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"In a study published in the current issue of the peer-reviewed journal Teachers College Record, University of Pennsylvania researchers Claire Robertson-Kraft and Angela Duckworth found that, for novice teachers in high-poverty school districts, higher levels of  "perseverance and passion for long-term goals"  (aka "grit")  were associated with higher rates of effectiveness and retention. "

"Research shows that dropout rates, student achievement, and workforce readiness will improve by integrating student voices in the classroom and in society.   Student Voice was inspired by the lack of student voices in education. The Quaglia Institute for Student Aspirations identifies that the higher the grade level, the less students believe they have a say in educational decision-making and the more students expressed concern in the lack of curiosity and creativity in their current classroom environment. Increasing student engagement in schools has a direct correlation with higher grades and lower drop-out rates."

Higher Order Thinking Strategies and tools The following Online Interactive Thinking Strategies and Tools are designed to provide a scaffold which enables students to think with more depth and structure. When using them, ask students to continually reflect on and justify which Habits of Mind best suit how they are thinking.

"But a Plain Dealer/StateImpact Ohio analysis raises questions about how much of an equalizer it truly is, even as the state ramps up its use. The 2011-12 value-added results show that districts, schools and teachers with large numbers of poor students tend to have lower value-added results than those that serve more-affluent ones."

Welcome to the Balanced Assessment Wiki! Goals Increase knowledge of types of assessment Make connections between 21st-century learning and assessment Explore research to support balanced assessment and technology integration in assessment Recognize the impact of Higher Order Thinking Skills in effective integration of technology into assessment Demonstrate activities that integrate technology tools Discuss questions related to the implementation of assessment supported by technology tools

Yet studies of principal behavior in schools makes clear that spending time in classrooms to observe, monitor, and evaluate classroom lessons do not necessarily lead to better teaching or higher student achievement on standardized tests. Where there is a correlation between principals' influence on teachers and student performance, it occurs when principals create and sustain an academic ethos in the school, organize instruction across the school, and align school lessons to district standards and standardized test items. There is hardly any positive association between principals walking in and out of classrooms a half-dozen times a day and conferring briefly with teaches about those five-minute visits.The reality of daily principal actions conflicts with the theory.

"The maps below show graduation and dropout rates. The darker areas represent higher percentages of students either graduating within four years or dropping out of school."

"In response to all of the attention given to the flipped classroom, I proposed The Flipped Classroom: The Full Picture and The Flipped Classroom: The Full Picture for Higher Education in which the viewing of videos (often discussed on the primary focus of the flipped classroom) becomes a part of a larger cycle of learning based on an experiential cycle of learning. Universal Design for Learning has also been in the news lately as a new report Universal Design for Learning (UDL): Initiatives on the Move was released by the National Center on UDL, May, 2012. This post describes the principles of Universal Design for Learning and how they naturally occur when a full cycle of learning, including ideas related to the flipped classroom, are used within the instructional process."

"In one survey of college students, 38% said they couldn't even go 10 minutes without switching on some sort of electronic device. But how students are using their devices, how technology is affecting their educational experience, and what effect it has on their well-being are questions that are harder to answer. In the infographic below, online higher education database Onlineeducation.net has summed up some of the existing research on these points."

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as a Framework for Supporting Learning and Improving Achievement for All Learners in Maryland, Prekindergarten Through Higher Education

"A 20-year retrospective study, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and published in the July 2015 issue of the American Journal of Public Health, suggests that kindergarten students who are more inclined to exhibit "social competence" traits-such sharing, cooperating, or helping other kids-may be more likely to attain higher education and well-paying jobs. In contrast, students who exhibit weaker social competency skills may be more likely to drop out of high school, abuse drugs and alcohol, and need government assistance. This brief provides an overview and major findings from this study and implications for further action."

School readiness, a multi-dimensional concept,1 conveys important advantages. Children who enter school with early skills, such as a basic knowledge of math and reading, are more likely than their peers to experience later academic success,2,3 attain higher levels of education, and secure employment.4 Absence of these and other skills may contribute to even greater disparities down the road. For example, one study found that gaps in math, reading, and vocabulary skills evident at elementary school entry explained at least half of the racial gap in high school achievement scores.5

"We talk a lot about the growth mindset but our actions may be counterproductive to putting it into action. A growth mindset is so vitally important for adults and students. Adults need to have that mindset for their own growth but more importantly for the growth of their students. Talking about the growth mindset is not good enough. Our actions are where the rubber hits the road. If we believe the growth mindset is important, and believe that it should have a higher effect size, then we need to follow up with the actions to make it happen. "

When people perceive themselves as similar to others, greater liking and closer relationships typically result. In the first randomized field experiment that leverages actual similarities to improve real-world relationships, we examined the affiliations between 315 ninth grade students and their 25 teachers. Students in the treatment condition received feedback on five similarities that they shared with their teachers; each teacher received parallel feedback regarding about half of his/her ninth grade students. Five weeks after our intervention, those in the treatment conditions perceived greater similarity with their counterparts. Furthermore, when teachers received feedback about their similarities with specific students, they perceived better relationships with those students, and those students earned higher course grades. Exploratory analyses suggest that these effects are concentrated within relationships between teachers and their "underserved" students. This brief intervention appears to close the achievement gap at this school by over 60%.

"Tico is a free, open source symbol (or text) based dynamic display AAC program for the Windows operating system. The Tico Application is part of the collaborative project between the Department of Computer and Systems Engineering from the Higher Polytechnic Center of the University of Zaragoza and Public School Special Education Alborada. Tico's software and hardware for individuals with physical and or cognitive disabilities. "

"This section of the OLAC website is intended to be used by State Support Team (SST) personnel and other educators (e.g., OLAC-certified facilitators) working on a full- or part-time basis to support districts in the effective use of the Ohio Improvement Process (OIP) to support higher levels of student, educator, and organizational learning. It is also relevant to SST personnel whose primary work may be other than direct OIP facilitation since the OIP serves as the foundation for district-wide continuous improvement in the majority of Ohio school districts."

"We Provide Opportunities to Learn for Teachers and Leaders We help states and institutes of higher education reform their teacher and leader preparation programs, revise licensure standards to align with reforms, refine personnel evaluation systems, and realign policy structures and professional learning systems."

"The number of infants who die before their first birthday is much higher in the U.S. than in other countries. And for African Americans the rate is nearly twice as high as for white Americans. Even well-educated Black women have birth outcomes worse than white women who haven't finished high school. Why?"

""With a better presenter it might seem like you are taking more in, but it doesn't mean that anything has actually been learned - it doesn't mean there has been an 'Aha!' moment," Professor Mazur said. "The hard work has to be done by the learner - there's not much the instructor can do to make the neuro-connections necessary for learning.""