ED Surge

MARCH 26, 2025

Looking back on my educational journey, I recently reflected on my classroom experiences from kindergarten to fourth grade. The summer before I entered the fourth grade, my mother informed me that I would be attending a new school in my same community with one caveat: it was a class in the gifted and talented education (GATE) program. Before that moment, I was blending in with my peers and navigating the typical challenges of elementary school.

Education 103

Education Advocacy Middle School Cultures 103

Anthropology.net

MARCH 1, 2025

A World of Languages from the Start For decades, research on infant language acquisition has been dominated by studies conducted in what scientists call "WEIRD" societies—Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic. These studies have shaped the prevailing notion that infants primarily learn language through direct one-on-one interactions with a primary caregiver, often in a single language.

Anthropology 96

Anthropology Humanities Cultures Research 96

Moler's Musing

MARCH 8, 2025

One of the biggest challenges in history education is engaging students in meaningful analysis while encouraging collaboration and critical thinking. Enter Snorkl , an AI-powered whiteboard tool that allows students to interact with historical content by annotating images, adding text, drawings, or even recording their voices. By integrating Snorkl with historical inquiry, EduProtocols , and depth and complexity strategies, we can create a dynamic space where students engage deeply with the past

Primary Sources 52

Primary Sources History Critical Thinking History Education 52

The Hechinger Report

MARCH 5, 2025

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. When Rickeyda Carter started teaching young children, she led story time the way she remembers being taught as a child. That meant children were expected to sit, listen and remain silent. When the teacher is reading, you dont talk, Carter recalled. Carter didnt think anything of this approach for nearly a decade, until the program where she was employed, New Rising Star Early Childhood Development Center, opted to participate in an initiative aimed at improving the interaction

K-12 97

K-12 Critical Thinking Classroom Management Research 97

Teaching American History

MARCH 11, 2025

Teaching government at Hilliard Darby High School in Ohio (a suburb of Columbus), Amy Messick helps students understand how our constitutional system works. She also encourages them to figure out their own political views and to actively engage in civic life. One former student who appreciates what he learned from Messick now serves on the school board for the district in which Messick teaches.

Government 96

Government Controversial Topics American History Civics 96

Sapiens

MARCH 11, 2025

An anthropologist plunges into the world of Patagonian heavy metal music in Argentina to explore how the genre relates to language and cultural revitalization. I FIRST HEARD Patagonian heavy metal on a cold winter night in Esquel, Argentina. The song roared to life with guitar riffs and drumming resembling a U.S. or European thrash metal record. But around the 35-second mark, unfamiliar wind instruments grabbed my attention.

Heritage 130

Heritage Cultures History Government 130

ED Surge

MARCH 17, 2025

Several years ago, Oklahoma City Public Schools shuttered more than a dozen of its school buildings. It was part of a realignment process in the district to right-size student populations within schools some were overcrowded, others were underenrolled and to make the school experience better and more consistent for students across the city. But what to do with all of those empty buildings?

K-12 125

K-12 Elementary School Public School Private School 125

Zinn Education Project

MARCH 7, 2025

Register We are delighted to host scholar Jason Stanley in conversation with Rethinking Schools editor Jesse Hagopian for an online class on Monday, May 12. Here is why: In Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future , Jason Stanley exposes the ways authoritarian regimes manipulate historical narratives to maintain power. Stanley demonstrates how attacks on education and historical memory support authoritarianism, undermining public understanding of past struggles for j

History 98

History Historical Literacy Professional Development Economics 98

The Hechinger Report

MARCH 2, 2025

By now, you may have seen the recent spate of articles bemoaning the plight of the novel, that outdated 18th-century technology that adults have long forsaken and that some schools are beginning to shrug off. The best case against novels goes something like this: Theyre long, students dont read them outside of class, and they should make way for other aspects of instruction.

K-12 136

K-12 Pedagogy High School Cultures 136

Maitri Learning

MARCH 8, 2025

When we first teach students the sounds of the alphabet, we often get caught in a bit of a jumble. Right away, we encounter the elaborate spelling variations of English. We are teaching the sound that the letter a makes but it makes more than one so we add in complexity by explaining both the long a sound (ape) and the short a sound (apple). The same goes for many other sounds like g where we explain that it makes both the hard g sound (gorilla) and the soft g sound (giraffe).

