Topic: Continuous Improvement
Moving to a Next-Generation Accountability System
Section 3 of 10. Expedience should not lead us to recreate what we had or choose indicators based on what is easiest to measure. We need to create a system that gathers information about all aspects of what schools do (from teaching and learning to resource allocation to governance), reveals... Read the full article >
Generation Beta: Coding Breeds Collegiality And Boosts STEM Program Success
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Green STEM: STEM as It's Meant to Be
Roland Quitugua, a leading scientist in the U.S. territory of Guam, stood before a room of 60 public school teachers, describing his tireless efforts to eradicate a devastating problem on the tiny island in the Western Pacific: the Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle. Holding an embroidery hoop with a three centimenter black... Read the full article >
Helping All Students Succeed: A Plan to Narrow the Achievement Gap in STEM Education
If we are purposeful and intentional in our actions, we can begin to narrow the achievement gap in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) classrooms. The study, “Effective, Sustained Inquiry-Based Instruction Promotes Higher Science Proficiency Among All Groups” published in the Journal of Science Teacher Education, showed that proficiency rates... Read the full article >
If You Want Better Collaboration Around STEM, Build Infrastructure
The structure for collaboration between STEM teachers already exists at most schools. The most recent Teachers Know Best survey suggests that upwards of 68 percent of teachers have dedicated collaboration time with peers. However, the same data suggests that this time is not well used, with only 7 percent of teachers... Read the full article >
AdvancED Launches STEM Certification Pilot
Imagine this as a typical day in an elementary, middle or high school: Elementary students working in collaborative groups to design rollercoasters with simple, everyday materials to learn about force and motion. High school and middle school teachers facilitating student-led discussions and asking questions to stimulate creative problem solving for... Read the full article >
Systematic Change in Education Begins with a New Vision for Professional Development
In his now-classic book The Fifth Discipline, Peter Senge describes systems thinking as a “discipline for seeing wholes.” It is a framework for seeing interrelationships rather than things, for seeing patterns of change rather than static snapshots. “Systems thinking,” Senge writes, “offers a language that begins by restructuring how we... Read the full article >
Transition to a Catholic School District
The journey from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) model of our past to recognition by AdvancED as a School District has been an evolving process for the Office of Catholic Schools in the Diocese of Richmond, VA. Having the distinction of being the first Catholic diocese to... Read the full article >