Committee on Developments in the Science of Learning. The report examines the science behind learning and makes several recommendations for schools, including understanding students’ prior knowledge and experiences and supporting students in directing their own learning.
Full Story: Education Week (tiered subscription model)
Program helps teachers pronounce students’ names
Mispronouncing a student’s name can be interpreted as disrespectful and even discriminatory, says Tiffany Young of the Washoe County School District in Nevada. The My Name, My Identity campaign, developed in partnership with the National Association for Bilingual Education, offers best practices to help teachers pronounce students’ names correctly.
Full Story: District Administration magazine online
Makerspaces give students chance to “shine”
A rural Montana school district has installed high-tech makerspaces in two elementary schools, the middle school and the high school. Superintendent Andy Carlson says the makerspaces can engage certain students and give them an opportunity to “shine.”
Full Story: The Hechinger Report
How to give academic lessons relevance
Real-world, career-related experiences can offer students a connection to academic lessons, according to Stephen Plum, a high-school science teacher. In this blog post, he shares how showing students that academic lessons have relevance in the real world can help prepare students for careers.
Full Story: Edutopia online
Studies link repeating grade to dropout rate
Students who were held back in fourth or eighth grade were 5 percentage points more likely to drop out of school in Louisiana and 10 percentage points more likely to drop out in New York City, according to recent studies. Paco Martorell, a professor at the University of California at Davis who studied the New York City policy said, “The takeaway from this would be that, at a minimum, we should be retaining fewer middle school students.”
Full Story: Chalkbeat
Audrey Altmann is an editorial assistant at SmartBrief.
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