Teaching 52

Teaching Tradition Research Education 52

Moler's Musing

MARCH 24, 2025

Ive been reading Do I Have Your Attention? by Blake Harvard. It blends cognitive science with practical classroom ideasnothing too wild, just enough to make you stop and rethink some things. One part that really stuck with me was on cognitive load theory, especially the idea of intrinsic and extraneous load. It got me thinking about how Ive been planning, what I prioritize, and how I sometimes try to do too much when maybe I just need to step back.

Social Studies 40

Social Studies Economics Teaching Psychology 40

ED Surge

MARCH 19, 2025

In the 2021-2022 academic year, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce found more than 43,000 individuals with active teaching credentials were not employed as teachers or staff members in a public school. Furthermore, the Thomas Fordham Institute describes Ohios teacher shortage as unclear due to a lack of data that could shed light on why teachers are leaving, the challenges schools face in the hiring process and the hiring trends across different schools.

Education 101

Education Professional Development Charter School Lesson Plan 101

Anthropology.net

MARCH 6, 2025

A Civilization Shaped by Water Long before the great empires of Babylon and Assyria rose to power, an ancient civilization in southern Mesopotamia was already mastering the art of water management. New research published in Antiquity 1 by geoarchaeologist Jaafar Jotheri and his team reveals a massive, intricate irrigation system in the Eridu region—one that predates the first millennium BCE.

History 74

History Archaeology Humanities Government 74

Sapiens

MARCH 26, 2025

An archaeologist explains how generative artificial intelligence has the potential to reshape our views of ancient people, arguing that a critical perspective is needed to use this technical innovation and avoid misrepresentations. This article was originally published at The Conversation and has been republished under Creative Commons. Generative artificial intelligence is often seen as the epitome of our times and sometimes even as futuristic.

Archaeology 90

Archaeology Museum History Humanities 90

The Hechinger Report

MARCH 11, 2025

Two hundred and forty-nine years ago, the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence pledged their lives, fortunes and honor to what has become the worlds longest-standing experiment in constitutional democracy. Yet as we prepare to celebrate America at 250, warning signs abound that we may be failing their charge. National pride in America is at a record low, coinciding with desperately low scores on the nations civics report card from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

Civics 82

Civics K-12 High School Middle School 82

Diane Ravitch

MARCH 11, 2025

John Thompson, retired teacher and historian in Oklahoma, reviews a book about how to teach civics in this era. He writes: Lindsey Cormacks How to Raise a Citizen (And Why Its Up to You to Do It ) offers an engaging and practical approach to discussing political issues and the inner workings of the U.S. government with children. And guess what? How to Raise a Citizen doesnt dump the entire challenge on schools and educators, as was the norm for corporate school reformers!

Civics 78

Civics Education Museum Government 78

Moler's Musing

MARCH 1, 2025

This week was all about using EduProtocols to drive deeper thinking, engagement, and writing practice as we explored westward expansion and Manifest Destiny. Instead of just reading from the textbook and answering questions, students worked through activities that encouraged them to generate their own questions, analyze sources, and compare perspectives.

History 122

History Critical Thinking Government Research 122

ED Surge

MARCH 18, 2025

Panicked calls from parents. More empty desks in classrooms. Higher anxiety. Those are some of the effects school officials from around the country say their communities have been experiencing in the weeks since the Trump administration rolled back a federal policy that restricted Immigrations and Customs Enforcement from conducting raids on school grounds.

Psychology 89

Psychology K-12 Cultures Research 89

Anthropology.net

MARCH 18, 2025

For decades, the story of modern human origins seemed relatively straightforward: Homo sapiens emerged in Africa roughly 300,000 years ago, evolving as a single, continuous lineage before expanding across the globe. But new research suggests that this narrative is missing an entire chapter. Modern humans descended from not one, but at least two ancestral populations that drifted apart and later reconnected, long before modern humans spread across the globe.

