Public libraries, a piece of the region’s educational mosaic, are reinventing themselves in response to the demands of new technologies and changes in how Americans consume information. No longer viable simply as repositories of books and periodicals, they’re becoming multifaceted community education hubs, using data to better understand their users and gaining popularity by offering... More
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Bridging the Digital Divide
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A Shrinking Resource
Not that long ago, the state Department of Education was a robust repository of expertise for 500 Pennsylvania school districts, offering curricular guidance ranging from math to art to best practices for improving school effectiveness and education outcomes. Those days, however, are largely gone as a new environment has taken hold, one in which federal... More
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A Question of Learning
Scientists work to make computers more effective teachers As a digital revolution changes classrooms across the region and country, one key question lingers at the end of each school day: Do the new technologies actually enhance students’ learning? The answer is unclear. After decades of research in fields such as cognitive science, the debate is no... More
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Rethinking Education
In recent years, U.S. education has seen an increasing emphasis on standardized testing. Running parallel to those trends, however, is an emerging shift toward personalized or adaptive learning, which recognizes each student’s strengths and needs and focuses on developing the skills to succeed in the 21st-century workplace. At the Elizabeth Forward School District in Allegheny... More
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Graduation Rates
High school graduation rates are improving in southwestern Pennsylvania overall. Yet, in a handful of districts, nearly a third or more students fail to graduate on time. More
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Remaking Learning – How It Got Started
The eventual result of thousands of leaders and innovators working on behalf of kids, the Remake Learning Network started small: a few teachers and techies having breakfast at Pamela’s; a few more gathered for coffee in Lawrenceville; a few more joining here and there. More
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Remaking Learning
Southwestern Pennsylvania’s imaginative twists on educating children with the digital media they find so engaging and the regional movement that led to them is quietly gaining recognition as a model of 21st-century learning. Behind the innovations is the Remake Learning Network of more than 200 local organizations that has helped leverage the region’s expertise in... More
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Pittsburgh Today and Tomorrow 2015
The 2015 Pittsburgh Today and Tomorrow report, produced by Pittsburgh Today, analyzes recent data to assess the Pittsburgh region's standing compared with 14 other regions in 11 categories. Also included are numerous in-depth reports focusing on the most important issues facing Greater Pittsburgh. More
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A Teachable Moment
All eyes were on Pittsburgh Public Schools when the state of Pennsylvania adopted Act 82 in 2012, requiring all school districts to evaluate all teachers based on observation and student performance. The Pittsburgh work on teacher effectiveness, which began in 2009, has been applauded for developing and implementing best practices related to teacher evaluation in... More