Cristina Duncan Evans was a high school social studies teacher in the Baltimore City school district, and a member of the America Achieves Principal and Teacher Fellowship. This blog is no longer being updated.
Equity & Diversity
Opinion
Standardized Testing Is Bitter (But Necessary) Medicine
The only thing worse than annual statewide standardized testing is not testing kids at all.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Teach to Lead Helps Teachers Turn Ideas Into Action
A new U.S. Department of Education initiative aims to bridge the gap between teachers and larger organizations and allow grassroots ideas and leadership to flourish.
Teacher Preparation
Opinion
Teach For America's Education in Diversity
Teach for America has quietly begun to change the way it talks about race and inequity, and it deserves credit.
Teaching
Opinion
Schools Need to Get Past the Either/Or Approach to Snow Days
It is crucial that districts explore new solutions to the traditional either-or approach to extreme weather situations.
Education
Opinion
Making Teaching a 21st-Century Career
Grant Newman works with districts and states to expand effective teaching. He shares his thoughts on how the nation can attract, keep, and develop top talent in the years to come.
Standards
Opinion
A Passion for STEM: Q & A With Teacher Melissa Collins, Ph.D
Second grade teacher and Ph.D Melissa Collins explores the intersections of STEM and elementary education.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Do Career Pathways for Teachers Really Improve Instruction?
Districts have begun to implement career pathways for teachers in order to reward highly effective teaching and motivate teachers to improve. But are salary increases really an effective way to improve the quality of instruction?
Social Studies
Opinion
The Importance of Wait Time: Teaching Ferguson in the Era of Instant News
Recent events in Ferguson Missouri deserve to be discussed in the classroom, but teachers need to think carefully before bringing up these topics to make sure that difficult conversations are also productive ones.
Professional Development
Opinion
Always Getting Better and Thinking Differently: Q&A With Teacher Mark Miazga
Award winning high school English teacher Mark Miazga shares his passion for teaching and learning.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Crappy Lessons, Quarterbacks, and Giving Teachers Space to Experiment
America Achieves Fellow and New York City Math Teacher John McCrann offers a thoughtful commentary on due process rights.
Social Studies
Opinion
Using Letters to Teach the Holidays (and History)
Teaching holidays can be an interruption from regular instruction, or they can be an opportunity for rich, common- core aligned discussions. Now that's something worth celebrating!
Teaching Profession
Opinion
The Human Element: Why Classroom Management Matters
A viral video from Baltimore raises important questions about classroom management.
School & District Management
Opinion
Teacher Investment Makes or Breaks Education Policy
A new focus on getting teacher investment in new evaluation systems seems promising—but is it too little, too late?
Social Studies
Opinion
Happy Histories
The new AP U.S. History standards have brought up old conversations about the politics and purpose of history education.