As a longtime elementary school teacher, Jolene Rude has seen her share of students struggle with—and sometimes abandon—difficult math problems. After using Everyday Mathematics 4, however, even struggling students are learning challenging math concepts, along with life skills, says Rude, an elementary CORE math teacher at Johnston Community School District, located in a northern suburb […]
In most of the developed world, high-stakes tests make or break a student's future, sometimes before the age of 12. Many countries use national benchmarks to assess students, and construct tests to gauge understanding of the core curriculum. This was an original goal of the Common Core, but in the U.S., standardized tests have become […]
When Tiffany Anderson took over as superintendent of Jennings School District near St. Louis in 2012, she faced high poverty and low academic achievement. As part of the turnaround effort, she focused on building supports for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, particularly those in foster care who struggle with social-emotional trauma and frequent changes in […]
When Rio Grande City Consolidated ISD introduced a digital reading program two years ago, some teachers balked at student assessments being performed by a computer. Those concerns abated as teachers saw increased proficiency for the 4,100 students using Istation Reading and Istation Espa±ol, says Serapio Trillayes, executive director for curriculum and instruction for the district, […]
Rigor is an increasing concern in our schools. We continue to see evidence that our students at all grade levels are not working at a level that is challenging enough to prepare students for college and careers. However, we often misunderstand the definition of rigor. Rigor is "creating an environment in which each student is […]
What does the routing process look like at First Student? We provide transportation services to more than 1,000 school districts in the U.S. and Canada. We pride ourselves on having a customized approach to a district's unique transportation needs. At its core, successful routing is still the process of getting all students to school and […]
Better Together: How to Leverage School Networks for Smarter Personalized and Project-Based Learning Jossey-Bass This book profiles more than a dozen formal and informal school networks wherein district leaders, principals and teachers have worked together to implement personalized and project-based learning. Educators can find out about transforming schools and navigating these new instructional dynamics with […]
Smart TVs and whiteboards allow even more students to collaborate. Depending on the model, students can interact with a touch screen in 10 to 32 different places simultaneously. Many of these displays come with screen mirroring capabilities and apps that are loaded with learning activities. Other tools include collaborative software that monitors internet use and […]
A student success program at West Valley School District #208 in Yakima, Washington, provides additional support for learners from pre-K through high school graduation. The initiative includes five steps: Collaborations between childcare and district kindergarten teachers that prepare children to start school Small group exercises with a whole-child focus Reading and math interventions in grades […]
Personalized learning for students has long been a priority in K12 education, but for some reason, some districts haven't applied this same approach to teachers. For years, PD has been completely one-dimensional. Teachers sit in district- and state-mandated PowerPoint-driven seminars that fail to encourage collaboration or authentic engagement in the material. Often, teachers leave feeling […]
