Recently, educators, parents, politicians and pundits have begun to question the investment of billions of dollars over six decades in district, state, national, and international testing. Their skepticism is well deserved since there is scant evidence that these once-a-year standardized tests have increased student achievement or have provided the motivation to learn. But that doesn't […]
Nearly 10 percent of the 18,680 students in the South Bend Community School Corporation in north central Indiana are English language learners. With students of varying levels of proficiency spread across the district's 33 schools, finding solutions to help students increase their skills, particularly in reading comprehension, proved difficult. In spring 2014, leaders at the […]
Á¢Klint W. Willert Superintendent, Brookings School District, South Dakota Topic: Testing & assessment Trend: Student achievement is measured by more than a single assessment score. The trend of moving toward multiple measures, not just a test score, to determine the quality of a teacher, a school, and district will continue to resound with the voting […]
The new year may send familiar education challenges in new directions as administrators grapple with an uncertain testing landscape, staff shortages, the increased push for equity and constantly increasing charter competition. Experts expect education budgets in most states to remain flat in 2016. The pending reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act should uphold […]
Districts must navigate a larger number of titles and skill sets when hiring qualified literacy specialists to implement new learning standards and to improve students’ reading and writing performance. Traditionally, a reading specialist worked in small groups or one-on-one with struggling students. But more recently, the role of literacy professional has expanded to include instructional […]
District Administration presents its second consecutive Year Ahead edition to help K12 educators navigate the new year. This special section offers in-depth stories focused on the future of leadership, smart classrooms, assessments and standards, and technology and IT. You'll also find trend forecasts by school leaders and results from our reader surveys on curriculum, outsourcing, […]
Districts facing rising English language learner populations and teacher shortages have turned to Puerto Rico for quality bilingual teachers who don't need a visa to work on the U.S. mainland. Dallas ISD hired 350 teachers from Puerto Rico for 2015-16, primarily to teach elementary-level bilingual classes. Oklahoma City Public Schools started the academic year with […]
For more information, visit www.achieve3000.com John M. Nelson III served as the Assistant Superintendent for Instructional Services at Chula Vista Elementary School District, located halfway between San Diego and Mexico in San Diego County. In 2010, when the Common Core State Standards were adopted by California, he knew the 30,000-student district needed to help students […]
In my 10 years of teaching the ninth grade, I have struggled with a certain category of students—the low performers. These are the students who walk into class on the first day of school expecting to fail. They know nothing about me, but I represent every adult who has ever failed them in the past. […]
Injecting “social responsibility” lessons into social studies classrooms better prepares students to become informed citizens eager to participate in a democracy. Educators will learn about the many ways to reach this goal at this year’s National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) conference, which carries the theme “celebrate social responsibility.” Various presentations at the conference […]
