They say that “clothes don’t make the man,” but when it comes to schools, looks matter. Several recent studies have shown a connection between school environment and student performance. Not only can well-designed schools boost student performance, poorly designed schools can negatively affect student achievement.

STUDIES AND SURVEYS

The Huffington Post reported the findings of a study that is currently being conducted in the United Kingdom. The architecture firm Nightingale Associates paired up with the University…

With over 34 subject area offerings, more high school students than ever before are pursuing college credits through Advanced Placement (AP) examinations.

Recently, we shared an infographic documenting rising trends in AP offerings and exams (click on the image to view our infographic). However, Dartmouth College has expressed concerns with the rigor of these exams, and after a decade of discussion, college faculty have decided to stop awarding college credit for AP exams starting in 2014.

In an Associated Press article, Holly Ramer explains th…

This blog was originally published on Finding Common Ground at Education Week by Peter DeWitt on January 20th, 2013 6:52 AM.

It's the 21st Century thing to do. Take students who are struggling readers or those classified as special education students and put them on an interactive reading program to learn how to read. Many educators buy into it. After all, kids are enveloped in technology from an early age and these programs have sound, graphics and the programs ask in-depth com…

In response to the school shooting tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, the California State Teachers Retirement System has announced that it will sell all of its stock holdings that are associated with firearms. Such holdings include the Freedom Group, producers of one of the brands of semiautomatic weapons that Adam Lanza used during his rampage, according to The New York Times.

Since this announcement, other states have been looking at their retirement investments to find out exactly whom they have been supporting. In this public act of retaliation against automatic and semiautomatic weapon accessibility, the debate over …

This blog was originally published on Finding Common Ground at Education Week by Peter DeWitt on January 14, 2013 7:15 PM.

19 teachers at Garfield High School in Seattle, Washington refused to administer the district required Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) to ninth grade students on January 9th. After many years of out of control high stakes testing in the U.S. it was bound to happen sooner or later. It was another example of some strong teachers who are putting the needs of their students first.

Sandy Hook students recently returned to school at a new location, with therapy dogs waiting and positive messages displayed on large posters throughout the building. The New York Timesreported that parents were understandably nervous and teachers were eager to return to their jobs, while simultaneously mourning the loss of their colleagues and students. One parent, Mr. Murray, said, “I was kind of happy, but I sort of felt like I was going to throw up,” in response to his son’s return to school. Through it all, staff, students and community members have shown incredible resilience.