Andrew Smith, chief strategy officer in North Carolina's Rowan-Salisbury School System, is leading a digital-first initiative that three years ago aimed to give an iPad or a MacBook Air to all students—and their teachers—from grades 3 through 12. Rowan-Salisbury became 1-to-1 by the 2014-15 school year. Three years into a digital-first initiative, Andrew Smith, chief strategy […]
School district leaders in the southern United States looking to tackle equity challenges have some help on the way. Administrators who want to make changes, such as creating healthy eating initiatives or discipline reform, can apply for a fellowship designed to give them more effective resources to help eliminate racial and economic disparities across their […]
Making Teachers Better, Not Bitter: Balancing Evaluation, Supervision, and Reflection for Professional Growth ASCD Tony Frontier, an educational consultant and educator, and Paul Mielke, a public school superintendent, use their personal experiences to address the importance of encouraging and supporting PD when assessing teacher competence. The authors provide nearly three dozen step-by-step protocols (and actual […]
High-quality instruction in science, math, engineering and technology requires both teaching expertise and content knowledge. Yet, at the elementary school level, many teachers haven't had specialized education or training in science. At the secondary level, studies show that about 33 percent of middle school math and science teachers and 30 percent of high school chemistry […]
District leaders in 2017 will focus heavily on adopting new assessment strategies and instructional technology when it comes to classroom instruction, according to a DA survey of K12 leaders. In the 2015 survey, about 50 percent of respondents say that new testing techniques will be a top priority, compared to only 40 percent in the […]
K12 educators increasingly embrace life skills curricula that promote social-emotional learning, mindfulness, problem-solving and other soft skills. Many districts no longer view such programs as "nice to have" but as essential components of overall instruction. The growing emphasis on life skills is making an impact. In schools where students demonstrated significantly improved social and emotional […]
Schools that offer more comprehensive instruction, increase school safety and student health, and better integrate educational technology may be eligible for new federal funds. A new grant program from the U.S. Department of Education will reward schools that improve access to music, social studies, environmental education and computer science, as well as support college and […]
An Ohio student's overdose in 2015 proved to be the final straw for Belpre School District Superintendent Tony Dunn. The communities surrounding the district had seen a high rate of opiate abuse over the past decade. As use trickled into schools, district leadership concluded that drug testing was necessary. Belpre High School enacted a mandatory […]
In many school districts today, hiring practices for administrative leaders often consist of "replacement filling" waiting for a position to open up before searching for candidates, according to a 2014 report on K12 education titled "Best Practices in Succession Planning" created by Hanover Research, a market research and survey analysis company based in Washington, D.C. […]
