The Hechinger Report

JANUARY 13, 2025

A trio of researchers argues that it’s unclear where students with disabilities learn the most and recommends that teachers and parents focus first on interventions students need. Credit: Getty images A prominent professor of special education is about to ignite a fierce debate over a tenet of his field, that students with disabilities should be educated as much as possible alongside their peers in general education classrooms, a strategy known as inclusion.

Education 145

Education Psychology Research Government 145

Let's Cultivate Greatness

JANUARY 3, 2025

We call it Civics, not Government, class because its purpose is to instill a sense of citizen duty and participation, not just a memorization of concepts and amendments. Yet, in reality, how much of our class time is dedicated to allowing students to participate ? Probably less than wed care to admit, right? No, shame! Its the reality of a long list of standards and our touchy political climate.

Civics 52

Civics Government Project-Based Learning Leadership 52

Sapiens

JANUARY 14, 2025

In the Ecuadorian Amazon, an anthropologist explores how the Shuar people are betting on dragon fruit cultivation to reclaim economic autonomy and political sovereignty. This article was originally published at YES! Magazine and has been republished under Creative Commons. This is a magnificent fruit but is difficult to care for, says Juan Chamik as he stands on a hill on his land, looking over the rainforest.

Economics 116

Economics Tradition Government Anthropology 116

Moler's Musing

JANUARY 18, 2025

Last week, I kicked off my social studies unit with a pre-assessment using a citizenship test. The goal for my students was to answer six or more questions correctly. Out of the 89 students I teach across four periods, only six met that benchmark. Faced with a tight timeline, I knew I had to make every lesson count. By the end of the week, after incorporating engaging EduProtocols , 70 out of 89 students achieved a score of six or higher on the same test.

Government 122

Government Social Studies Teaching Research 122

ED Surge

JANUARY 22, 2025

Earlier this month at Truesdell Elementary, in the last five minutes of one of my classes, I called for my students' attention. Class, class! I called. Yes, yes, they responded in unison. I have a recognition to make. I held up one of my fourth grade students perspective drawings and projected it for the class to see. His carefully rendered parallel, vertical and diagonal lines converging at the vanishing point created a stunning visual.

K-12 117

K-12 Middle School Cultures High School 117

Anthropology.net

JANUARY 2, 2025

Tracing Europe’s Genetic Footsteps The early medieval period was a transformative era, shaped by migrations, trade, and cultural exchanges. Yet, many of its genetic mysteries have eluded researchers due to the limitations of traditional methods. A new study, led by Leo Speidel and colleagues, published in Nature 1 , takes a brand newstep forward.

Ancestry 96

Ancestry Archaeology History Cultures 96

The Hechinger Report

JANUARY 6, 2025

DUNEDIN, New Zealand When Principal Jen Rodgers took a 10-week sabbatical in 2021, she was on a mission to find a way to improve mathematics instruction at the primary school she leads here in one of the countrys oldest cities. Rodgers, who has led the 420-student St. Clair School since 2016, is hardly alone in worrying about maths. Mathematics scores on international tests have been stagnating or falling for years in New Zealand and many other countries, with the exception of a few Asian natio

Government 113

Government Professional Development K-12 Teaching 113

Maitri Learning

JANUARY 12, 2025

Recent advances in neuroscience are revealing what Montessori educators have known for over a century - that learning is deeply connected to emotion, relationships, and the integration of mind and body. At the recent Montessori Schools of Massachusetts conference, I shared how cutting-edge brain research aligns with and validates core Montessori principles.

Research 52

Research Humanities Cultures Psychology 52

Moler's Musing

JANUARY 10, 2025

Coming back from winter break, we hit the ground running with the principles of the Constitution. The transition wasnt easysnow delays and uneven class times on Wednesday threw off our rhythm, and the textbooks overwhelming vocabulary and dense content didnt help. After some reflection and collaboration with a trusted colleague, I decided to adjust my approach.

Lesson Plan 116

Lesson Plan Government Middle School Critical Thinking 116

Passion for Social Studies

JANUARY 11, 2025

Students learn about such a wide range of politics in high school history classes. While some courses are about foreign countries, others focus on what is happening in the United States. This means students learn about important leaders and policies that have drastically shaped the United States into the country it is today. For example, teaching Nixon is a crucial aspect of American history due to his leadership, insights, and evolution of politics.

