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Can arts education help narrow the achievement gap?
Involvement in arts education can be linked to improved academic achievement among low-income or disadvantaged students, according to a new National Endowment for the Arts research report.

Movement Against Standardized Testing Grows As Parents Opt Out
With the arrival of spring comes the inevitable wave of standardized tests, as public school students across the country break out their number two pencils and spend hours of class time taking math and literacy assessments.

Beyond the Teachers' Lounge: The Emerging Connection Gap
We often pontificate about the "haves" and the "have-nots" in our schools -- the unfair way that schools are funded, the ways in which some of our students are robbed of opportunity while others are awash in it.

Common Standards Publishers' Criteria Are Revised
If you are following the Common Core State Standards, you might have heard a little something about a set of "publishers' criteria" that was designed to guide the development of curricular and instructional materials. The criteria caused a bit of a stir when they first came out last summer.

Big Idea Tips and Do It Tips for School Improvement
BIT: Project-Based Learning (PBL) naturally lends itself to differentiated instruction. By design, it is student-centered, student-driven and gives space for teachers to meet the needs of students in a variety of ways. PBL can allow for effective differentiation in assessment as well as daily management and instruction. Here are some specific differentiation strategies to use during a PBL project.

DIT 1: Differentiate Through Teams. Heterogeneous grouping works, but sometimes homogenous grouping can be an effective way to differentiate in a project. Sometimes in a novel- or literature-based PBL project, it might be appropriate to differentiate by grouping into reading level. That way, groups that need it can get intensive work and ensure they are getting the instruction they need. Pick appropriate times to break your class into teams to create a structure for differentiated instruction.

DIT 2: Reflection is an essential component of PBL. Throughout the project, students should be reflecting on their work and setting goals for further learning. This is a great opportunity for them to set personalized learning goals and for the teacher to target instruction specific to the goals they set.

DIT 3: In addition to being a great management strategy to prevent "time sucks" in class, mini-lessons are a great way to differentiate instruction. Offer mini-lessons to support your students' learning. After reflection and goal setting, have them connect their goals to specific mini-lessons.

DIT 4: Another essential component of PBL is student voice and choice, both in terms of what students produce and how they use their time. Specifically as to products, you can utilize multiple intelligences to create summative assessments or products that allow students to show what they know in a variety of ways. From written components to artistic or theatrical, you can differentiate the way students are summatively assessed. Ask yourself, "How can I allow for voice and choice here?" Embrace possibilities for differentiated student summative products.

DIT 5: Differentiate through formative assessments, Students can show what they have learned in different ways, in terms of products produced as summative assessment.  But be sure and check for understanding along the way. Consider such targets as collaboration, oral conference, a series of written responses, a graphic organizer or collage.

DIT 6: Balance teamwork and individual work. Teamwork and collaboration occurs regularly in a PBL project. We want to leverage collaboration as much as content. However, there are times when individual instruction and practice may be needed. Students learn in teams, and they learn on their own. Make sure to balance both, so that you are demanding a 21st century collaborative environment while allowing time to meet students on an individual basis.  Sometimes it is necessary to take a break from teamwork. You need to differentiate the learning environment because some students learn better on their own, and others learn better in a team.

DIT 7: As you master the PBL process in your classroom, you will intuitively find ways to differentiate instruction for your students. Design the project to scaffold content and skills in a variety of ways. Create formative and summative assessments to allow for multiple intelligences and manage the process so that it allows you meet students where they are and move them forward.
Check out these good ideas from Andrew Miller, “Ideas for differentiating instruction in project-based lessons,” Edutopia