On July 1, Cheryl Logan begins her tenure as superintendent of Omaha Public Schools, Nebraska’s largest school district. Logan will lead 8,000 staff members and serve a student body where nearly 16 percent are ELL and 75 percent qualify for free and reduced-price lunch. Logan also faces a $15.8 million budget shortfall, the result of […]
How closely is professional development linked to student achievement? Professionalism expects learning to be in the collective. We should think of our own learning and growth as part of a mutually beneficial ongoing professional development process. A big part of that idea is that we share and become more transparent in our practice as educators. […]
Districts are increasingly tasked with providing options for at-risk and underserved student populations to address persistent achievement gaps. While nationwide gains in closing achievement gaps have been made, research shows that underserved student populations still achieve at lower rates than their peers in many areas. Black and Hispanic students graduate at lower rates than white […]
Facing state budget cuts, Hillsboro School District in Oregon was searching for a cost-efficient way to offer training to its paraeducator staff (paraprofessionals, educational assistants, instructional aides, etc.), who work with more than 20,000 students across 35 schools. “We have paraeducators in all of our buildings” says Elaine Fox, who is executive director of student […]
Pre-K programs for students with special needs vary widely in quality and scope. Some states and districts have long included students with special needs in pre-K classes alongside their more typically developing peers.
More than 10 years ago, when she was in sixth grade and her mother was incarcerated, Alisha Murdock skipped classes, fought with other students, got suspended and missed so much school she had to repeat the grade. Murdock says no one at school reached out to help, and she doesn’t want today’s students to face […]
In the wake of a divisive presidential election, hundreds of students from about a dozen high schools in Oakland, California, cut class last November to voice their discontent with President-elect Donald Trump. Rather than demand students return to school, faculty at Oakland USD supported the peaceful demonstration, where students could express their feelings, says David […]
As Donald Trump settles into office, a pachyderm-size question now looms for educators: What will U.S. education policy look like under his Republican-led administration? On the campaign trail, Trump discussed eliminating the Common Core, scaling back the influence of the U.S. Department of Education, and supporting school choice with vouchers and an increase in charter […]
When only 13 percent of sophomores at the Grandview School District in Washington passed the state math exams six years ago, administrators decided to develop their own curriculum. For instance, leaders had concluded the textbooks they purchased didn’t adequately teach fractions and integers, leading to gaps in student learning. Grandview spent about $200,000 to hire […]
