An externship program run by the Oklahoma State Department of Education expanded this summer, allowing K12 teachers to gain professional STEM experiences they can bring back to the classroom. During the pilot last year, teachers tested soil samples and worked in a concrete-making lab, among other activities, during a paid two-week externship at an Oklahoma […]
Ware County School District in Georgia has downsized its inventory of assistive technology. Thanks to a slew of technological advances, many of the specialized tools their special education students had used to communicate and learn are now redundant. "We don't need portable keyboards or word processors anymore" says Barbara Sonnier, the district's assistive technology coordinator. […]
Peter DeWitt is a professional development coach and the creator of Collaborative Leadership, a PD service that combines transformational and instructional leadership, and that includes ways to engage the school community with a focus on learning. Collaborative Leadership is a series of one to four workshops focusing on research-based influences that can foster a supportive […]
Looking to illustrate an abstract concept from a novel she'd read, an Oklahoma high school student turned to her building-level school librarian. Then, with the school librarian's encouragement to tinker in the makerspace, the girl sculpted a clay model of a kneeling woman balancing a 3D-printed replica of the earth on her back. "She was […]
Today's education leaders increasingly take it upon themselves to tackle the external challenges their students and teachers confront beyond school hours. These varied solutions also stretch back into classrooms to enhance instruction and increase achievement. The 45 schools and systems recognized by this year's District of Distinction program have created homegrown initiatives to support students' […]
A K8 school district in Southern California was focusing efforts on increasing the proficiency of its English language learners, a population that makes up 32 percent of its students. It also sought to reclassify as many ELLs as possible before middle school—a time when the defeatist mindset usually sets in. Bakersfield City School District's goal […]
NMSI's mantra is that education empowers opportunity. How have you experienced that? During speeches, I say, "As I stand before you, I stand as a physician, as an astronaut and as a businessman. All of that was empowered by education." When I was 13, I saw Neil and Buzz land on the moon. It became […]
When Jeremy Baugh took over as principal at Lew Wallace School 107 in Indianapolis in 2014, half of his staff was new. The school had struggled with teacher retention, which was reflected in student success. Only 22 percent of kindergarten students were achieving at grade level. The school's 600 students come from 37 countries and […]
Many of us know that the explosion of digital publishing allows educators to share our respective stories. One option that education leaders are using is blogging. The number of education blogs is quickly expanding. Many superintendents know that publishing a regular blog is a great way to accomplish a variety of communication goals—these include sharing […]
