What Did You Read in 2017?

What did Nat Geo Education readers read this year? Here are the activities, stories, pictures, and assorted oddities you pushed to the top of our charts in 2017.   What Did You Read About This Year? The Bee! Our new collection of National Geographic Bee resources, including a daily quiz and collection of study guides, was a big hit with educators and students.   Forces … Continue reading What Did You Read in 2017?

What Did You Read in 2016?

EDUCATION What do Nat Geo Education Blog readers read? Here are the activities, stories, pictures, and assorted oddities you pushed to the top of our charts in 2016. (Nat Geo Education)   Discussion Ideas What do Nat Geo Education readers read about? Politics! In this intensely political year, our readers relied on our study guides for controversial issues such as the Dakota Access Pipeline, the … Continue reading What Did You Read in 2016?

What Did You Read in 2015?

EDUCATION What do Nat Geo Education Blog readers read? Here are the activities, stories, pictures, and assorted oddities you pushed to the top of our charts in 2015. (Nat Geo Education) Our Daily Content page is a great primer on all the content available from Nat Geo Education—10 fresh ideas, every day of the year, from quick vocabulary words to fully fleshed out and standards-aligned … Continue reading What Did You Read in 2015?

D.C. Area Principal Hits the Roof for Pledge

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I came across this comical, yet thought-provoking article in the D.C. Washington Post Metro newspaper this morning:

D.C. Area Prinicipal Hits the Roof for Pledge

It seems an elementary school principal in Hyattsville, Maryland, has taken to extreme measures to motivate students to perform on standardized tests.

Two years ago, Lewisdale Elementary was placed on the state’s “school improvement” list, meaning that it had failed to meet standards of “adequate yearly progress.” AYP, as it is referred to in education circles, is a construct established under the 2001 congressional No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act that requires each state to set standards for public school accountability, along with timelines for meeting those standards.

When Lewisdale made the grade to improve off the “school improvement” list last year, Principal Glee-Woodard and testing coordinator James Green celebrated by allowing students to submerge them in a dunk tank, carnival-style.

This year, the two adventurous administrators raised the stakes. They encouraged teachers and students to don military fatigues in their
quest to “win the war against the MSA [Maryland School Assessments].” And when the student body did achieve AYP, Glee-Woodard and Green spent an entire day this fall working from the school’s rooftop.

What do you think of these administrators’ approach to school improvement?

Continue reading “D.C. Area Principal Hits the Roof for Pledge”