Archive for the ‘Education Technology’ Category

  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. ...
  10. 16

Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast by Jim Dillon

| posted by smaldonado

Jim Dillon has been an educator for over 35 years, including 20 years as a school administrator. While he was the principal of Lynnwood Elementary in New York, he developed the Peaceful School Bus Program, designed to prevent and reduce bullying, and subsequently published The Peaceful School Bus (Hazelden, 2008). The program is now being implemented in schools across the country. He is the author of No Place for Bullying: Leadership for schools that care for every student (Corwin, 2013). Jim is currently an educational consultant for Measurement Incorporated. He makes presentations and conducts workshops on a variety of educational topics, including instruction, classroom management, leadership, and supervision. Jim has presented at many local, state and national conferences. Jim's blog, The Peaceful School Bus is a Teach 100 blog.

This blog was originally published on The Peaceful School Bus on August 27, 2012.

"Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast"- Peter Drucker

This quotation from Peter Drucker succinctly explains why so many bullying prevention programs fail to significantly prevent and reduce bullying in schools. In a healthy school culture, bullying should stand out by being an exception to how people are treated. It should call attention to itself because it is not in line with the cultural norms of a school. This is not to imply that bullying doesn't occur in positive and healthy school cultures- it can and it will. This does mean that it doesn't blend into the culture or become camouflaged. To put Drucker's statement into blunt terms, if adults in a school yell at students or belittle them as a fairly routine way of interacting or if people don't have a basic genuine respect for each other, a bullying prevention program will do little good and could do harm because students will view it as being hypocritical. Instituting a bullying prevention program in such a school will not change the school culture and it is a serious mistake to think that it will.

Changing a school culture is hard because the people in the school have a hard time recognizing/seeing their culture; it is like the air they breathe. It is just there. It isn't "culture" to them, it is just the way the school is and probably the way most schools are in their mind. Even if a school could recognize its culture and see it for what it is, attempts to change it are often viewed as criticisms of the current culture. It is very difficult to expect people in even the most dysfunctional organizations to admit that things need to change- it is very threatening to them to realize that what they have been doing and saying for years has not been justified and warranted by their circumstances. This is why Drucker also says, “Company cultures are like country cultures. Never try to change one. Try instead to work with what you've got."

This is the conundrum. If it is true, to paraphrase James Carville, that, "It's the culture, stupid," and we follow Drucker's advice to never try to change one, what can we do? The answer is to avoid a quick fix strategy/program that will try to change things and instead understand the change process and become "strategic" in working with the people who "live" in that culture.

As a retired principal who worked in schools for over 35 years, I find it frustrating to see the trend in education to rely less on building the capacity of people and more on finding programs/strategies to get people to follow. Maybe this is because "the problem" is attributed to the people in the school who can't be trusted to solve what they "created". The logical alternative is to take control away from them and instead try to get them to follow a script or a blueprint spelling out their moves. I have never seen anything positive emerge from negating people's basic need for autonomy and minimizing their degree of control over how they do their job. This approach, at best, often just gets surface compliance, and more often produces a passive/aggressive response from staff. The alternative to imposing a program doesn't mean leaving people to their own devices and becoming resigned to the status quo. It does mean expecting positive change to come out of empowering people and providing the right conditions for them to move in the right direction.

Businesses know that leadership is the key to change and the best leadership is the type that promotes leadership in everyone. Read about the "best" companies: Southwest Airlines, Toyota, Google, Costco, and you will hear stories about people being empowered by leaders who recognize and value what each person has to contribute to the whole enterprise. These are companies that are always growing and learning because the people in them are learning and growing together. Schools shouldn't be viewed as businesses, but they should be learning communities- not places where people just do what they are told or just follow the program.

I recently facilitated a workshop about leadership and change and thought of a good analogy: sailing. I have very limited experience as a sailor but did enough to learn the basics. There are three main components of a successful sailing journey: knowing the destination, reading the wind, and keeping a steady hand on the tiller.

Too many change initiatives are based on the mindset of "we don't like where we are so we need to change" (this is usually decided by others outside of the school and not by the people in the school). Too little time, if any, is devoted to having a clear idea of where we want to go: what type of learning do we really want, what does it look like and sound like. Rather than just wanting to solve the problem of bullying, school leaders should help people talk about what type of school they want to have. This vision or destination may not be clear in the beginning, but it should come into clearer and clearer focus as the school learns (sails) together.

