National Institute for Student-Centered Education

    Follow us

  • Home
  • About
    • Mission
    • White Papers
    • News & Media
      • Press Releases
      • In the News
      • Press Kit
    • Team
    • Contact
  • Conference
    • Inspire 2014
  • Events
    • Webinars
    • CEUs and PDPs
    • Calendar
  • Blog
    • NISCE Blog
    • Resources
  • Get Involved
    • Subscribe to Newsletter
    • Become A Partner
You are here: Home / Archives for Extended Learning

Maybe We Should Think of Homework as Being “Diagnostic”

October 31, 2012 in Best Practices, Parenting Tagged: Assessment, Extended Learning, Homework

Maybe We Should Think of Homework as Being “Diagnostic”

When reviewing another article in the seemingly endless debate about homework ("Are You Down With or Done With Homework?"), it struck me that educators and parents would be better off using this time-honored educational tradition as a way to zero in on an individual student's approach to learning or their grasp of the work being covered in class.Homework has far more potential as something to start the conversation between a teacher and a student than as the key to promoting greater academic … [Read more...]

Author: Ted Wilson Leave a Comment

Excitement For Student-Centered Learning Builds In Sanford, ME

June 13, 2012 in Features, Policy Issues Tagged: Educators, Extended Learning, Student-Centered Education

Excitement For Student-Centered Learning Builds In Sanford, ME

At the end of the 2012 school year, the NISCE leadership team took a field trip to witness a community event in Sanford, Maine. Parents, students, teachers, administrators and community supporters had gathered to celebrate the end of the first year of a three-year effort designed to reshape their entire school system.This effort had been galvanized by the award of a competitive $3.75 million grant from the Nellie Mae Foundation. Sanford's Student-Centered Proficiency Based Learning approach … [Read more...]

Author: Ted Wilson Leave a Comment

Opportunities for Meaningful Education

May 23, 2012 in Best Practices, Features Tagged: Extended Learning, Mental Health, Relationships

Opportunities for Meaningful Education

When I first started working at Dearborn Academy, I had a colleague who'd been around for a number of years.  He had a gentle soul and his love and respect for our students was manifest. One day the two of us were playing a pickup game of basketball, a game at which he excelled, against a pair of middle schoolers.  I wasn't sure how hard I should be playing against such over-matched opponents, and when I got a chance to do so unobtrusively I asked how hard we should try to win.His response … [Read more...]

Author: Malcolm White Leave a Comment

Creating a Culture of Collaborative Problem Solving at Seaport Academy

April 26, 2012 in Features Tagged: Differentiated Learning, Extended Learning, High School, Project Based Learning, Relationships, Special Education

Creating a Culture of Collaborative Problem Solving at Seaport Academy

Seaport Academy was recently recognized in The Navy Yard News, a quarterly publication of the friends of the Charlestown Navy Yard, as emphasizing collaborative problem solving and a curriculum designed to be flexible enough to meet the wide variety of learning needs presented by their students.Here is the story: “We’ve scrapped the usual style of ‘reward-consequence’ learning in favor of collaboration — students identify issues and help solve problems together,” says Alex Tsonas, Director … [Read more...]

Author: Alyssa Kierkegaard Leave a Comment

What Can We Really Do to Fight Bullying?

April 13, 2012 in NISCE Events, Resources Tagged: Bullying, Extended Learning, Parents, Relationships, Resources

What Can We Really Do to Fight Bullying?

With over 13 million kids bullied this year, making it the most common form of violence that young people experience, educators, parents, students and advocates need to be given resources and voices to address the epidemic.On Wednesday, April 25th at Dearborn Academy in Arlington, MA the National Institute for Student-Centered Education (NISCE) will be hosting a roundtable discussion with parents, educators, and students on Fostering Empathy and Action.Participants will discuss the hard … [Read more...]

Author: Alyssa Kierkegaard Leave a Comment

Inspiring Reading From Grade School Through Grad School

March 14, 2012 in Best Practices Tagged: Early Education, Elementary / Middle, Engagement, Extended Learning, Literacy, Parents, Relationships, Resources

Inspiring Reading From Grade School Through Grad School

Research shows that Americans are reading less and that those who are reading are reading less well. This is according to a study by the National Endowment for the Arts which notes that, "Less than one-third of 13-year olds are daily readers, a 14 % decline from 20 years early," and that "Reading scores for 12th-graders fell significantly from 1992 to 2005, with the sharpest declines in the amount for lower-level readers." How is it that parents, educators, and individuals who are concerned … [Read more...]

