Amanda Smith is a freelance journalist and writer. She reports on culture, society, human interest and technology. Her stories hold a mirror to society, reflecting both its malaise and its beauty.

As the draft common standards undergo their final revisions, many minds are turning to the question of how to put them into practice in classrooms. But as a recent meeting of leading educators and ...

Have you ever been excited to learn about a particular topic, only to attend the session and find yourself disappointed? Perhaps the material was overwhelming or lacked alignment with the outlined ...

“We’ve blocked three days off leading up to the first day of school for curriculum and lesson planning. You’ve got time to plan ahead.” When school leadership made this announcement in August during ...