The "wind" is the change process- knowing how people change and the conditions needed for change to happen. This means affirming what people are already doing, inviting their input, involving them in the process, asking for help, and welcoming questions and concerns. Failure to “read the wind” usually means either heading in the wrong direction or being "in irons"- stuck going nowhere.

The "steady hand on the tiller" is leadership that is going in the right direction toward the destination and makes adjustments and navigates based on changing conditions. It also means modeling the change you want to see in others

Bullying prevention is an opportunity presenting itself as a problem. A good leader recognizes this opportunity as a reason to start a journey, initially to solve a problem, but ends up transforming the school into a better place for everyone- the culture is changed.


Sign up for Teach.com’s monthly newsletter to receive the latest in education news and information about becoming a teacher, including certification, teaching programs and more!


Tobacco Taxes to Help Fund Pre-K?

| posted by smaldonado

In his 2014 budget, President Obama is proposing a tobacco tax to increase funding for universal pre-kindergarten (UPK), amongst other programs, reports The New York Times.

The president has openly pledged his support for providing free pre-K to families, especially low-income families, who face more challenges accessing quality education for their children. The Huffington Post explains that a detailed proposal, however, has not yet been officially released. Last January, when President Obama pledged his commitment to providing pre-K to all four-year-olds, it was speculated that his plan could cost up to $100 billion.

If the tobacco tax is increased by 50 cents — to a total of $1.51 — $42 billion in additional revenue could be raised in 10 years, part of which can help fund the president’s pre-k program. California passed a similar plan in 1998, raising $8 billion in eight years to keep the state preschool program afloat during a recession.

While many education advocates and families would support such a measure to provide quality education to all four-year-olds, tobacco lobbyists have been rallying against the increase, as they already faced a major one just four years ago.

“While the specific amount of the proposed increase has not been released,” says David Sutton, spokesman for the Altria Group, one of the larger lobbying organizations, in a statement to the Huffington Post, “it is important to remember that the largest federal tobacco tax increase in U.S. history was enacted less than four years ago. We think it is unfair to single out adult tobacco consumers with another federal tobacco tax increase to pay for a broad, new government spending program."

In addition, some argue that the money generated from a new tobacco tax would be unreliable, as increased taxes generally lead to a decrease in tobacco purchases. This was certainly the case in California. Lisa Guernsey, a New America Foundation early childhood expert, feels that a more reliable source of funding would come from a solid-state education plan.

“You increase the likelihood that there's a line in the budget that can be more easily excised or cut out,” explains Guernsey while describing Obama’s proposal in the Huffington Post, “or that the money can be raised for other things in the future. You want to get to a place where pre-K and Kindergarten are funded through a full education funding plan at the state level.”

Even the tobacco tax increase would not fund preschool for all children from low-income families. Education Week explains that states and educators are still questioning just how these programs are going to be fully funded.

The federal administration has claimed that it will offer grants to states in order to expand UPK programs, but the grants would require a state match and the amount of that match has not been specified. Other federal incentives will also be offered to expand UPK for middle-class families, to support all-day Kindergarten programs and to grow Head Start programs. Again, exactly where these funds will come from is still unclear, but hopefully more specific details will be given following the unveiling of the president’s newest budget proposals.


Sign up for Teach.com’s monthly newsletter to receive the latest in education news and information about becoming a teacher, including certification, teaching programs and more!


Putting Physics to Work in the Classroom (Part 1 of 2)

| posted by smaldonado

Tami Bowlden has worked in education for 17 years. Based in Idaho, she has been a classroom teacher (5th-8th grades), and an Educational Technology specialist, has worked in professional development and curriculum design, and currently works for Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA). She holds an endorsement in Gifted and Talented education and a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction. She is passionate about helping teachers to meet students where they are and to plan creative, engaging, differentiated lessons and activities for students that challenge them and give them choices about their own learning. She blogs and shares ideas and materials at For the Teachers, a Teach 100 blog.

Check out Part 2 of Tami's awesome post on making STEM Education fun, STEM Ideas and Activities for the Classroom!

