Inquiry Is More Than Asking Questions Inquiry has become one of the defining features of modern social studies instruction. Across the United States, standards increasingly emphasize skills such as asking questions, evaluating evidence, analyzing sources, and engaging in civic reasoning. This shift has helped move classrooms beyond memorizing dates and facts. Instead, students are expected to think like historians, geographers, economists, and informed citizens. But there is

Congratulations on becoming Contentra’s new CEO. What initially brought you to Contentra, and what excites you most about this next chapter? Education has been at the center of my career from the very beginning. Before moving into educational publishing and services, I was a teacher, and that experience continues to shape how I lead today. Teaching taught me that success is never about one individual. It comes from building relationships, listening carefully, solving probl

Educators spend a lot of time talking about engagement. In curriculum meetings, professional development sessions, and product reviews, I often hear a version of the question: How can we make this more engaging? Proposed solutions often involve adding games, increasing student choice, incorporating technology, or creating more interactive experiences. In other words, increasing the entertainment factor. While there is certainly a place for all of those things, maybe we’re act

Science education has changed dramatically over the last decade, especially with the rise of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Some states adopted NGSS completely. Others revised it, adapted parts of it, or kept their own science standards entirely. That has created an important conversation in education: Should schools teach NGSS or focus strictly on state science standards? The reality is that both approaches offer valuable benefits—and both come with challenges

“Maybe . . . 97.4 percent of kids’ books are crud.” —Mac Barnett, from Make Believe: On Telling Stories to Children When the famed children’s book author and National Ambassador for Young People’s literature asserted this in his first foray into adult literature, the children’s literary community showed up in force to declare their outrage at such betrayal by one of their own. To be fair, Barnett’s actual thesis is that authentic children’s literature is complex and psycholog

At Contentra, every project has a story. Some stories are about seeing a vision come together from concept to completion. Others are about navigating complexity, adapting in real time, and finding solutions through collaboration. In this third installment of Tales from the Team, we’re highlighting two stories that showcase different aspects of the work we do and the people who make it happen. From developing innovative educational programs to managing projects through periods

At Contentra, some of the most rewarding projects we work on are the ones that challenge teams to rethink how learning experiences are built and delivered. Whether that means adapting content for new platforms, restructuring large sets of standards data, or finding ways to preserve strong instructional practices in completely different formats, these are the kinds of projects that push our teams to collaborate closely and solve problems creatively alongside our clients. In th

At Contentra, some of the most meaningful work we do is not defined by scope or timeline. It is defined by the problems we get to solve alongside our clients. Over the next several weeks, we are launching Tales from the Team, a blog series highlighting a few of our team’s favorite projects. These are the kinds of engagements that pushed us to think differently, collaborate more deeply, and ultimately deliver work we are genuinely proud of. To kick things off, we are sharing t