February Newsletter: AP Science Videos | Harvard Course Deadline | Legal Empowerment Webinar & More

Videos: AP science in Indiana

How are AP science teachers using the Question Formulation Technique? In October we did a webinar with the Advanced Placement Teacher Investment Program at the University of Notre Dame, and a group of science educators made presentations about using the QFT in their specific disciplines — AP Chemistry, AP Environmental Science, AP Physics, and AP Biology. They offer helpful advice and lesson plan ideas that may interest other STEM teachers.

See the videos and lesson snapshots: Using the QFT in AP science

Feb. 26 deadline for Harvard course

If you’re interested in joining us this March for Teaching Students to Ask Their Own Questions: Best Practices in the Question Formulation Technique, which we offer through the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the deadline to sign up is February 26. This is our most comprehensive introductory course, exploring the art and science of using the QFT to put students’ own questions at the center of learning — building a key lifelong skill for critical thinking, civic participation, and more.

Learn more and register

Sustain an inquiry-based culture in schools

For those of you with experience and confidence using the Question Formulation Technique, you may be interested in learning how to scale and expand your practice — to jumpstart and create a deeper culture of inquiry in your classroom, school, district, and/or organization. Join us in April for Questions at the Core: Extending the Question Formulation Technique to Sustain an Inquiry-Based Culture in Schools, also offered through Harvard.

Learn more | Register by April 2

This course is designed for educators who have applied the QFT at least twice (and ideally more) in their setting and are well-versed in the steps of the process and the rationale behind it.

Legal empowerment webinar on March 26

Those of you who work on the front lines of legal services, criminal justice, adult education, or other direct services — at community-based organizations, public agencies, or elsewhere — please join us on March 26 for a webinar about building people’s capacity to advocate for themselves. The webinar is called “Foster client agency through building self-advocacy skills: A practical strategy for lawyers, advocates, and service providers.”

Learn more and register

COPAA conference in Atlanta

RQI’s Legal Empowerment Program team is heading to Atlanta to present at the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates annual conference. We’ll look at ways to support families and youth as they participate in IEP meetings, advocacy, dispute resolution, and decisions made during their legal representation. On March 9 we’re running a workshop titled, “Legal empowerment in practice: A strategy for fostering clients’ engagement, self-efficacy, and advocacy skills, in IEP meetings and beyond.”

Learn more

See you in Cleveland

If you’re attending the National Council for History Education conference in Cleveland, from March 7-9, we’d love to see you. We’re presenting a poster session on March 8 about how to use the QFT to unlock primary source learning for all students. Also on March 8, we’ll be part of a workshop called “Bringing It All Together: Facilitating student centered historical inquiries through the Question Formulation Technique, Teaching with Primary Sources, and the C3-IDM.”

Learn more

What we’re reading

Here are a few recent stories that got us thinking and asking questions.

More states should require teaching kids how to read the news and spot what’s true and what’s not — The Hechinger Report

How to help kids become skilled citizens — Usable Knowledge, Harvard Graduate School of Education

NPR’s Student Podcast Challenge is back – with a fourth-grade edition! — NPR

Overscheduling kids’ lives causes depression and anxiety, study find — The Hechinger Report

Learning from student language — instead of prohibiting it — KQED MindShift

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The Right Question Institute is a small, independent nonprofit organization. When you make a recurring monthly gift of any size — the price of a cup of coffee, perhaps — you help bring free resources to teachers and schools. Plus, you help equip people in low-income communities with skills and strategies for solving problems, participating in decisions, and making their voices heard — contributing to a more inclusive educational system, society, and democracy. Recurring monthly donations help provide stability and predictability that make this work possible. Thank you for your support.

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