My 7th grade students started with a pile of foam tubing cut along the cross-section, wooden dowels, a bag of marbles and many rolls of tape. Their task: Create a roller coaster track on which a marble could travel from one end to the other.

Working in teams over the course of four weeks, we learned about the laws and properties of physics: forces, friction, speed, momentum. For each, the students modified or added to their roller coaster to demonstrate that particular law or property.

To demonstrate friction, some students lined the foam tube with plastic wrap to reduce friction and make the marble go faster. Others used tissue to increase friction and slow the marble down.

To demonstrate Newton’s 2nd Law of Motion (acceleration of an object depends on the force exerted on the object) one group placed a golf ball along their track and attempted to get the marble moving with enough speed to push the golf ball down the next incline. More often, the marble bounced off the golf ball and went flying through the air – Newton’s laws at work!

To demonstrate centripetal force – the motion along a curve that pushes an object inward – most of the students created a loop. This was the most challenging part for most of the groups. They needed enough of a drop before the loop to build up the speed necessary to have enough force for the marble to complete the loop, which had to be just the right size and pitch.

To generate ideas and understand how roller coasters work, we researched the largest and most popular in the world. We watched a series of “point of view” roller coaster videos, filmed with a camera at the front of the coaster car as it travels along the track. Watching these felt surprisingly like riding the real thing, enough to cause some queasy stomachs and to inspire some bigger drops and dips for the marbles to enjoy.

Students loved this project because it was fun. They got to work together and be creative. I loved it because they were actively engaged in their learning. They developed an understanding of some complicated concepts and learned some difficult vocabulary by using the words and ideas in context, daily. They learned how it all worked because they had to figure out how to make it happen.

Continue reading to learn how to put physics to work with these great STEM Ideas and Activities for the Classroom!


Sign up for Teach.com’s monthly newsletter to receive the latest in education news and information about becoming a teacher, including certification, teaching programs and more!


Should Teenagers Expect Privacy on the Internet?

| posted by smaldonado

This blog was originally published on Finding Common Ground at Education Week by Peter DeWitt on April 28th, 2013 7:16 AM.

Schools should not change the child; instead they need to change the environment that helps educate that child.

Recently, I attended/presented at the Tech Forum 2013 in Boston. It was by far one of the best conferences I have been to in a very long time. All of the presenters had a gift for using technology. Many had great videos, Flickr images, introduced us to new apps and found numerous other ways to engage us.

A few presenters, including my co-presenters Patrick Larkin (Burlington, MA Assistant Superintendent) and Andrew Wallace (South Portland, ME Director of Technology), provided us with a better understanding of our technological world. Thankfully I had my iPad to search for the definitions when they used acronyms and vocabulary that was unfamiliar.

The truth is that I am still negotiating my way through technology. I love it but I proceed with caution. I guess I'm still searching for privacy during a time when there seems not to be any. Like many adults, my worlds have always been compartmentalized, and I get nervous when those boundaries get blurred. I think twice before accepting someone as a friend on Facebook and I typically un-tag myself when someone tags me in a photo.

As educators, privacy weighs heavily on our minds. We attend fundraisers or receptions and someone takes a photo of us as we sip on a glass of wine. We go to a party where we have a glass of wine and friends embrace their inner paparazzi and take our photos. Those photos end up on Facebook, because let's face it, most photos end up there. In every one of them we are holding a glass of wine. As much as we are over 21, we also understand how that "looks" to some people who are critical.

Technology, and the issues it can cause, are in the back of our minds when we pose for pics. Believe it or not, many of our students feel the same way. However, adults do not expect privacy online and teenagers do. Doesn't that seem crazy? Teenagers expect privacy in our social networking world?

Technology and social networking are a natural part of their lives. Sometimes we feel fortunate to have them look up from their screen so we can see their faces. As much as it may be easy for us to criticize them for multi-tasking, we did the same thing when we were their age. It's just that we were using the rotary telephone on the wall and were given time limits because we had siblings and one phone to share.

Peter DeWitt is an elementary principal in upstate, New York. He blogs at Finding Common Ground for Education Week and is the author of Dignity for All: Safeguarding LGBT Students (Corwin Press). Connect with Peter at www.petermdewitt.com, or on Twitter, @PeterMDeWitt.