Teaching 130

Teaching Civic Engagement Civics Lesson Plan 130

World History Teachers Blog

JANUARY 16, 2025

This MIT site " Visualizing Cultures ," is a great resource for World History and AP World when studying imperialism. The site includes outstanding visual narratives on which curriculum units are based. Most of the curriculum units ask students to analyze various images. Some of the units include the rise and fall of the Canton Trade System and the First Opium War.

Cultures 194

Cultures World History History 194

The Hechinger Report

JANUARY 15, 2025

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand Many students in New Zealand have a story to tell about streaming being grouped into separate math classes based on their perceived ability to master the subject. Manaaki Waretini-Beaumont, now 18 and an environmental science major at the University of Canterbury, learned about the downside of streaming when she enrolled in Avonside Girls, a 1,000-student high school in Christchurch.

High School 103

High School Lesson Plan Research Education 103

Sapiens

JANUARY 13, 2025

A translators notes are refashioned into a poem calling for justice for Indigenous peoples in the Philippines displaced by a megadam. Translation Notes is part of the collection Poets Resist, Refuse, and Find a Way Through. Read the introduction to the collection here. In November 2023 , Ian Fry , the first U.N. Special Rapporteur on Climate Change and Human Rights, met with stakeholders in the Philippines to report on the status of the country regarding environmental and human rights protectio

Human Rights 108

Human Rights Anthropology Humanities Cultures 108

ED Surge

JANUARY 13, 2025

Schools should provide a window through which all students can see the future they want for themselves. Students arrive in the classroom with a diverse range of needs, and helping them succeed isnt always straightforward. Centering instruction in Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and implementing both direct and student-driven instruction can help engage learners, address diverse needs and improve learning outcomes for all students.

EdTech 97

EdTech Critical Thinking Teaching Research 97

Political Science Now

JANUARY 28, 2025

Expertise and Inequality Amid Environmental Crisis: A View from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta By Joseph Warren , University of Alaska Anchorage Scientific expertise is crucial for responding effectively to environmental crises. Nevertheless, under conditions of political inequality, expert policy making can inhibit policy solutions by altering incentives of powerful interest groups.

Political Science 44

Political Science 44

Anthropology.net

JANUARY 18, 2025

In the 8th century CE, the Avars—an enigmatic group with roots in the East Asian steppes—settled in Central Europe, weaving a tapestry of cultural cohesion amid genetic diversity. New research, published in Nature 1 by an international team of researchers led by the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, delves into the lives of two neighboring Avar communities in Lower Austria.

Ancestry 97

Ancestry Archaeology Anthropology Heritage 97

World History Teachers Blog

JANUARY 5, 2025

Here are several resources that remind us of the global nature of World War I. The first resources explain the role of China in the war. Eileen Cheng-yin Chow, Director of the Shewo Institute of Chinese Journalism, notes in this Twitter thread that China contributed much to the war effort and outlines the untold story of over 140,000 Chinese laborers who fought on the European frontlines beside French, Russian, and British troops.

Government 185

Government History 185

The Hechinger Report

JANUARY 14, 2025

RANDOLPH, Vt. The thermostat was turned low in the admissions office at Vermont State University on a cold winter morning. Its one of our efficiencies, quipped David Bergh, the institutions president, who works in the same building. Bergh was joking. But he was referring to something decidedly serious: the public university systems struggle to reduce a deficit so deep, it threatened to permanently shutter several campuses after dramatic drop-offs in enrollment and revenue.

Library 126

Library Tradition Education Government 126

Sapiens

JANUARY 13, 2025

In a themed collection, poets trace contours of power to critique colonialism, environmental destruction, and social violence while transforming the landscape of possibilities. A detainee prays in a prison cell at Guantnamo. Rural women in Brazil tend to a bounty of crops, despite threats of expanding agribusinesses. A poet unravels an 1846 British treaty selling Kashmir, weaving it into a new form.

