“Every student should have access to the library and the opportunity to go there,” says says Michael Dodes, a school librarian who now works as a library operations and instructional coordinator in the DOE’s Office of Library Services. “It’s all about creating a space where students can read, explore information and work with each other.”

PS 446 in Brownsville, Brooklyn, has found that "looping," a model that keeps a teacher with the same group of students for more than one grade, allows educators to become grounding, guiding forces in their students’ lives.

Researchers estimate that dyslexia affects between 5 and 12 percent of the U.S. population — and as many as 80 percent of students who struggle with reading.

Teachers know that their students are more than just a set of grades. But the DOE’s standard single-page report card doesn’t give them the opportunity to demonstrate it. That’s why some elementary schools have turned to alternative progress reports.

PS 15 in Manhattan is one of a growing number of schools that are dedicating spaces for students to design, build, experiment and explore.

Physical education is changing. In 2015, the Department of Education announced a multiyear, multimillion dollar initiative known as PE Works, which seeks to transform the concept of gym class from a place where kids pelt each other with dodgeballs to “an important academic subject that teaches students to be physically active, work as a team and set fitness goals that can last a lifetime.”

Many teachers have been using some form of flexible seating in their classrooms for years. But some teachers have begun to take flexible seating to a whole new level by replacing most or all of the traditional furniture in their classrooms with a host of other options, including wobble seats, floor pillows, crates, lap desks and beanbags.

Educators in the Bronx’s District 8 are embracing a new approach to gifted education. Known as the “schoolwide enrichment model,” it focuses not on classifying gifted individuals but rather on developing and nurturing gifted behaviors in all students.

The ASD Nest model is designed to “nest” children with autism in fully inclusive classrooms.

There’s been a seismic shift in the way teachers approach math instruction over the last few decades. Rote memorization of mathematical algorithms — or so-called “drill and kill” instruction — has given way to experiential learning.