The increase in the usage of technology stirs a lot of emotion from people. Some educators believe it does not have a place in schools. Educators on the other end of the spectrum believe technology should invade every space at every moment. I'm somewhere in the middle. I need a break from it but I'm fascinated by it as well.

How young people understand privacy


The keynote speaker at Tech Forum 2013 was Danah Boyd. Danah has done a great deal of research in the area of technology, privacy and what it all means to teenagers. Not only was she an engaging presenter; she provided common sense insight into the teenage world. It was the first time, in a long time, that a presenter captured my attention for more than an hour.

As you can imagine, teenagers growing up in this very technological age have a different view of technology. What's interesting is that it is not unlike our views from when we were younger. Teenagers are constantly searching for privacy so they can explore their worlds without the watchful eye of a parent or teacher.

Unfortunately for them, their world is much more connected and the images they use and the words they write to express themselves are seen, and sometimes misunderstood, by the adults around them. Boyd spoke at length about the fact that we are all living in a time of "network publics." Network Publics are the spaces where people come together. The most popular, at least to a 42-year-old, are Twitter and Facebook. However, teenagers are moving away from Facebook because we "old folks" have infiltrated it.

It doesn't matter what social network they use, privacy is still an issue. Boyd delved into four different categories when it comes to privacy in the social media age. 
They are:


Given that social media blurs the lines between what is public and what is private creates a conundrum for teenagers and adults. However, that line has always been a bit blurred. In Boyd's research, she found that many teenagers believe that their home is not private because their parents always want to know what they are doing and that the mall is private because they do not stick out as much. They can have private conversations without being questioned.

Boyd says, "Privacy is not just about controlling content but also controlling social situations. The internet is Public by default and private by effort. Teenagers choose what they need to privatize rather than what they want to publicize." They do that by choosing their words carefully. Perhaps they can say something a friend would understand and a parent wouldn't. We all have ways to get our messages across.

In the End

Danah Boyd researches the social-emotional and social justice issues around technology, which is important because if teachers and administrators want to understand the students they see every day, they need to respect the world of the teenagers. Schools should not change the child; instead they need to change the environment that helps educate that child, which begins with an understanding of the way they think and feel.


Sign up for Teach.com’s monthly newsletter to receive the latest in education news and information about becoming a teacher, including certification, teaching programs and more!


Bilingual Education

| posted by smaldonado

The English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic Achievement Act was enacted to ensure that non-native English speakers in the United States are given quality English instruction in schools so that they can be as academically and professionally successful as their native English-speaking peers.

Historically, immigrant children were often miscategorized as needing special education services, and as a result, the dropout rate among them became much higher than that of the general population. In order to better serve the needs of non-native English speakers, bilingual education programs were created.

The following offers a glimpse into what bilingual education entails, and why it is sometimes considered a controversial form of instruction.

What is Bilingual Education?

Bilingual education is a broad term that can encompass a variety of educational approaches.

According to the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE), bilingual education “refers to approaches in the classroom that use the native languages of English language learners (ELLs) for instruction.” The goals of this form of instruction include assisting students in increasing their English proficiency, keeping their native culture and languages intact, helping them to adjust to a foreign environment and promoting academic success.

This is certainly not a new trend in education. As PBS explains, bilingual education became particularly popular in the 1960s and ‘70s. It was based on the premise that if students were initially taught in their native languages, they were less likely to regress academically. The goal became to gradually immerse students in English speaking classrooms as they became more proficient with the language.

Since the ‘60s, educators have continued to debate whether a gradual immersion or “sink or swim” approach seems to work best for students. It is not an easily defined issue, but one that has many schools of thought and approaches.

Different Approaches

According to the University of Michigan, there are six main approaches to bilingual or multilingual education. They are:

  1. Bilingual education:

    Students are given instruction in two or more languages. The amount of instruction given in each language varies from school to school.

  2. Submersion:

    Non-native English speakers are given instruction completely in English, regardless of how long the student has been learning English.

  3. Two-way bilingual education:

    Native and non-native English speakers are placed in the same classes. Instruction is given in English as well as the other native language, with the goal of all students becoming proficient in both.

  4. English as a Second Language (ESL):

    Students spend part of the day in regular classes and part of the day in ESL classes. In the ESL classes, they receive focused instruction in mastering English.

  5. Immersion:

    This is often targeted towards native English speakers who want to master a foreign language. Teachers deliver instruction in a foreign language for the entire day.

