Gone are the days when a mechanic can pop the hood of a car, take a look around and figure out what to do. Today’s auto shop graduates use diagnostic software to determine a vehicle’s problem, and then must explain the solution coherently, in a way that all customers will understand. Vocational education used to […]
Educators in Virginia’s Fairfax County Public Schools intend to remove the obstacles that prevent students who have severe social anxiety from attending school, a phenomenon known as “school refusal behavior.” The initiative, called Aspire, is housed at Quander Road School, a small district-run-and-funded therapeutic day program designed as an alternative setting for high school students […]
Other recommended books focus on rewiring the brain for critical thinking, how principals can hone leadership skills and how to teach energy concepts across all science disciplines. The Superintendent and the CFO: Building an Effective Team Rowman & Littlefied Recognizing that sound fiscal policy and communication is essential for superintendents who seek to set sustainable […]
Libby Schaaf, mayor of Oakland, established in January the Oakland Promise, a project with more than 100 community partners working to triple the number of the city’s low-income, public school students who go on to graduate college. Over the next decade, 55,000 college savings accounts (totaling $14 million) will be opened for children born into […]
Some say that for principals, every day is their first day on the job. Alongside day-to-day building management issues such as hiring teachers, overseeing finances and student discipline, principals now guide teachers through new state standards and testing. As principal evaluations become a more common practice, district leaders need to provide them with a PD […]
Public outcry over new standards-aligned tests led some states to cut funding, changing the exam landscape for 2015-16. In 2012, nearly every state was part of either PARCC or the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium. As of this July, just 18 states remained in Smarter Balanced, and 10 (plus Washington, D.C.) had stuck with PARCC. Twenty-two […]