Paraeducators constitute more than one-quarter of the instructional staff in U.S. schools and districts. They play a critical role, from providing behavior support to teaching both academic and social and emotional skills to students. Despite their important work, training opportunities for paraeducators are limited. Due to reduced contract hours, paraeducators are not often included in […]
Student success starts at the building level. Can you talk about the influence of the building culture as an "experience" generated by teachers and other certified staff? When you build culture and experience, you must also consider creating a positive organizational climate. From a student's perspective, successful schools have a defined culture based on a […]
With the latest season of high school football concluded, now is perhaps an ideal time to consider whether or not there should be another. The game's big hits generate excitement, but a growing body of research indicates that the human brain is not equipped to absorb such violent impacts. Microscopic tears and plaque (dubbed chronic […]
Professional reading has long been a practice of leaders in many disciplines. Education is no exception. However, to be truly innovative, educational leaders can discover amazing professional insights in the areas of business, politics, psychology, sociology, technology and the military. Here is a list of non-education books that today's educational leaders recommend to their peers: […]
Below you can find a list of professional development providers: Link to main story: PD beyond school classrooms Kronos, www.kronos.com PublicSchoolWORKS, corp.publicschoolworks.com SafeSchools, www.safeschools.com Scenario Learning, scenariolearning.com/safeschools Matt Zalaznick is senior associate editor.
Managing and keeping track of the many hours of professional development required for a district's non-instructional staff may be one of an administrator's more underappreciated responsibilities. "There are a lot of different employees within the system who can easily be left out of the loop if you're not mindful of the two types of training […]
What should change about the current culture of mathematics instruction? We are preparing students who are in school today for jobs that we cannot yet imagine. We need to change school culture, including math instruction, to reflect societal change. We need to help students learn to use mathematics as a tool to recognize and respond […]
Two years ago, the Mehlville School District in suburban St. Louis passed a tax levy that included dedicated funding for professional development and strategic plans focusing on middle school STEM programs. For Tina Plummer, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning in Mehlville, that meant implementing the STEM Innovator program with Discovery Education, where staff had […]
Environmental science teacher Jamie Esler takes his Idaho high school students outdoors for hands-on learning about climate science and climate change. They take core samples from trees, measure declining snowpack and calculate carbon dioxide levels. This hands-on field work is more impactful than a slideshow packed with data and graphs, Esler says. Before students step […]
Colleges blame high schools. High schools blame middle schools. Middle schools blame elementaries—and everyone tends to blame funding, poverty, bad parenting and other factors for low student achievement. A new movement that promises closer cooperation between higher ed and K12 aims to end this legacy of passing the buck. Educators from New York City to […]