  6. Three language systems:

    Also called trilingual education, students are initially taught in one language and a second language is integrated early on. After students begin to master the first two languages, a third is introduced with the hopes of students becoming fluent in all three by graduation.

Benefits of Bilingual Education

NABE describes the positive benefits of bilingual education in an ERIC Digest article by Stephen Krashen. Younger children need to be able to read to understand language so allowing them to read in their own language promotes the advancement of their literacy skills and the ability to translate written and spoken English.

The National Latino Children’s Institute (NLCI) considers quality bilingual programs essential to the academic success of non-native English speakers. The programs allow English Language Learners to stay on the same academic level as their peers, whereas a “sink or swim” approach can cause students to fall far behind. These programs also promote the celebration of diversity and are more inclusive of non-native English speakers’ families and parents who may have limited English proficiency. Preserving students’ native languages while they become proficient in English can also give them an advantage later in life. Being bilingual or multilingual is an asset when it comes to gainful employment.

Drawbacks of Bilingual Education

Not everyone agrees with the efficacy of bilingual approaches. In an article from The Atlantic, Rosalie Pedalino Porter argues that children immersed in regular English speaking classrooms do not have lower self-esteem or higher stress than students in bilingual programs.

The rise in bilingual education programs since the ‘60s has also not corresponded to a significantly lower dropout rate among children of immigrants. In fact, when a large number of Latino and Asian parents were polled, the majority preferred instruction in English. Most were in favor of English Language Learners receiving extra help, but in the form of an ESL teacher. Ultimately, critics argue that the best practice is inclusion.

The Future of Bilingual Education

Schools continue to be squeezed by a suffering economy, which has been detrimental to many foreign language programs. Few schools can provide foreign language instruction at the elementary school level, when students are most receptive to acquiring languages. This makes two-way bilingual classes difficult to establish, but some schools have been able to implement instruction in several languages.

In Virginia, Fairfax County Public Schools offers partial immersion programs in French, German, Japanese, and Spanish. Similar programs have been offered in Connecticut schools. As more schools recognize the value of being fluent in several languages, Americans in the future might just all be multilingual.


Sign up for Teach.com’s monthly newsletter to receive the latest in education news and information about becoming a teacher, including certification, teaching programs and more!


School District Stands Up AGAINST Testing

| posted by smaldonado

This blog was originally published on Finding Common Ground at Education Week by Peter DeWitt on April 11th, 2013 4:43 PM.

Please note: The views and opinions expressed in guest blogs are those of the contributing writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions held by Teach.com, or USC Rossier Online

The Saratoga Springs City School District in upstate, NY is a high performing school district that has an outstanding reputation in academics and athletics. Their high school girl's cross-country running team has won nationals more than a dozen times over the past few decades. The City of Saratoga is known for being the "August Place to Be" due to their world-famous thoroughbred race track.

In education circles, the school district will now be known for telling the federal and state education departments to back-off where state assessments are concerned. Dan Levy, a reporter for WNYT (News Channel 13. NBC) wrote, "The Saratoga Springs School Board did something extraordinary Tuesday night: they told the State Education Department to butt out and let them educate their kids the way they see fit."

Educators and parents in New York State have an issue with the length of the exams as well as the fact that they are being tied to teacher and administrator evaluation the first year they are aligned to the Common Core State Standards. "Students are being tested on a curriculum they have not had the opportunity to learn," asserted Karen Swift, president of the Saratoga Springs Teachers Association, "Teachers have not had the opportunity to teach. It's like building a house on the wrong foundation."

More and more school districts like Saratoga Springs City School District are standing up against testing because the weight of accountability and mandates have become heavier and heavier every year. Last month, the New Paltz Central School District voted on a resolution telling the NY State Education Department to decrease the amount of testing done to children. The focus on testing takes an educator's focus away from good teaching practices and puts it on test prep.

The reality is that, even in the best districts, testing affects the social-emotional growth of students; especially high stakes testing which is so politically explosive. Testing is forcing a narrowing of the curriculum that is covered in classrooms, which hampers creativity and academic freedom.

