E-Rate funds kept at least one district connected to the internet through testing—and opened the door for a 1-to-1 initiative rolling out this fall. The Lafayette Parish School System in Louisiana used to restrict internet access, only granting certain streaming websites to teachers by request. For example, music teachers would be the only ones with […]
Teaching is losing its magic. Every year, the profession loses some of our most effective colleagues prematurely. Moreover, we fail to attract enough college graduates who have the talent and passion for teaching. Many of us blame the education reform movement for this. Leaders may be well intentioned, but they ignore the reality that successful […]
A third-grader studying the Spanish settlement of California found a virtual tour online and shared the trip with her classmates by slipping a smartphone into a Google Cardboard viewing device. Such limitless online resources represent a big, blended leap beyond the essays students in Coalinga-Huron USD in Central California used to write. Blended learning for […]
Districts and states that have done the best job graduating homeless students have now seen some of their practices enshrined in federal law as part of the Every Student Succeeds Act. "The things some districts are doing well are now instituted as expectations for all districts" says Barbara Duffield, director of policy and programs for […]
Apart from the sciences, there are few areas as heavily steeped in research as education. But, as Stanford University education professor says Linda Darling-Hammond says, "too often, important education research is left on the shelf and not used to inform policy decisions." Apart from the sciences, there are few areas as heavily steeped in research […]
Like many teachers, I've been grateful throughout my life for the professionals I've called upon for vital services and expert guidance. Similarly, students and parents rely on me every day. Yet many teachers find themselves isolated in classrooms without the right training or support. Others receive only one or two afternoons of PD per year. […]
For a few weeks in early 2016, a computer program helped educators teach the finer points of writing to students in a Fort Worth ISD high school. Like so many schools nationwide, R.L. Paschal High School—under pressure from new state standards—has been working hard to improve writing instruction so students can express their ideas and […]
Within a few months of becoming superintendent of New Haven Public Schools a couple of years ago, Garth Harries had already attended too many teenagers' funerals. After Harries left these grim ceremonies—and in other occasions when students were shot but survived—his office went back over the victims' academic records for signs of trouble. "There were […]
At Napa Valley USD in northern California, classroom technology integration has been a priority since 1997, when the district opened the country's first New Technology High School. So bringing in digital books in order to provide easily accessible content to the 18,000 students and faculty in 34 schools was a natural—and important—step. "The challenge was […]
More than five years after many states implemented Common Core, the impact on student achievement remains unclear—though some states show small academic gains, with persistent achievement gaps. "Common Core is alive and well" says Adam Ezring, policy director of the Collaborative For Student Success, a nonprofit that supports use of the standards. "While it's still […]
