The use of artificial intelligence is growing, but it's unclear how much it is expanding human knowledge. Peter W. Cookson Jr. discusses the potential of AI use for learning. He suggests that humans learn by making connections in ways that AI cannot replicate. The kinds of experiences that promote these connections require students to experiment…

The authors, two high school teachers, endorse the Common Core State Standards saying they will improve teaching and learning. The Common Core, they say, not only help students acquire the skills for success in life after high school, but they offer consistency in a student's educational journey and let employers know what to expect.…

Thousands of teachers are exploring the boundaries of their practice together on Twitter, in blogs, and at seminars, and they represent a new generation of educators who are actively redefining how innovation occurs in the schoolhouse. For many of these educators, exposure to adjacent possibilities--the first step toward innovation--starts in the…

Overviews progress in the interconnected realms of early childhood policy, management of local agencies, front-line practice in classrooms and communities, and experiences of young children and their families. The nation lacks a coherent system to fund, manage, govern, and support quality in local early childhood education agencies. (MLH)

Presents a brief history of charter schools, summarizes important elements, discusses key lessons from the charter school movement, and explores some unanswered questions. Charter schools can positively affect student achievement, attendance, and attitude; often focus on low- and moderate-income youngsters; provide talented educators with…

New Zealand educators have some ideas worth stealing, including morning tea-time, the lie-flat manifold duplicate book for recording classroom observation comments, school uniforms, collegial planning and grading of college assignments, good meeting etiquette, a whole-child orientation, portable primary architecture, group employment interviews…

Despite ongoing school improvement efforts, there are more factors at work to stabilize schools than to change them. Stabilizing factors pervade school organization, curriculum context, unadventuresome textbooks, teacher isolation, and standardized testing practices. Educational innovation is predicated on change in form, content, and goals and…

Whether organized around subject matter, teaching methods, school improvement, or restructuring efforts, successful networks share common features, such as focus, variety, and opportunities for discourse and leadership. Networks can also present nagging problems concerned with quality, application, stability, overextension, ownership, expanding…

Describes a comprehensive environmental education program and facilities at Gullett Elementary School, in Austin, Texas. The program helps children learn responsibility and respect for animals and each other. Attendance improves, as children are responsible for feeding an animal entrusted to their care. Students score in the upper 90 percentiles…

An innovation-focused Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) study of 13 nations participating in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) found universal unhappiness with the state of mathematics and science education. There was no link among successful test scores, improvement goals, or satisfaction of…

If education is to halt the ever-swinging pendulum and make significant progress in student achievement, it must first change the ground rules for selecting, implementing, evaluating, and institutionalizing innovations like Hunter's model. This article proposes steps for providing an infrastructure capable of promoting lasting and beneficial…

The Project on Alternatives in Education (1981) on North American alternative schools shows the movement's steady growth, high staff morale and control, and attendance. Factors contributing to success: smallness, choice, extended roles, relative autonomy, continuing evaluation, and teacher participation. Teacher/student relationship and positive…

Case studies of eight exemplary schools demonstrate that language-minority students can learn the same academic curriculum as native English speakers while pursuing English literacy. Common school characteristics include a schoolwide vision of excellence, creation of a community of learners engaged in active discovery, and well-designed, carefully…

Current educational reform proposals are fixed on modifying existing structures and lack imagination. Cooperative learning and individualized instruction are time-worn "innovations" treating the symptoms of a terminally ill system. This article presents 32 transitions to transform education into a world-based, teacherless experience featuring…

Explores problematic charter-school characteristics that must be changed to improve American education: lack of innovative practices and improved academic outcomes; disproportionate administrative costs; segregation of students by ethnicity, income level, and special needs; and deplorable physical learning environments. More competition, planning,…