Adult mentors who work with young people in or out of school can powerfully affect their success in learning, much research has shown. But getting a mentoring program off the ground often proves difficult for schools already swamped with academic demands. The National Mentoring Partnership addresses this problem by providing training and other resources to organizations that want to initiative
At Brown University, where Theodore R. Sizer founded the Coalition and where he is now Professor Emeritus, the department of education has for 32 years sponsored a laboratory summer high school that benefits teachers and schools as much as it does students. About 350 students from Providence, Rhode Island and the surrounding area come to the four-week day school, paying
How teachers report student progress could have far more impact on student achievement than we commonly assume, according to some researchers and educators. In fact, the format and limited content of most “progress reports” typically imply not progress but the lack of it, said Ross Abels of Iowa’s Solon Community School District, who suggests that teachers substitute narrative comments for
In a project sponsored by the national organization Fairtest, Massachusetts researcher Anne Wheelock collected and analyzed information on how students regarded their own learning and achievement in a number of contexts, including state standardized tests. Although most students entered ninth grade with the intention of graduating and going on to post-secondary education, she learned, even students who passed their courses
Students with the advantage of learning during periods when they are not in school–such as summer vacations–typically reinforce and build on their academic skills. Recognizing this, the CES Center in Los Angeles saw a unique learning opportunity for high school students in the two-month “off-track” intervals created by the city’s year-round schooling policy. They designed and piloted an ongoing field-based
Should we hold back students whose performance falls short of the test scores or other measures schools use to chart achievement? The evidence shows that such a policy may actually backfire, creating schools with a depressed academic culture and low expectations, especially for poor and minority students. But the practice is snowballing. One out of three eighth graders from low-income
Some students play by the rules, pass their courses, contribute to their schools and communities, and show important learning . . . but still may fail the all-important new standardized tests. What can Essential schools do to keep them on the road to success? This story belongs to Eddie Santos, who showed up on the first day of Landmark High