Follett takes resource tracking to the next level with four new services Juli Hubbard Vice President, Purchasing Follett The education landscape has changed dramatically in recent years. The emergence of new standards, new evaluations and new technologies has placed more strain on school administrators than ever before. We have witnessed how our education partners now […]
Á¢Klint W. Willert Superintendent, Brookings School District, South Dakota Topic: Testing & assessment Trend: Student achievement is measured by more than a single assessment score. The trend of moving toward multiple measures, not just a test score, to determine the quality of a teacher, a school, and district will continue to resound with the voting […]
The new year may send familiar education challenges in new directions as administrators grapple with an uncertain testing landscape, staff shortages, the increased push for equity and constantly increasing charter competition. Experts expect education budgets in most states to remain flat in 2016. The pending reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act should uphold […]
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 […]
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 […]
Injecting the arts into science, math, engineering and technology encourages students to think creatively and critically in traditional STEM subjects that, until the recent and widespread adoption of new standards, didn't often encourage students to think outside the box. The rising popularity of blended STEAM programs reflects a nationwide K12 push to develop the next […]
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 […]
Superintendent John Rouse sits on a jackpot of sorts. Chief of Rains ISD in a community not far from Dallas, Rouse says a little luck helped his district acquire about $8 million from what is known as the state's County Permanent School Fund. It started two centuries ago. In the 1800s, the state granted land […]
Three years ago, Tom Brabson, business manager of Plain Local Schools in northeastern Ohio, heard the superintendent of a district 60 miles away describe how his life had changed in 22 seconds. In those seconds, a troubled 17-year-old sprayed the Chardon High School cafeteria with bullets, killing three fellow students and creating widespread panic. Since […]
