Abstract
Kappan is committed to being a lively magazine that explores the many issues surrounding K-12 education. Because our audience is largely composed of K-12 practitioners, we are most interested in exploring topics valuable to educators in their day-to-day work. We seek articles written in a conversational style that draw lessons from research and practice. We welcome submissions from researchers as well as teachers who we believe have vital stories to share with others.
The questions included with each theme are not intended to be exhaustive but merely meant to be helpful to writers as they consider submitting manuscripts.
Please review Kappan's Writer's Guidelines (kappanmagazine.org/site/misc/writeforkappan.xhtml) before submitting a manuscript. Editors will not consider manuscripts that do not meet the guidelines. All submissions should be sent to
Common Core
Rather than focus a single issue of Kappan on the Common Core, we are seeking a variety of manuscripts related to
Classroom management
Managing the behavior of several dozen children in a single room remains one of the greatest challenges facing classroom teachers at every level and throughout their career. Let's challenge some myths and share some new ideas for ensuring that the behavior of students does not interfere with learning. Do teachers manage a classroom? Facilitate learning? Modify behavior? What is the relationship of classroom management to learning? What and how should preservice students learn about classroom management? What are the latest successfully proven concepts for classroom management? How does managing a classroom of students change from the first year of teaching to later years of teaching? Is classroom management different in urban, suburban, or rural classrooms? Should it matter? How do teachers determine what kind of classroom management is appropriate? What is the role of discipline in achieving peaceful classrooms? What is the role of restorative justice? What are the classroom management issues for online and/or blended learning?
Technology & literacy
The infusion of technology in society — ebooks, smartphones, tablets, social media — has influenced how students learn to read and write and how they use the skills of reading and writing. This issue of Kappan will explore the many ways that these new technologies are changing literacy. How has the widespread use of new technologies changed the literacy skills students need to learn? For example, do students still need to learn handwriting, including cursive? Do schools need to re-emphasize grammar, spelling, and punctuation? What new “library” and research skills do students need to learn? Have school librarians/media specialists become more central to school learning teams? If so, how does that affect staffing? Are there skills that students no longer need to be taught? What different skills might students need in order to use ebooks or read online effectively for academic learning? How does technology enable students to disguise their literacy abilities? Where are there examples of how schools and districts have embraced new technologies to effectively improve student literacy?
Students with mental health issues
As the United States grapples with worries about violence in schools, mental health is finally emerging as an issue of equal concern to gun safety. This issue of Kappan will explore a variety of topics related to the mental health services that are necessary to help students succeed in school. How can and should teachers, coaches, and counselors assist in identifying and supporting students with mental health needs? Where are the limits and the dangers in reporting their concerns? What services and resources do teachers need in order to protect and promote the mental health and well-being of their students? How does the stigma of having a mental illness affect a child's ability to learn and to develop relationships with other students and teachers? What services should public schools provide to students (and their families) with mental health issues and who should bear the expense of providing these services? How can schools coordinate care for students with outside agencies? With families? How can schools help students with emotional disabilities transition to life after high school, including college? Where are there examples of schools and districts that have cared for students with mental health issues and also ensured that they receive a high-quality education?
Privacy & data
The rise of data-based decision making and accountability has meant that schools, districts, and states collect vast amounts of information about students and teachers. That gives rise to numerous serious issues and questions — legal, ethical, and educational — about privacy and freedom. What data are being collected about students and teachers? Who owns that data? Who uses the data? Who can see the data? What are our beliefs about data? What can schools legally or ethically do with that data? How much of it should be public? How long should it be stored? For what purposes should it be collected, diagnosed, and shared? Are we comfortable with allowing commercial companies to use data that's been acquired by public school districts? What statutes and school district policies do we need in order to preserve student and teacher privacy? How long will today's students live with data about their learning? What are the implications of data that has a long life? How can we ensure that having access to data is focused on improvement and will move us from “gotcha” to “help ya”?
Career-technical education
Gone are the days when industrial arts and home economics were considered the refuge for low-achieving students. In their place is a new breed of career-technical education that enables students to choose from among a variety of pathways, including a legitimate career path that does not require a college education. What does a high-quality, career-technical education program look like? Can high schools prepare students to be both college-ready and career-ready? Where are there examples of schools, districts, and states that are trying to provide high-quality rigorous options for both college- and career-readiness? How will the Common Core State Standards influence this process? What are the arguments on both sides of the college-for-all issue? How do we fight the perception that career-readiness is a lesser form of learning? Where are there international examples of high-quality, career-technical pathways? Should we have different expectations and certifications for career-technical teachers? How do schools manage the work of “academic” teachers and career-technical teachers who often come from very different backgrounds? What do students say about the options they want for themselves?
Parents & education
In the ongoing finger-pointing about who's to blame for low student achievement, parents often wind up on the receiving end. Even as some schools lament the lack of parent involvement, others complain about overinvolved helicopter parents. What do we know about the role of parents and family in student learning? What role do educators want parents to play at schools? What changes have occurred that call for parents to play their roles differently in this age? How do parents perceive their relationship with schools? Should parents be advocates for kids, advocates for curriculum, fund-raisers, or just voters? What do we know about effective ways to engage parents in support of student learning? Are there special strategies for reaching parents who are immigrant or non-English speakers? Where are there schools and districts that have been successful in changing a toxic relationship with parents into a positive, effective relationship? Is there a single parent “voice” in education, or is there a variety of parent interests in how to reform schools?
Play in a Common Core world
Recess used to be considered an essential piece of a child's school day. Now many schools have abandoned recess in favor of more academic time, and even kindergarten, which used to be the bridge between a child's at-home life and his new school life, has become another academic grade. How does play enhance a child's ability to learn? Does that end after kindergarten, or does play still contribute to learning for older children? “Doesn't play well with others” was once thought to be a critical assessment. Are we losing the ability to teach children how to get along, and what does that mean for developing 21st-century skills? Can play at school be bad for children? How has the expansion of preschool changed the role of kindergarten? With regards to the Common Core, what standards does play meet? If schools have eliminated recess as a way to create more academic time, what has been the result of those decisions? How do teachers benefit when play is part of each school day?