As the country continues to transition into a new normal because of the the COVID-19 pandemic, it is critical that schools and educators adopt a "whole child" approach to education, incorporating teaching methods that account for the ways that children grow and learn in their relationships, identity, emotional understanding, and overall…

There are abundant optimistic and pessimistic views about the potential educational impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) tools. The optimists envision that AI will enable teachers to do more of what only teachers can do for their students: build caring and trusting relationships; understand students' needs, backgrounds, and cultures; guide and…

State educational standards prescribing curricular and instructional objectives reveal much about the nation's lack of consensual understanding of patriotism. For example, many state standards finally encourage a non-committal arms-length approach to the study of American ideals in government and tradition. Yet, if students are to understand the…

Language education policy in Arizona has been on a rollercoaster over the last five years. Between 2019 and 2024, the state shifted from strict English-only enforcement to loosening restrictions and encouraging dual language approaches, then back to strict English-only enforcement. In this forum piece, we use approaches from critical discourse…

Teacher professional standards provide a fundamental framework for guiding, assessing, and supporting teachers' professional growth and practices with the aim of ensuring that each student has access to rigorous and equitable teaching and learning. The California Standards for the Teaching Profession (CSTP) has been widely influential in…

High-quality early learning experiences (i.e., developmentally appropriate, play-based instruction with clear learning goals) have positive long-term effects on student outcomes. As California rolls out Universal Transitional Kindergarten (UTK), district leaders focused on meeting state requirements for hiring qualified staff and finding…

With colleges and schools moving online to curb the spread of COVID-19, state leaders will need to act quickly to ensure that policies do not prevent student-teachers from graduating and becoming licensed to teach in the fall. This brief includes immediate and longer-term recommendations to prevent pandemic closures from escalating the teacher…

In this first of three whitepapers on designing curricula for diversity, the authors explain why equity and inclusion should be addressed in standardized curriculum materials and introduce the Equity and Inclusion Framework for Curriculum Design (EI-CD). [For Part 2, see ED615694. For Part 3, see ED615695.]

In the United States, political polarization has increased markedly since 2000, with consequences for local governments and state-level policymaking. Redistricting, and the role of social media as the dominant source of information for many in the U.S. has contributed to state and national legislatures that reflect more extreme political views. A…

For many students, developmental education is the largest obstacle to college success, hindering progress before they ever enroll in a college-level course. Postsecondary practitioners and researchers have been re-examining and challenging many traditional elements of developmental education from placement strategies to the sequence of courses…

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed an unprecedented education equity crisis in California. Since mid-March, almost all California schools and colleges have closed in response to the pandemic, requiring education leaders and administrators to stretch their resources to create or improve distance learning plans, support students' basic needs, and…

Education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics has captured the attention of state policymakers who are concerned about preparing students for an evolving workforce. By 2030, Institute for the Future estimates that 85 percent of the jobs that today's K-12 learners will be doing haven't been invented -- demanding a workforce that is…

Since March 2020, COVID-19 has required the implementation of remote learning options in K-12 public schools across North Carolina, ranging from fully online classroom experiences to hybrid scenarios in which students attend school both in person and remotely. In some locales, students continue to attend school in person most of the time, but with…

Developing and articulating clear goals for student social and emotional learning (SEL) involves a number of important steps. This document focuses specifically on the articulation of learning goals (sometimes called "competencies" or "standards" in state and district policy) and suggests a process for those state teams that…

"Supporting LGBTQ-Inclusive Teaching," the first report of its kind to examine the possibilities inherent in LGBTQ-inclusive materials for training classroom teachers, explores the biggest challenges to creating, implementing, and scaling up this kind of PreK-12 teacher professional learning. It is also the first to consider the…