Teaching research skills once meant asking students to turn stacks of library books into essays on the poetry of Emily Dickinson or the causes of the Civil War. But today, it’s just as likely to mean asking second-graders to design a museum exhibit on the physics of flight, encouraging a 10th-grader to make the case […]

Many districts hesitate to integrate social media into district policies because administrators fear cyberbullying, class distractions or other negative consequences. But administrators embracing the new tech tools say social media enhances student and community engagement. Michael Roe, principal of Poly High School in California’s Riverside USD, and Luvelle Brown, superintendent of Ithaca City School District […]

Statistics instruction has become integral in K12 math curricula thanks to a push from the Common Core and a national demand for students with the skills to fill data-intensive jobs. Districts provide more courses that teach students how to analyze data and integrate statistics across subjects, says Jessica Utts, incoming president of the American Statistical […]

Kathy Kelly, superintendent of Columbia Heights Public Schools in Minnesota, received the 2015 L. Anthony Sutin Civic Imagination Award from the U.S. Department of Justice. The award recognizes Kelly’s efforts to build trust between law enforcement and students. Working with the local police chief, Kelly instituted youth outreach programs designed to provide students with opportunities […]

Schools are the center of the community and when schools are transformed in positive ways, communities are transformed. The continued rise of poverty is not surprising when policies and practices that could contribute to eliminating poverty are not addressed well. The foundation of systematic oppression is rooted in practices that contribute to a system becoming […]

What makes community engagements meaningful? For many district leaders, meeting community members face-to-face captures the spirit of meaningful engagement but falls far short when it comes to representing the broader community’s wishes. When Spokane Public Schools passed their $145 million bond with an unprecedented 68.9% majority vote, they credited their partnershipwithThoughtexchangefor helping them achieve that […]

Intensive summer schools, expanding STEM programs, and early-college high schools exemplify innovation that increases student achievement and graduation rates in districts nationwide. The 35 school systems honored in this round of District Administration’s triannual Districts of Distinction awards program represent creative initiatives from 19 different states that have successfully prevented dropouts, increased college acceptance rates […]

As part of a bigger plan to streamline operations and cut costs districtwide, Tecumseh Public Schools hired Mike Smith as director of facilities to establish a maintenance and facilities plan in 2014. There had been minimal preventive maintenance and facilities processes in place before that for the district of 2,500 students in southeast Michigan. Smith’s […]