Ancestry 98

Ancestry Humanities Heritage Artifacts 98

Sapiens

MARCH 4, 2025

A group of forensic anthropologists argues their field must reject the myth of pure objectivity and challenge systemic inequities through advocacy and activism. WHEN A PERSON DIES, forensic anthropologists often help recover the body, estimate or establish their identity, aid in determining manner of death, and even testify in court. Through this work, drawing on knowledge from human skeletal biology, anatomy, and archaeology, we often confront the immense social and racial inequalities that ca

Advocacy 93

Advocacy Anthropology Ancestry Human Rights 93

The Hechinger Report

MARCH 27, 2025

Maraida Caraballo Martinez has been an educator in Puerto Rico for 28 years and the principal of the elementary school Escuela de la Communidad Jaime C. Rodriguez for the past seven. She never knows how much money her school in Yabucoa will receive from the government each year because it isnt based on the number of children enrolled. One year she got $36,000; another year, it was $12,000.

Education 123

Education Government K-12 Elementary School 123

Political Science Now

MARCH 18, 2025

Prior to the 2024 US Presidential Election, APSAs Diversity and Inclusion Programs Department issued a call for submissions, entitled 2024 APSA Post-Election Reflections, for a PSNow blog series of political science scholars who reflect on key moments, ideas, and challenges faced in the 2024 election. Apathy Aftermath?: Non-voting in 2024 Presidential Election by Alexandria Davis , University of California, Los Angeles In the 2024 election, much attention was given to the conservative shift in

Political Science 38

Political Science Psychology Leadership Government 38

Anthropology News

MARCH 4, 2025

For Muslims of the Arab world and Jews, whose religious life can be so closely identified with Arabic and Hebrew respectively, it is striking that a French community of Tunisian-descended Jews are working to remember the Tunisian Judeo-Arabic that their parents and grandparents had tried to forget when they migrated to France following Tunisias 1956 independence.

Heritage 69

Heritage Anthropology Tradition Cultures 69

ED Surge

MARCH 20, 2025

In late January, the White House instructed the Department of Defense to craft a plan that would make funds available for military families to pay for public charters and private religious schools. Its part of the administrations push to decentralize education, which comes along with a burst of energy for school choice options around the country. The administration argues that unlocking funding will give families options and lead to better outcomes.

Charter School 109

Charter School Private School Public School Education Policy 109

Anthropology.net

MARCH 14, 2025

Few traits define humanity as clearly as language. Yet, despite its central role in human evolution, determining when and how language first emerged remains a challenge. Fossils do not speak, and ancient DNA does not carry recordings of conversations. Traditionally, scholars have debated linguistic origins based on indirect clues—symbolic artifacts, brain size, or the complexity of tool-making.

Humanities 93

Humanities Archaeology Artifacts Psychology 93

Moler's Musing

MARCH 8, 2025

This week was all about making westward expansion more engaging and interactive while reinforcing key historical concepts through EduProtocols. From annotated maps and Thick Slides to Map & Tell and Parafly , students used a variety of strategies to build knowledge, analyze sources, and develop writing skills. We started with a Great American Race to introduce westward territories, followed by a Map & Tell to break down the meaning of “5440′ or Fight.” Parafly helped st

Geography 98

Geography Social Studies Interactive Learning History 98

The Hechinger Report

MARCH 12, 2025

The Education Reporting Collaborative, a coalition of eight newsrooms, is investigating the unintended consequences of AI-powered surveillance at schools. Members of the Collaborative are AL.com, The Associated Press, The Christian Science Monitor, The Dallas Morning News, The Hechinger Report, Idaho Education News, The Post and Courier in South Carolina, and The Seattle Times.

High School 112

High School K-12 Public School Psychology 112

Living Geography

MARCH 13, 2025

More than 100 000 has been awarded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to help safeguard the future of one of the UK's oldest and most important heritage trees - The Great London Plane of Ely! Image: Alan Parkinson, shared on Flickr under CC license I am lucky to be able to walk through the Old Palace gardens whenever I want, and standing in the garden is a huge London plane tree.

