Top Education Commentaries of 2014: Education Week's Most-Viewed

1. Dispelling the Myth of Deferred Gratification

Lessons from a famous experiment asking children to wait for a treat have been misconstrued, pushing schools to try to "fix" children rather than what and how they're taught, writes Alfie Kohn. (September 9, 2014) | Filed Under: Assessment and Testing

2. Here's Why We Don't Need Standardized Tests

Schools get better, more useful information from performance assessments and collaboration than from standardized exams, Greg Jouriles says. (July 9, 2014) | Filed Under: Assessment and Testing

3. Reading Is About More Than 'Evidence'

When students approach reading as only an exercise in seeking out evidence, as the common core recommends, they risk missing out on the value of reading for intrinsic literary value, writes Mia Hood. (October 1, 2014) | Filed Under: Reading, Curriculum and Instruction, Common Standards

4. Preventing Bullying With Emotional Intelligence

Anti-bullying programs that aren't tied to a greater understanding of emotions and their consequences are not effective, write Marc A. Brackett and Susan E. Rivers. (February 19, 2014) | Filed Under: Safety and Violence, Bullying

5. The Case for the New Kindergarten: Challenging and Playful

Making kindergarten intellectually stimulating does not preclude making it fun and play-based as well, write Daphna Bassok, Amy Claessens, and Mimi Engel. (June 4, 2014) | Filed Under: Classroom Management, Curriculum and Instruction, Data, Early Childhood

6. Arts Education Matters: We Know, We Measured It

Jay P. Greene and a team of researchers studied and measured how arts experiences boost critical thinking for students. (December 3, 2014) | Filed Under: Research, Curriculum and Instruction

7. Where Are the Black Male Teachers?

School leaders must take concrete action to attract black men into K-12 teaching, an area where they are now grossly underrepresented, says Donald G. Nicolas. (February 26, 2014) | Filed Under: Teacher Quality, Teaching Profession, Diversity

8. Why Make Reform So Complicated?

When it comes to improving learning, schools would do better to choose simple solutions with clear priorities and goals instead of the complicated fixes they often adopt, Mike Schmoker writes. (January 15, 2014) | Filed Under: Common Standards

9. Integrating Social-Emotional Learning Into High School

Students benefit when secondary schools make a strong commitment to fostering social and emotional learning, write Barbara Cervone and Kathleen Cushman. (February 26, 2014) | Filed Under: High Schools, Research

10. Give Students Time to Play

Students need outdoor recess and movement throughout the day in order to stay focused and perform better academically, writes Debbie Rhea. (date) | Filed Under: Curriculum and Instruction