Anthropology 113

Anthropology History Cultures Archaeology 113

ED Surge

JANUARY 15, 2025

The lights dimmed, and the audience fell silent. It was a cold January afternoon in 2007, and I was sitting in a crowded auditorium in Providence, Rhode Island, nervously thinking about the week ahead. In just a few days, Id travel across the world and step into a classroom for the first time as a student teachera dream years in the making that suddenly felt overwhelming.

Teaching 120

Teaching Tradition High School Education 120

Political Science Now

JANUARY 10, 2025

In the APSA Public Scholarship Program, graduate students in political science produce summaries of new research in the American Political Science Review. This piece, written by Ewa Nizalowska, covers the new article by Isaac Gabriel Salgado, “Rethinking the Coloniality of Race: Blood Purity and the Politics of Periodization.” In 2019, The New York Times Magazine launched The 1619 Project , a collaborative historiographic work that sought to recenter the role of slavery and anti-Blac

Political Science 61

Political Science Ancestry History Humanities 61

Anthropology.net

JANUARY 19, 2025

An Ancient Cave with Modern Questions Franchthi Cave, nestled in the Peloponnesian peninsula of Greece, has been a silent witness to 40,000 years of human history. It serves as a critical archaeological site for understanding the transition from Mesolithic hunter-gatherers to Neolithic agriculturalists. A recent study published in PLOS ONE 1 takes a groundbreaking approach to unraveling the dietary patterns of its inhabitants, using compound-specific stable isotope analysis (CSIA) to bring clari

Archaeology 97

Archaeology Humanities Cultures Tradition 97

Zinn Education Project

JANUARY 8, 2025

The climate crisis is not in some distant future. It is being felt around the world with heatwaves, floods, and most dramatically with the wildfires in Southern California. Our hearts go out to the residents who face the tragic loss of lives, homes, and entire communities. #TeachClimateJustice : Invite students to listen to news about the fires and come up with their own terms for the disaster, such as fossil-fueled disaster or climate change disaster.

Teaching 131

Teaching High School Education 131

The Hechinger Report

JANUARY 8, 2025

The first time I talked to Amy Lee Funes, our conversation left me stunned. In spite of the fact that she earned only $35,000 a year and lived in one of the most expensive cities in the world, Funes made too much to qualify for public assistance paying for child care. Her only option was to take a pay cut, a city official told her in late 2019. Funes, who had recently moved far away from her mother (a free source of child care) to escape an abusive relationship, desperately needed child care.

K-12 126

K-12 Government Research Education 126

World History Teachers Blog

JANUARY 9, 2025

Here are some great StoryMaps from Esri's GIS Systems Their software includes story maps for over a dozen titles in World and US history, including the Age of Exploration, the First Crusade, Ancient Greece, the Black Death, the Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire, Egyptian Funerary Practices, and many more. The story maps are engaging and include images, maps, graphs, and primary sources presented in an engaging manner like the excerpt below from the First Crusade story map.

Primary Sources 217

Primary Sources History 217

ED Surge

JANUARY 27, 2025

Education in the 21st century is obsessed with assessing children, attempting to measure every aspect of their intelligence, learning and growth. Yet we are not, according to Isabelle Hau, measuring what matters: relationships. Theres a disconnect between what we know is really critical and then what were paying attention to, says Hau, executive director of the Stanford Accelerator for Learning and author of a new book about the essential role of relationships in healthy human development.

Psychology 142

Psychology Humanities Research Education 142

Political Science Now

JANUARY 6, 2025

Why Does Gender Really Matter in Political Science Learning Processes? By Igor Ahedo Gurrutxaga , Iraide lvarez Muguruza and Andere Ormazabal Gaston , University of the Basque Country Admitting the existence of an architecture of domination is a central factor in understanding the persistence of gender inequalities. Under this idea, the article explores the effects of the sex/gender system on the academic development of students in Political Science in the context of the Basque Country (Spain).

Political Science 39

Political Science Teaching Education 39

Anthropology.net

JANUARY 27, 2025

A Quest for Our Earliest Stories Myths and legends have always been windows into the human psyche, revealing our fears, dreams, and attempts to understand the world. Yet, could these stories also encode the history of humanity’s migrations and interactions? A interesting and creative study by Hélios Delbrassine and colleagues, a pre-print has been published in bioRxiv 1 , suggests just that.