Author: Alyssa Kierkegaard Leave a Comment

What Does The Whole Child Initiative Mean For Student-Centered Education?

March 9, 2012 in Best Practices Tagged: Approaches, Extended Learning, Relationships, Resources, Student-Centered Education

What Does The Whole Child Initiative Mean For Student-Centered Education?

A critical element of a student-centered approach is a keen sense of context and boundaries. We observe that there is more to a child than his or her identity as a student. The whole of what is learned is much greater than what is taught, what is tested, what is addressed in curriculum, and what may be in any teacher’s plan book.The Whole Child Initiative The Whole Child Initiative (ASCD) takes this notion seriously and recommends to schools that education should be about nurturing the growth … [Read more...]

Author: Alyssa Kierkegaard Leave a Comment

The Importance of Relationships Through All Educational Contexts

March 8, 2012 in Best Practices, Research Tagged: Educators, Elementary / Middle, Extended Learning, High School, Higher Ed, School Design, Student Voice, Student-Centered Education

The Importance of Relationships Through All Educational Contexts

Relationship is Fundamental The importance of relationship carries on through constructivist, traditional, religious, military, and non-traditional models. It is so fundamental, in fact, that it could be said that the ability to form positive and nurturing relationships with students is the sine qua non of a student-centered approach. The primary importance of relationship is also a well established factor in research on the development of resilience in children.Seeking to identify the factors … [Read more...]

Author: Alyssa Kierkegaard 1 Comment

The Importance of Relationships and the Basics of Self-Teaching

March 8, 2012 in Best Practices, Policy Issues, Research Tagged: Approaches, Engagement, Extended Learning, Relationships, Resources, School Design, Student Voice, Technology

The Importance of Relationships and the Basics of Self-Teaching

Sugata Mitra Teaches About Self-Teaching Consider the connection between relationship and self-teaching.At first glance this will appear to be a contradiction. It would seem that self-teaching is, by definition, outside the realm of relationship. Of the list of educational context categories—military, traditional, Montessori, et cetera it is the least dependent on adult guidance. On further inspection, we discover that the very nature of learning is deeply affected by relationship at the … [Read more...]

Author: Alyssa Kierkegaard Leave a Comment

What Dumbledore and Other Can Teach Us about Positive Examples of Traditional Classroom

February 21, 2012 in Best Practices, Features Tagged: Educators, Engagement, Extended Learning, Relationships, Student-Centered Education

What Dumbledore and Other Can Teach Us about Positive Examples of Traditional Classroom

Stripped down to essentials, this is the basic image of a classroom with which we areall familiar. At its best, when students are actually listening and learning,and when the teacher is truly enthralled with the subject and the experience,the effect can be magic. We have only to consult our popular culture torecognize what this scene can produce in our imaginations, at least. Think of To Sir with Love, or Stand and Deliver, or even ProfessorDumbledore speaking at Hogwarts. Greatness in teaching … [Read more...]

Author: Alyssa Kierkegaard Leave a Comment

Next Page »

Subscribe to the NISCE eNewsletter

Recent Posts

Using Sensory Tools In The Classroom

November 5, 2015

CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS PLAY A ROLE IN LEARNING

October 7, 2015

Brain-Based Learning Tools and Ideas

July 28, 2015

National Institute for Student Centered Education Receives 2015 Best of Arlington Award

July 15, 2015

Thinking Errors Adolescents Can Bring to School

July 6, 2015

Stay Up To Date!


    Follow us

Upcoming Events

Upcoming Events

There are no upcoming events.

View Calendar

White Papers

NISCE publishes a series of white papers on the challenges and benefits of student-centered education. Download free pdfs of our latest white papers here.  Interested in working with us on a white paper? Email twilson@nisce.org. Thanks.
  • Home
  • INSPIRE Conference
  • Credits
  • Login

8 Winchester Place, Suite 202, Winchester, MA, 01890 - (781) 641 2424 - INFO@NISCE.ORG
©2014 COPYRIGHT SCHOOLS FOR CHILDREN, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.