Makenzie Vasquez (from left), Pamala Hunt, Latonya Suggs, Ann Bowers, Nathan Hornes, Ashlee Schmidt, Natasha Hornes, Tasha Courtright, Michael Adorno and Sarah Dieffenbacher are refusing to pay back loans they took out to attend Corinthian Colleges. Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP hide caption
Nearly half of all beginning teachers will leave their classrooms within five years, only to be replaced by another fresh-faced educator. LA Johnson/NPR hide caption
The key moment in Jess Burnquist's class: The "Cinnamon Roll" begins with Brandon, Daisy, Andie, Angel and Summer. Courtesy of Jess Burnquist hide caption
Jackie Zielke and eighth-grader Chartreanna Watson practice a guitar duet at Brady Middle School in Pepper Pike, Ohio. Savion Gissentaner hide caption
At Nashville's Bailey Middle Prep, Whitney Bradley teaches her 8th-graders how to organize an essay in preparation for the writing section of Tennessee's standardized test. Most in her class trail their peers in literacy. Blake Farmer/Nashville Public Radio hide caption
Students in the Powell Reading Room at Sweet Briar College, circa 1950. Rebecca Thomson/Flikr hide caption
Early physical fitness is a path to sustainable fitness for life. LA Johnson hide caption
With DonorsChoose.org, teachers have an alternative to dipping into their own pockets to pay for classroom supplies. LA Johnson/NPR hide caption
As political battles rage over the Common Core, teachers like Jennifer Bahns at the University Prep Academy middle school in Detroit are trying to prepare their students for the first major Common Core exams this spring. Erin Einhorn/Hechinger Report hide caption
"Great teaching is: Finding the pathway in each student to help them to express their own deep-seated intelligence and then push it beyond their expectations. Rosanne Somerson, Rhode Island School of Design president." Elissa Nadworny/NPR hide caption
There's a big difference between teaching kids to read and teaching them to love reading. LA Johnson/NPR hide caption