In the 2010-11 school year, the Harrison School District Two in Colorado Springs began one of the most rigorous pay-for-performance plans in the nation: Called "Effectiveness and Results" this overhaul of the human capital management system was a risk worth taking because the status quo failed to adequately serve students. We tied the evaluation and […]
One of the worst "professional learning" experiences from my teaching days involved a clown nose. The entire teaching staff—700 of us—were gathered in the town's civic auditorium to hear a speaker. Talk about "sit and get." At a pivotal moment, the speaker had us reach under our seats and pull out the envelopes that had […]
From providing a range of innovative initiatives, including social-emotional learning programs to giving English language learners quality support, 54 school districts have been named among DA's newest batch of Districts of Distinction this year. The honored districts from 23 states were chosen for the national recognition program for their innovative and unique twist on traditional […]
Throughout the U.S., the movement to privatize education is advancing, in state legislatures and local school districts, and it is a relentless force. Education reformers are on a mission to replace under-performing public schools with charter schools and other private alternatives. Most of the public schools reformers are targeting are located in urban and rural […]
In the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, education was designed to produce students who could follow directions, read simple sentences, and solve basic math problems in order to prepare them for factory work. Thinking critically and solving complicated problems wasn't necessary for most jobs. As we've moved from that era into the digital age, we've […]
When Teasley Middle School in Cherokee County, Georgia, opened for the 2013-14 school year, teachers and administrators were looking for an opportunity to help students in grades 6 through 8 better understand STEM learning content. Teasley is a Title I school with more than half of its students receiving free or reduced lunch. It also […]
Going from rhetoric to reality in the era of outcomes. Elliott Levine is HP’s Director of Education & HP Distinguished Technologist. What are school districts doing right, and what are they doing wrong, when it comes to education technology? School districts want to see change happen and they seem to be willing to put a […]
In rural Indiana, Jay School Corporation supports local manufacturers—which make up about half the private employment in Jay County—with educational programs geared to the jobs that need to be filled. The school now has 80 students in manufacturing, advanced manufacturing and robotics programs, and is working with other organizations and a nearby college to develop […]
The Syracuse City School District serves more than 20,000 students across 34 schools, most of which have been classified by the New York State Education Department as either "priority" or "focus" schools. These schools have the overall lowest student academic performance on state assessments, persistently low graduation rates, and had shown little improvement. As educators, […]
In southern California's Brawley Union High School District, students newly arrived from Mexico study math and science using a university-developed curriculum written in Spanish. In the Omaha Public Schools, bilingual picture books created by district staff supplement the education of students who speak the Karen language of Burma. Despite research showing that native-language instruction improves […]
