Articles by Tom Berger's Profile | Edutopia Journalist

A comprehensive assessment of lifecourse and mortality of Parkinson’s disease in the German National Cohort

Jun 25, 2026 | | Nature

Abstract A strong increase in the prevalence and deaths of Parkinson’s disease (PD) has been reported over the last three decades. Ageing societies, genetic and environmental factors and access to health care contribute to these increases.

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Finding the Value in Edtech Certifications

Oct 23, 2023 |

By Tom Berger

| Edutopia

There’s no shortage of edtech applications for teachers to choose from these days—the thing most teachers are short on is the time needed to learn how to use all these tools. To help them get up to speed, many edtech companies offer certification programs that walk users through the various features.

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5 Smart Ways to Run Science Labs When You’re Teaching Remotely

Oct 29, 2020 |

By Sarah Gonser , Tom Berger

| Edutopia

For middle and high school science teachers, the pandemic threatened to put one of the most stimulating parts of the curriculum—lab work—mostly out of reach. Without access to classroom equipment and supplies, and the in-person guidance of teachers, how would students get safe, authentic experience performing hands-on experiments so they could more deeply understand scientific theories and concepts?

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What a Preschool Teacher Has Learned in a Three-Decade Career

Oct 27, 2020 |

By Tom Berger

| Edutopia

Since the onset of the pandemic, many preschool teachers have worked hard to support families in fostering powerful learning opportunities at home. That’s a big ask of busy parents who aren’t trained as teachers, but it’s a necessity—kids that age can’t be self-directed for long, and they need rich play experiences that develop their imagination and speaking and listening skills, and solidify concepts from math and science.

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How to Maslow Before Bloom, All Day Long

Sep 23, 2020 |

By Tom Berger

| Edutopia

“Maslow before Bloom”—we hear it all the time. The idea that educators should meet students’ basic needs for safety and belonging before turning to challenging academic tasks is one that guides the work of many schools. In this era of high-stakes testing and inflexible curricula, that’s not as easy to do as it sounds.

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How to Maslow Before Bloom, All Day Long

Sep 23, 2020 |

By Tom Berger

| Edutopia

“Maslow before Bloom”—we hear it all the time. The idea that educators should meet students’ basic needs for safety and belonging before turning to challenging academic tasks is one that guides the work of many schools. In this era of high-stakes testing and inflexible curricula, that’s not as easy to do as it sounds.

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‘The Human Connection Is Everything’: Dave Eggers on What He’s Learned From Tutoring Students

Jul 07, 2020 |

By Tom Berger

| Edutopia

Nearly 20 years ago, Dave Eggers had already founded McSweeney’s Publishing and written A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius when he and some friends started a new venture: a youth writing and tutoring center. The original plan was to put the center in part of a building Eggers had rented for office space, but there was a snag: The building was zoned for retail, so the group had to sell something.

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How to Support the New Teachers in the Building

Aug 27, 2019 |

By Tom Berger

| Edutopia

Writing for MiddleWeb, Curtis Chandler, a professor of teacher education at Brigham Young University–Idaho, has a request for veteran teachers: “Each of us can help novice educators (and their students) to be successful by providing support, collegial friendship, collaboration, instructional modeling, and well-crafted feedback.” Chandler gives two concrete ideas for how established teachers can help the novices in their ranks throughout their first year: checking in on a semi-regular...

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22 Diverse Book Choices for All Grade Levels

Feb 15, 2019 |

By Tom Berger

| Edutopia

In a vibrant, multicultural society, representing the richness of students’ lives in a class or school library takes a conscious effort. Including writers and fictional characters with a variety of backgrounds, beliefs, and life circumstances is a way to increase the chances that students will find both windows and mirrors in the library—books that reflect their lives, and ones that give them insight into the lives and experiences of people who aren’t like them.

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The Beginning of the End of Snow Days

Nov 19, 2018 |

By Tom Berger

| Edutopia

A flurry of recent articles brings home yet one more way that technology is changing education: In districts across the country, snow days—those giddily unexpected days off—are becoming relics of the past. Beginning on December 1, for example, the schools around Camden, Maine, will replace two snow days per year with so-called Remote School Days, when students will complete coursework at home using internet-connected devices.

