Free internet access at home will soon be a reality for students in Albemarle County Public Schools. The district of 14,000 students spread across 726 square miles in central Virginia tapped a little-known public resource to fund a countywide broadband network, paving the way for others to do the same in an effort to ensure […]
Positive public relations experiences are critical to our survival as public entities and, unfortunately for many school leaders, we face an uphill climb. According to a June 2016 Gallup poll, only 30 percent of Americans feel "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in public schools, down from an equally disheartening 36 percent […]
Fast disappearing from schools are internet "lock and block" policies that keep students off social media and restrict them to carefully curated websites. Even with sophisticated filters and firewalls, today's learners carry all the access in the world in their back pockets. "We're past trying to stay ahead of the digital native" says Morgen Larsen, […]
Every K12 IT manager wants all school software to work together seamlessly, but incompatible programs often prevent the sharing of key data. From notebooks unable to run the most popular software to communication failures between learning management systems and key learning programs, incompatibility can result in a mess where expensive technology designed to revolutionize instruction […]
CIOs can play a key role in their district's efforts to increase parent engagement as part of wider initiatives to advance equity. Providing multilingual content on school websites and apps presents these outreach opportunities—as well as costs and challenges. "The overall benefit is to get the conversation started" says Jason Olsen, communications officer for Salt […]
For common communications, such as early dismissal notices, some schools create generic translated versions in key languages, with spaces for teachers to fill in custom information such as the date and time. These templates enable school personnel to send translated documents home quickly and easily. Here are other important documents that require a nimble translation […]
Chicago Public Schools will require a new first-of-its-kind program to ensure all students leave high school with a post-graduation plan. Starting with the past year's freshmen class, every student must have their Learn.Plan.Succeed plan approved to graduate. Chicago is the first large urban district in the country to implement the program, which many city schools […]
A federal judge ruled last spring that the predominantly white city of Gardendale, Alabama, may secede from its more diverse county school district—even though the judge saw racial motivations behind the city's efforts. Jefferson County, Alabama, has been struggling to comply with a federal desegregation order since 1971. Gardendale students have been attending the Jefferson […]
Whirling fidget spinners invaded classrooms across the country this past spring, but with many schools banning them as a distraction, their future as a potential remedy for students with attention difficulties is in doubt. Classroom impact Teachers from districts including Mt. Pleasant City School District in Michigan and Catawba County Schools in North Carolina, were […]
The implementation of digital learning tools is an effective means of maximizing student learning. Operations in this environment also better prepare students for their future endeavors in academia, employment and life. The implementation of digital learning tools is an effective means of maximizing student learning. Operations in this environment also better prepare students for their […]
