1. What College Admissions Offices Really Want
“Elite schools say they’re looking for academic excellence and diversity. But their thirst for tuition revenue means that wealth trumps all.”
2. Elementary Reading Strategies That Really Work
“We know that learning how to read is essential for success in school. Students need to be able to close read, annotate, and comprehend assignments and texts across all subjects.
So we looked through our archives and consulted the research to arrive at a list of strategies that could develop strong reading skills and confidence for all students—including struggling readers.”
3. The Power of Short Writing Assignments
“Some educators avoid assigning writing, believing that they don’t have the time to either incorporate such a project or grade it. Thankfully, writing assignments need not be long in order to be effective. If you don’t wish to assign a potentially time-consuming project, try these short assignments to help students become better writers and thinkers.”
4. 6 Teacher-Approved Tips for Faster, More Effective Feedback
“Giving students good feedback is crucial, but it can also be incredibly time-consuming. So we went straight to the source—experienced teachers—and identified some of the best advice we could find for striking the right balance between effective assessment and a reasonable workload.”
5. Why Normalizing Struggle Can Create a Better Math Experience for Kids
“It’s not uncommon for students to graduate from high school believing that every math problem can be solved in 30 seconds or less. And if they don’t know the answer, they’re just not a math person. This is a failure of education,” Finkel said.
6. Why College Became So Expensive
“Caitlin Zaloom: College used to be a lot cheaper for families, because there was more funding from the government. If you think about the biggest educational systems, like the University of California system or the City University of New York system, these universities were free or practically free for decades. That was in part because of a belief that higher education was essential for the national project of upward mobility, and for having an educated citizenry.”
