Phi Delta Kappan is committed to publishing lively articles and commentary on a wide range of themes related to preK-12 education. Because school practitioners make up the largest portion of our readership, we are most interested in exploring topics that will enrich educators’ professional lives and inform their day-to-day work. We seek articles that are written in a conversational voice and draw lessons from both research and practice. We welcome submissions from researchers and policy advocates as well as from teachers, principals, district and state leaders, students, parents, school board members, and anyone else who wishes to share vital stories and insights about pre-K-12 education.
The themes and questions listed here are meant to be provocative, helping writers to generate interesting ideas for articles on critical topics in education policy and practice. Also, while each issue of Kappan highlights a specific theme, we reserve a portion of the magazine for articles and commentaries on additional topics and welcome submissions not directly related to these themes.
Please review Kappan’s Writers’ Guidelines before submitting a manuscript, and keep in mind that the editors will not consider submissions that do not meet the guidelines. All submissions should be sent to manuscripts@pdkintl.org. This will ensure that each submission is acknowledged and included in our review process.
APRIL 2024
The inclusive school
Deadline for submissions: CLOSED
Public schools have the responsibility and the privilege of educating students from a diverse mix of races, cultures, abilities, identities, and attitudes. So how can schools make sure that all students feel they belong at school, especially when the surrounding culture marginalizes and excludes them? We’re looking for articles about inclusive practices at the classroom, school, and community level. Articles might address how schools connect to students’ communities, how schools support students with disabilities, programs that promote social connections among students, and efforts to ensure the teaching workforce reflects the community.
MAY 2024
Students as leaders
Deadline for submissions: CLOSED
The leaders of the future are in our schools today. If they are to be effective leaders, they need to begin practicing leadership now. Plus, these future leaders offer valuable insights that can help us improve our schools and make society better for everyone. The issue will consider how schools can cultivate students’ leadership skills and give them opportunities to influence the decisions being made. What skills and dispositions should schools seek to promote in future leaders? In what areas should schools promote student leadership and influence? We welcome stories of how students have exhibited leadership in their schools and communities.
SEPTEMBER 2024
Public perception of schools
Deadline for submissions: May 31, 2024
For more than 50 years, the PDK Poll has found that most parents give their children’s schools high marks, while grading public schools as a whole more harshly. What’s the reason for the disconnect? This issue will explore what the public does and doesn’t know about public schools, as well as what educators can learn from the public about how to improve schools. What informs the public’s perceptions of schools in their community and the nation? What are some of the most common media narratives about schools, and what’s missing from those narratives? And how can education leaders more effectively communicate with the public?
OCTOBER 2024
Education for mastery
Deadline for submissions: June 28, 2024
The concept of mastery-based learning, which requires students to demonstrate their learning before moving on to new material, has been around for a long time, but schools have struggled to incorporate it fully. Why is that? What changes would schools need to make to center mastery? What mastery-based approaches have proven to be most effective? What are some of the obstacles to mastery-based instruction, and how can schools surmount them? What are the benefits of mastery approaches for students — or the potential downsides? We welcome articles on competency-based learning, personalized instruction, and mastery-focused grading.
NOVEMBER 2024
Attendance and absenteeism
Deadline for submissions: July 31, 2024
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, chronic absenteeism from school has become a major concern. Although some states have made progress bringing kids back to school, attendance has not gotten back to pre-pandemic levels. What are some of the root causes of absenteeism? How does absenteeism today differ from in the past? What are some of the potential effects of continued absenteeism, not just for students but for their schools? How can schools reach out to students and their families to promote school attendance? And what options are available for students and families for whom the traditional structures of schools aren’t working?
DECEMBER 2024/JANUARY 2025
The math education students need
Deadline for submissions: Aug. 30, 2024
Why do so many students struggle with math, and how can schools help them? This issue will explore current trends in math curriculum and instruction. Is the current sequence of courses in high school mathematics appropriate, and how might it be changed? What math skills do students need to learn in their early years so they’re ready for more advanced math in high school? How can teachers without a strong mathematics background receive the support they need to help young students build those skills? What instructional strategies can build students’ confidence and interest in the study of mathematics?
FEBRUARY 2025
Understanding today’s students
Deadline for submissions: Sept. 30, 2024
As times change, so do students. This issue will explore what educators need to know about the students in their schools and classrooms right now. How are they different from past generations of students, and how are they similar? What special gifts and needs do students today have, and how can schools cultivate those gifts and meet those needs? What effects have recent world events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of social media, had on students? As the student population grows more diverse, how should schools’ curricula and instructional practices evolve?
MARCH 2025
Finding funding
Deadline for submissions: Nov. 29, 2024
Thanks to the Elementary and Secondary Emergency Relief Fund, schools enjoyed a much-needed influx of financial support in recent years. But now that those funds are drying up, what are schools to do? This issue will consider how schools can stay on course while facing a fiscal cliff. How can leaders set priorities and make tough decisions when funding is tight? What creative solutions are leaders implementing to keep needed programs running and launch new ones? We welcome articles exploring how to navigate the current crisis, as well as those that take a longer view to consider ongoing funding inequities and reforms to funding formulas.
APRIL 2025
Assessing student learning
Deadline for submissions: Dec. 31, 2024
This issue will consider how we can properly assess what students know and are able to do. What are some appropriate and inappropriate uses of standardized testing? What place do both formative and summative assessments have, and how can they be used more effectively to inform instruction and boost student learning? And how can teachers and schools better report the results of assessments to students, families, and communities? We welcome articles on alternate assessment models, such as portfolios or standards-based assessments, and stories of how schools and teachers have made the switch to these models.
MAY 2025
The new generation of educators
Deadline for submissions: Jan. 31, 2025
Who are the new graduates entering the teaching profession, and what do they want from the profession? This issue will consider trends in who is going into teaching and how schools can support them so that they’ll persist in teaching. What makes education an attractive field for today’s young people, and what can make it more appealing? What special qualities does the Generation Z educator possess that schools most need, and how can schools benefit from their special insights and knowledge while helping them grow in areas of weakness? We’re especially interested in hearing from teachers new to the profession.
