In this article, Alfie Kohn discusses four questions about questioning--starting with questions that are more basic, and progressing to some that are "deeper and potentially more subversive of traditional schooling." He begins by considering what questions we should ask students, and encourages teachers to keep questions with…

The language of school is demanding; much of the content is decontextualized and abstract, and it concerns matters that are far removed from the daily life. Students are expected to learn about rain forests and prime numbers, literary motifs, and historical events that occurred centuries ago. Consider the additional cognitive demands confronting…

Many educators consider grades calculated from statistical algorithms more accurate, objective, and reliable than grades they calculate themselves. But in this research, the authors first asked teachers to use their professional judgment to choose a summary grade for hypothetical students. When the researchers compared the teachers' grade with the…

Every student experiences feedback in different ways, and there is a real trick to knowing when no feedback is needed. Feedback of any kind can sometimes paralyze a student, interrupting the flow of his or her work. Teachers need to understand and recognize when and why this happens. The author's sketch of three goals for giving feedback in this…

The term "best practice" is widely used throughout education despite lack of evidence or consensus concerning which practices are "best." The pervasive use of this term creates three problems. First, it promotes a plug-and-play approach, in which teachers are encouraged to adopt new methods and use them as much as possible but…

Danielson's Framework for Teaching has provided a common language for discussions of teaching practice for almost 20 years. Many educators love the Framework's comprehensiveness; they find the specific language to be useful as they strive to improve their practice. For other educators, however, the Framework's 22 components and 76 smaller elements…

Ending educational inequality requires not only an army of teachers who do whatever it takes to overcome the challenges facing children in low-income communities but also an army of leaders, working both in and outside school, who will change our inequitable system. Teach for America's mission is to help build this force. The organization's…

A former Teach for America recruit who completed her training in a university-based program compares the two approaches to teacher preparation. In Teach for America, she learned how to design units and prepare lesson plans; in her university-based program, she had the time to learn from master teachers and build valuable skills, then practice…

Readers use different processes to read different kinds of text. Three principles can guide teachers in helping their students better understand the nuances of different genres. Teachers should engage students in reading and writing for real-world reasons, develop students' knowledge of specific genre features, and teach strategies tailored to…

Poses a question which inquires about the need for behavioral objectives, the possible uses they may have, and the educational functions that may be conceived for them. (Author)

Suggests the use of specified objectives rather than behavioral objectives. They would be chosen by the school according to its own philosophy of education, and would be specified only for certain subject matter which the school considers basic. (Author/DR)

Most objectives should be behavioral, but stresses a need in devising sophisticated measurement tactics to assess current unmeasurable outcomes in educational instruction. (Author/ML)

An attempt is made here to summarize briefly some of the challenges facing curriculum evaluation and evaluators. Further, suggestions are made for policy decisions and directions that research and applications might take. (Author/CB)

Examines six simplistic beliefs about curriculum and their implications for curriculum development and educational practice. Argues that simplistic notions of curriculum must be challenged, and extensive efforts must be made to develop a comprehensive concept of curriculum. (JG)