Humanities 83

Humanities Geography Artifacts Anthropology 83

Sapiens

JANUARY 22, 2025

An archaeologist from Palestine is urgently working to assess archaeological sites in the West Bank devastated by destruction and looting amid Israels ongoing war in the region. SIGNS OF LOOTING appear everywhere at archaeological sites across the West Bank. Amid Israels ongoing war in the region, subsistence looterspeople seeking personal profit due to enforced impoverishmentcome to these archaeological sites in pursuit of valuable objects.

Archaeology 127

Archaeology Heritage Cultures Artifacts 127

The Hechinger Report

JANUARY 8, 2025

Pickup trucks with trailers and cars with yawning trunks pulled up onto untended lawns in front of buildings from which people lugged books, furniture, mattresses, trophy cases and artwork. Anything else of value had already been sold by a company that specializes in auctioning off the leftover assets of failed businesses. At least one of the buildings was soon to be demolished altogether, its red-brick walls dumped into its 1921 foundation.

Economics 144

Economics High School Tradition Research 144

Teaching American History

JANUARY 28, 2025

Part I: Behind the Scenes, an Interracial Team Plans Integration In May of 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education , finding segregated schools inherently unequal. One year later, the Court issued its Ruling on Relief, mandating that desegregation proceed with all deliberate speed. Given the deliberate vagueness of the instruction, Southern school authorities delayed compliance.

Education 59

Education American History Junior High History 59

ED Surge

JANUARY 28, 2025

On my first day as an Arabic teacher, my school mentor sternly advised me, "Avoid the three taboos: sex, politics, and religion. When I started teaching Arabic in a public school, I inherited the curriculum and materials from the previous teacher. These materials, designed by Arab and Muslim curriculum developers, included religious references, such as the word Allah, the name of God in Islam, and sayings attributed to the Prophet Muhammad.

Multicultural Education 95

Multicultural Education Heritage Cultures Critical Thinking 95

Strange Maps

JANUARY 22, 2025

Why didnt the Romans invent the steam engine, electricity, or the airplane? Perhaps because they were 3 IQ points less clever than they could have been. The culprit: lead pollution but not of the kind we already knew about. Odd and violent behavior The Romans drank tap water from lead pipes, prepared and ate their food on lead-containing kitchenware, used lead in their cosmetics, and even sweetened and preserved their wine with lead acetate.

History 72

History Research Archaeology 72

Anthropology.net

JANUARY 18, 2025

Long before Homo sapiens walked the Earth, our evolutionary predecessors, Homo erectus , were already demonstrating an extraordinary capacity to endure and adapt to extreme environments. A recent study published in Communications Earth & Environment 1 offers compelling evidence that these early hominins were thriving in the steppe-desert conditions of East Africa at least 1.2 million years ago, reshaping our understanding of early human resilience and resourcefulness.

Archaeology 105

Archaeology Heritage Anthropology Humanities 105

Sapiens

JANUARY 9, 2025

An anthropologist and poet reflects on a journey of return that tells a larger story about human connection, acts of Indigenous solidarity, and the potential for repair within anthropology. I HELD MY CARRY-ON BAG close to me apprehensively, waiting for the prearranged special security screening at OHare International Airport in Chicago en route to the Republic of Vanuatu, an archipelago in the South Pacific.

Museum 124

Museum Anthropology Humanities History 124

The Hechinger Report

JANUARY 20, 2025

Earning a college education can be the gateway to a brighter future with greater earning potential, improved career options and a strong sense of well-being for graduates. These benefits dont just impact graduates they ripple through families and communities, strengthening our society as a whole. But today only 36 percent of Americans express high confidence in higher education, according to recent polling.

Economics 116

Economics Advocacy Education Policy Research 116

Living Geography

JANUARY 15, 2025

Not a new post - a few years old - but relevant today when teaching about the geography of our consumption and the impact it has on the planet. Visual Capitalist has produced a striking visualisation of which parts of the planet have been most affected by human activity.

Humanities 52

Humanities Geography Teaching 52