This Is How a Good Teacher Teaches

Učiteľ, produkt programu Teach for Slovakia, robí pozitívne zmeny v triedach, v ktorých žiaci zaostávajú v čítaní, matematike a prírodných vedách.

In response to growing political polarization and controversial policies on local NYC school councils, grassroots community groups such as "the Aunties" have mobilized parent engagement through organized protests, canvassing and digital activism. Their efforts have notably raised community awareness, significantly increased parent participation at public council meetings, and compelled influential groups to reconsider key candidate endorsements.

Despite having less money and staff than similar districts, Steubenville schools excel at teaching youth to read, consistently getting 95% to 99% of its third graders over the proficiency level. The schools achieve this with various strategies, including offering subsidized preschool starting at age three, prioritizing reading time across all school subjects and allowing students to work with their peers to read aloud and practice their fluency skills.

Despite being a largely divided issue, studies show that students at schools that participate in lockdown drills and training report being less fearful of school shootings over time. Currently, 95% of kindergarten through 12th-grade schools across the country participate in some form of mandatory lockdown drill or training that is designed to teach students and staff what to do if there’s an active shooter in the building.

Wellness schools, Escuelas de Bienestar, run by a nonprofit in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, train physical education teachers to integrate topics like human rights, drug prevention, and emotional health into the play in their school programming. The learning combined with play aims to deter youth from participating in violence and help them build personal connections.

School districts in Washington State are required to identify students experiencing homelessness and enroll them into a state program in which the district pays for the students' transportation and covers the cost of other necessities with allotted federal funds.

Tunisia is rolling out a biological and religious-based sex education program in elementary and middle schools. It is the first state-sponsored curriculum of its kind in an Arab nation.

In Milwaukee Public schools, when a student or teacher passes away, a crisis response team, made up of school psychologists, social workers, and counselors, steps in to offer grief counseling and mental health care support. In operation for over 20 years, the team aims to make students feel secure in their environment once again, provide individual support to students for which this event might be triggering, and train teachers to recognize signs of trauma in their students.

In order to deal with the opioid crisis, schools in Massachusetts are hiring counselors to support teachers and their students. In Cape Cod alone, 17 schools hired outside counselors, while 50 schools throughout the state did the same. The schools that are offering these services reported improvements in academic performance. "Their day runs smoother. They can get out their anxiety while they're in school instead of bottling it up, and then go back to class and continue learning.”

After the introduction of No Child Left Behind, Atlanta was held up as a success story for the approach - that is until a group of teachers were exposed for illegally raising scores. Now, the city again grapples with big questions - "can good teaching be taught?" and can that teaching make the difference for students experiencing trauma, racism, and other major barriers. Peyton Forest Elementary has seen moderate gains by expanding the role of principals in the classroom, both to benefit students and to serve as effective models for new and old teachers.