Perspectives

Using Classroom Observation to Create a Learner-Centric Culture

Districts that are serious about creating learner-centered classrooms need quality information about how well their classrooms are at encouraging active learning, using individual monitoring and feedback, and employing technology to encourage more hands-on, student-directed activities in their...

The Human Side of Robotics Education

Robotics education has emerged as one highly visible indicator of the growing student interest in STEM programming in the schoolhouses of Crown Point, Indiana. Currently, Crown Point High School hosts six VEX Robotic teams made up of 38 students who regularly compete at the state, regional and...

STEM Graduates Not Workforce Ready? Employers Should Look in the Mirror as to Why

For well over a decade, business groups and politicians of all stripes have been strongly decrying the dearth of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) students in the United States. This deficiency, they assert, imperils the United States’ position as a global economic and military...

Case Study: Norris School District

Overview

Norris School District, located roughly 12 miles south of Lincoln, Nebraska, serves over 2100 students in a rural setting.  The Elementary (PK-4), Middle (5-8) and High (9-12) schools are co-located within a 270-acre campus.  Student enrollment has been...

Say No to ‘Checklist’ Accountability

Calls for scorecards and rating systems of higher education institutions that have been floating around Washington, if used for purposes beyond providing comparable consumer information, would make the federal government an arbiter of quality and judge of institutional performance.

This...