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The Uncertain Future of OER

May 31, 2018 |

By Tom Berger

| Edutopia

Open educational resources (OER) have been on the cusp of arriving for more than 15 years, but somehow they never do. So what’s the holdup? The term open educational resources was coined in 2002 by UNESCO, though the materials had been around for several years by that time.

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SEL as a Foundation for Academics

Feb 05, 2018 |

By Tom Berger

| Edutopia

At Valor Collegiate Academies—two charter schools on one campus in Nashville that serve grades 5 through 8—the core philosophy is that “really strong SEL work is very advantageous to kids also doing well academically in school,” says Todd Dickson, who founded the schools with his twin brother, Daren.

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An Inside Look at Trauma-Informed Practices

Feb 05, 2018 |

By Tom Berger

| Edutopia

Schools across the U.S. are working in a variety of creative ways to meet the needs of students with trauma and tragedy in their backgrounds. Fall-Hamilton Elementary, in Nashville, does so by working to understand the adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) so many of the students bring with them to school—and the holistic impact that challenging life contexts have on a student’s academic performance. ACEs are a pressing issue.

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Closing the Achievement Gap With SEL

Feb 05, 2018 |

By Tom Berger

| Edutopia

“Our kids come to us with lots of opportunities for growth, especially when it comes to literacy,” says Principal Sonia Stewart, who arrived five years ago and was named Nashville’s Executive Principal of the Year in 2017. Nashville’s Pearl-Cohn High School is trying to close its achievement gap. Over 90 percent of the roughly 800 students receive free or reduced-price lunch, and 90 percent have identifiable trauma in their backgrounds.

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A School Built on Personalization

Sep 21, 2017 |

By Tom Berger

| Edutopia

Sal Khan famously got his start in education by tutoring his cousin in math over the internet. Eventually he began creating YouTube videos, which turned into Khan Academy, a personalized learning nonprofit with thousands of videos, articles, and interactive exercises accessible from all over the world.

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A Push in the Right Direction

Aug 02, 2017 |

By Tom Berger

| Edutopia

Aukeem Ballard, a teacher at Summit Preparatory Charter High School, discusses the power of mentors in his life and career, comparing having a mentor to standing on the shoulders of giants—“and I’ve had some giants in my life.” Research suggests that mentors may play a role in teacher retention, especially for first-year teachers, and a recent study went further: Students of teachers who have mentors may benefit as well, making small but measurable gains in reading and math.

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Changing Who Gets to Make the World

Jun 07, 2017 |

By Tom Berger

| Edutopia

Studio H, a design/build class at REALM Charter School in Berkeley, California, was founded by Emily Pilloton.

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What We Lose With the Decline of Cursive

Mar 10, 2017 |

By Tom Berger

| Edutopia

Should cursive writing still be taught in our schools? The old debate is back with a vengeance as schools shift resources from the intricate, painstakingly rendered script to keyboard skills. The Common Core State Standards, adopted by 42 states and the District of Columbia, call for handwriting instruction in kindergarten and first grade only, and teaching in keyboard skills after that. The standards don’t mention cursive.

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Tom Berger

Articles by Tom Berger

A comprehensive assessment of lifecourse and mortality of Parkinson’s disease in the German National Cohort

Finding the Value in Edtech Certifications

5 Smart Ways to Run Science Labs When You’re Teaching Remotely

What a Preschool Teacher Has Learned in a Three-Decade Career

How to Maslow Before Bloom, All Day Long

How to Maslow Before Bloom, All Day Long

‘The Human Connection Is Everything’: Dave Eggers on What He’s Learned From Tutoring Students

How to Support the New Teachers in the Building

22 Diverse Book Choices for All Grade Levels

The Beginning of the End of Snow Days

The Uncertain Future of OER

SEL as a Foundation for Academics

An Inside Look at Trauma-Informed Practices

Closing the Achievement Gap With SEL

A School Built on Personalization

A Push in the Right Direction

Changing Who Gets to Make the World

What We Lose With the Decline of Cursive

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