In a recent N.Y. Times article, Bronson and Merryman wrote:

"Never before has the pressure to perform on high-stakes tests been so intense or meant so much for a child's academic future. As more school districts strive for accountability, standardized tests have proliferated. The pressure to do well on achievement tests for college is filtering its way down to lower grades, so that even third graders feel as if they are on trial."

This year high stakes testing is connected to teacher and administrator evaluation across the country, which makes the test less about the student and more about the teacher. It's a fear many of us have had for many years since our school scores began showing up in newspapers. Many educators used to think their school's scores being published was the worst it would get.

Opting Out

Peter DeWitt is an elementary principal in upstate, New York. He blogs at Finding Common Ground for Education Week and is the author of Dignity for All: Safeguarding LGBT Students (Corwin Press). Connect with Peter at www.petermdewitt.com, or on Twitter, @PeterMDeWitt.

Many states do not offer an option for parents to have their children opt out of state assessments but there is also no law that forces parents to make sure their child takes an exam. However, there are Commissioner Regulations which do require schools to make sure every child takes an exam. Actually, schools need to prove that at least 95% of their student population takes the exam. If they meet that requirement, states cannot cut their funding...this year.

Opting out is a serious consideration these days. Parents just need to make sure that they understand that the school has rules as well. If parents send their children into school but tell them to refuse the exam, they need to make sure that their child can sit quietly for the length of the exam. Other students are taking it and need to be provided with the best testing environment possible.

Opting out is a viable and attractive option for parents but states are making it harder and harder for schools. They are requiring schools to enforce rules for testing, such as making the child sit in the testing room even if they are not testing. States are also making sure that schools hit that 95% mark, because if they don't, they will have serious consequences.

In the End

Parents with means have other alternatives for their children. There are options for parents who have money and do not want their children to be exposed to testing and one-size-fits-all mandates. Some of these parents are rightfully choosing private schools while others are choosing Montessori Schools.

Why wouldn't they?

There are many private options that are not held to the same standardized accountability that the public school system is held too. Even the Commissioner of Education in New York State chooses Montessori over the public school system he leads.

Montessori Schools are often known for their academic freedom and lack of standardized testing, something the public school is no longer known for in the U.S. Isn't choosing a Montessori School merely a wealthy way of opting out?

School districts across the country should learn some lessons from schools like Saratoga Springs and New Paltz and the countless other school districts around the United States that are choosing to write board resolutions. Until state education departments hear the collective voices of students, educators and parents, they may never change.

If parents choose to have their child opt out but send them to school, please consider the following:

Next Generation Science Standards Released

| posted by smaldonado

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), a set of K-12 science education curriculum benchmarks, were released earlier this month, according to Education News. Although adoption of the NGSS by states is voluntary, its creators hope that it will help decrease “widespread scientific ignorance” and inspire more students to study science and technology in college.

In 2011, the National Research Council of the Academies published the Framework for K-12 Science Education, which paved the way for the effort to create the NGSS. The 26 states that helped create the standards have also agreed to adopt them, including Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia.

“The NGSS aim to prepare students to be better decision makers about scientific and technical issues and to apply science to their daily lives,” explained Science Education Program Consultant Matt Krehbiel to Education News. “By blending core science knowledge with scientific practices, students are engaged in a more relevant context that deepens their understanding and helps them to build what they need to move forward with their education — whether that’s moving on to a four-year college or moving into post-secondary training.”

The New York Times reports that the new science standards call for some dramatic changes to how subjects in science are currently being taught. While it will take states some time to develop new curricula based on the standards, the hope is that NGSS will encourage the use of more “real-world examples” in science education and a more “holistic” approach to teaching that includes greater integration of case studies and focus on the scientific method.

The new standards also dictate that climate change be taught starting in middle school and that evolution be taught in spite of protest from religious groups. The Huffington Post reports that those two topics alone could cause some of the remaining states to refuse to adopt NGSS. A 2012 Gallup poll showed that Americans are still very much divided on the concept of evolution, and five states are currently proposing “academic freedom bills” that would allow teachers to discuss alternatives to evolution with students.

“The plan's assertion that human behavior and activity have had ‘major effects’ on global climate change has proved to be an easy focal point for right-wing criticism,” writes the Huffington Post.


Sign up for Teach.com’s monthly newsletter to receive the latest in education news and information about becoming a teacher, including certification, teaching programs and more!


  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. ...
  10. 16