Educators in a school district that conducts well-designed formative assessments should be able to accurately predict how students will perform on midterms, finals and high-stakes exams. A growing number of experts and administrators insist that if a district excels at formative assessment, its students shouldn't have to sit through so many high-stakes tests. "We don't […]
Usually, when the case is made that other countries are somehow doing a better job than the US in education, the argument is based on test scores, but it is unclear what exactly is being evaluated when we compare these scores. Usually, when the case is made that other countries are somehow doing a better […]
When Deer Creek School District in Edmond, Oklahoma, was asked to participate in a pilot program for Marzano High Reliability Schools, there was an immediate buy-in from Grove Valley Elementary School principal Kelly McCoy. "We were very excited to see what it could do and if it could make an impact at our school" McCoy […]
When Nita Cochran was district math coordinator for Norman Public Schools in Oklahoma, she was looking to help the district's elementary school students improve their mathematical foundation. There are nearly 16,000 students in NPS, which is located in Oklahoma's third-largest city and is also home to the University of Oklahoma. Cochran, who is currently math […]
The PTA at an elementary school on New York's Upper East Side raised nearly $1 million in one school year—about $1,260 per student. In a wealthy suburb of Boston, an elementary school PTA brought in $1,680 per student that same year, while a Washington, D.C., school's PTA intake totaled $2,220 per student. These extreme cases […]
More than a decade after Response-to-Intervention and Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) took root on school campuses across the country, multi-tier strategies have become the standard for identifying and assisting struggling students. Yet, the way educators use these and similar systems continues to evolve. Educators now understand far more about the neuroscience of learning […]
When Gary Brantley began his career as an IT leader 14 years ago, he primarily provided technical support and made sure the hardware was running. "It had everything to do with techy stuff" he says. Since then, Brantley's role as chief information officer at DeKalb County Schools in Georgia has expanded significantly. He now spends […]
Evidence-based best practice is a hot topic in education, especially in regard to the proposed ESSA accountability system. It means that schools tailor their action plans to meet their individual student and school needs based on objective- and research-based models. This process provides for an internal accountability system and enhanced professional learning communities. During a […]
Districts devote nearly 80 percent of their budgets to personnel costs—leaving little wiggle room for administrators tasked with maintaining fiscal responsibility and boosting the quality of education in a time of nearly stagnant funding. John Hutchison, chief financial and operations officer at Olathe Public Schools in Kansas, began budgetary planning for the 2017-18 school year […]