Heritage 52

Heritage Community Engagement History 52

Anthropology News

MARCH 27, 2025

Migration is always more than just a transferit is a point of tension where preservation, power, and priorities intersect. Cultural artifacts, traditions, and knowledge do not simply move; they shift, adapt, and sometimes disappear in the process. Digital artifacts follow the same patterns. When MySpace lost 50 million songs during a server migration , it wasnt just a glitchit was a reshaping of independent music history, determined by infrastructure choices rather than cultural value.

Archiving 93

Archiving Artifacts Anthropology Museum 93

ED Surge

MARCH 5, 2025

San Francisco is seen as a global tech capital, yet even here, high school students are shockingly ill-equipped to survive in the modern digital age. The school where I teach science is nestled in the historic Mission District of San Francisco, mere miles from the sprawling campuses of X, Meta and Google. During the pandemic, our district embodied this tech-forward identity by providing Chromebooks and hotspots for all students to go fully remote for an entire academic year of virtual learning.

Library 95

Library High School Teaching Economics 95

Anthropology.net

MARCH 17, 2025

Some 4,000 years ago, the southeastern corner of the Iberian Peninsula was home to one of Europe’s first state-level societies: El Argar. From its fortified hilltop settlements, this Bronze Age power controlled vast territories, imposing its influence over neighboring groups through trade, warfare, and the steady flow of resources like metal, textiles, and ceramics.

Archaeology 52

Archaeology Economics Anthropology Research 52

Thrive in Grade Five

MARCH 9, 2025

It’s a fact of life, when you assign work or projects in social studies class, you’ll have early finishers. What should you do with them? Let them hang out and talk? Ummm, no, that’s just asking for classroom management nightmares. When you fail to set procedures for students, they’ll create their own procedures 100% of the time, so make sure students know what assignments they must complete and what they are able to do once finished with their required work.

Social Studies 130

Social Studies Classroom Management Museum History 130

The Hechinger Report

MARCH 23, 2025

For the past century, we have treated intelligence as something measurable a score on an IQ test, a standardized exam or a checklist of marketable skills. Education systems were built on the belief that if we filled young minds with enough knowledge, progress would follow. We rewarded students for getting the right answers, for competing rather than collaborating, for mastering subjects rather than navigating human relationships.

Humanities 79

Humanities Economics Professional Development High School 79

A Principal's Reflections

MARCH 2, 2025

" The future doesn't need us to memorize its answers; it needs us to master the art of asking better questions." The future won't wait for us to catch up; it will demand that we've already anticipated its needs, making future-proofing learning not a luxury but the very oxygen of survival. Recently, on my podcast Unpacking the Backpack , I discussed this topic in detail after revisiting a blog post I wrote in 2021.

Critical Thinking 413

Critical Thinking Pedagogy Project-Based Learning Tradition 413

Political Science Now

MARCH 18, 2025

Still Marginalized? Gender and LGBTQIA+ Scholarship in Top Political Science Journals By Jennifer M. Piscopo , University of London Is political science research that explores gender and LGBTQIA+ politics still underrepresented in the disciplines top journals? This article examines publication trends in gender research and LGBTQIA+ research in five top political science journals, between 2017 and 2023 (inclusive).

Political Science 43

Political Science Research 43

ED Surge

MARCH 4, 2025

Near the beginning of every semester, Sarah Z. Johnson has her students make her a promise: If they think about dropping the class, they will meet with her first. While many of the students roll their eyes, it may save at least one student a year, says Johnson, who is a writing instructor and head of the writing center at Madison Area Technical College in Wisconsin.

Tutoring 116

Tutoring High School Middle School Teaching 116

Anthropology.net

MARCH 4, 2025

The Lost Chapter of Mediterranean Africa For decades, archaeologists have looked at the Mediterranean’s Bronze Age as a tale of European dynamism and African silence. While sites in Iberia, Greece, and the Levant reveal a flourishing network of trade, agriculture, and technology, North Africa—except for Egypt—has often been cast as an empty land, a region untouched by the cultural currents shaping the rest of the ancient world.

Cultures 86

Cultures Economics History Tradition 86