In the mountains of western North Carolina, administrators in Buncombe County Schools have seen a steady rise in the number of its 25,500 students who are homeless, food-insecure and involved in domestic violence. The need for increased mental health care has led the district to adopt social-emotional learning models designed to help students at its […]

No matter how cutting-edge the technology or advanced the curriculum, students have a hard time mastering essays and equations if they're hungry, traumatized or feeling marginalized by a textbook's inaccurate portrayal of their ethnic group. "If you came to work and hadn't eaten for a day or two, you wouldn't be prepared to work" says […]

First-time Superintendent Bilal Tawwab started work at Flint Community Schools in September, prepared to take on the district's budget deficit of $10.5 million and a number of poor-performing schools. The city's infamous water crisis erupted during his first month at the helm of the district of 7,000 students. Tawwab, formerly assistant superintendent at Detroit Public […]

Leaders in Johnston County Schools in central North Carolina knew they needed to find more effective ways to help struggling students, close the achievement gap and meet their core instructional priorities. So they carefully planned a pilot program to choose the best adaptive learning system for the district's 25,000 K8 students and their educators. "We […]