10.3.23 Goal setting in the fall: Start with MAP Growth scores With the last vestiges of summer now shaken off, you’re probably starting to form the first real idea of who the students in your classroom are as people: what frustrates them, what makes them... Read more
9.28.23 6 ways to increase reading motivation and engagement When I taught eighth-grade English, I sometimes came across a reluctant reader. One of the things I prided myself on was finding a book even the most resistant reader would enjoy. One year, I... Read more
9.26.23 Summer programs can be an effective treatment, but districts need to get the “dosage” right The new school year is well underway nationwide, and it’s worth pausing a moment to reflect on the investments school districts made in summer learning. To help students recover from large... Read more
9.21.23 Free resources for bringing the Common Core standards for mathematical practice to life Getting comfortable with the Common Core standards for mathematical practice can make a big difference in your classroom. Imagine your curriculum as a cross-country road trip: sights to see,... Read more
9.19.23 COVID-19 school closures and student achievement: What teachers can do Like I mentioned in an earlier post, recent research on the effects of COVID-19 school closures has revealed that progress toward academic recovery for older kids has been slower than... Read more
9.12.23 5 ways to create an authentic classroom culture Did you know that kids can smell inauthenticity? Middle school math teacher Kailey Rhodes recently shared this friendly word of caution on The Continuing Educator podcast. Kailey and her... Read more
9.7.23 5 ways you can help kids develop executive function skills for reading I want to tell you a story about a shy girl who always had her head in a book. Because she always had her head in a book, no one knew she struggled to read. No one knew how much longer it took... Read more
9.5.23 College and career readiness should begin in fifth grade I often facilitate MAP® Growth™ professional learning workshops for high school teachers and administrators, and one of the most frequent complaints I hear is the lack of effort students put... Read more
8.31.23 5 ways English teachers can use ChatGPT in their classroom When we at NWEA released a document sharing our views on writing instruction last September, we were excited about the innovations happening with digital literacy. We even discussed a body of... Read more
8.29.23 COVID-19 school closures effects linger: How school leaders can help The latest NWEA research on the effects of COVID-19 school closures is in: progress toward academic recovery for older kids in particular has been slower than we’d like. Our researchers are... Read more
8.24.23 4 ways to use improv in your math classroom to engage kids Improvised comedy, or improv, for short, is the art of creating a scene from nothing but a suggestion, often with a scene partner or group. Great improv will leave audience members wondering if the... Read more
8.22.23 How inquiry-based learning can ignite the learner in all of us My son had a teacher in third grade who changed everything for him. Up to that point, recess was his favorite subject. Then he was introduced to inquiry-based learning that extended beyond the... Read more