Students three years from now will use two or three mobile devices in the classroom compared to the current ratio of one device to every two students, according to a survey of districts by the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN). The steady decline in cost and expanding capabilities of mobile devices make them more viable […]

District Administration presents its second consecutive Year Ahead edition to help K12 educators navigate the new year. This special section offers in-depth stories focused on the future of leadership, smart classrooms, assessments and standards, and technology and IT. You’ll also find trend forecasts by school leaders and results from our reader surveys on curriculum, outsourcing, […]

Districts facing rising English language learner populations and teacher shortages have turned to Puerto Rico for quality bilingual teachers who don’t need a visa to work on the U.S. mainland. Dallas ISD hired 350 teachers from Puerto Rico for 2015-16, primarily to teach elementary-level bilingual classes. Oklahoma City Public Schools started the academic year with […]

The Importance of Being Little: What Preschoolers Really Need from Grownups Viking Children come into the world hardwired to learn in virtually any setting and about any matter. Yet in today’s preschool and kindergarten classrooms, learning has been reduced to scripted lessons and suspect metrics that too often undervalue a child’s intelligence while overtaxing the […]

A first-of-its-kind Connecticut law allows parents to include their child’s paraprofessional in school planning and placement team meetings that create individualized educational programs. Districts must also inform parents of their right to involve the paraprofessional in all portions of the “PPT” meeting, according to the law passed last July. “This is an important revision, as […]

There’s a new purchasing system in town, and it’s saving time, money and stress for folks at the Grinnell-Newburg Community School District in Iowa. Gone are the frustrations associated with purchasing chaos, sticky notes with account codes and memos about incomplete deliveries that should not be paid in full. Using a totally automated system by […]

More and more high school graduates are choosing to study STEM-related fields after graduating, thanks to the wealth of career opportunities that require those skills. As such, it’s vital for educators to understand how to integrate STEM into the classroom. But while most teachers are aware of the importance of STEM, strategically integrating it into […]

For more information, visit www.achieve3000.com John M. Nelson III served as the Assistant Superintendent for Instructional Services at Chula Vista Elementary School District, located halfway between San Diego and Mexico in San Diego County. In 2010, when the Common Core State Standards were adopted by California, he knew the 30,000-student district needed to help students […]