Pizitz Middle School, located in a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, committed to raise enough money to build a well in Uganda. Working with a local nonprofit, school leaders kicked off the project during the first week of school in 2017 and spent the year connecting classroom instruction to this service goal. “We needed to raise […]
The reach of K12 bulk purchasing and co-op agreements has expanded substantially as more districts join to save substantial amounts on everything from software to playground equipment, according to a recent AASA report. Education funding has recovered somewhat since the 2008 recession, yet 73 percent of superintendents surveyed consider their district still “inadequately funded” says […]
States must provide more information than what’s required on federally mandated school report cards to give administrators and parents a clearer view of the education culture, according to a recent report from the nonprofit policy organization Data Quality Campaign. Since No Child Left Behind, states have had to create report cards detailing the academic performance […]
In school districts across the country, administrators and teachers unions are increasingly working together to address challenges. Districts are seeking help from unions on pressing political issues, including how to address Dreamer students who are concerned about deportation after the Trump administration rescinded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. This has brought the […]
With U.S. businesses of all sizes competing on the global stage, foreign language classes—and the teachers who teach them—are vanishing from K12 schools. Only about 10 percent of the U.S. population speaks a language other than English proficiently, and just 15 percent of public elementary schools offer language instruction, according to The American Academy of […]
In all business organizations, it is the top executives who bear responsibility for assuring that the entity is focused on its mission and that the mission, itself, properly serves the needs, interests, and expectations of customers. The process must also be structured and resourced to support the people on the line. This is the essence […]
Deeper learning doesn’t have to be expensive, says Stephanie Wood-Garnett, vice president of policy to practice at the Alliance for Excellent Education, a national advocacy group for at-risk students. “Deeper learning is not about buying things, but deeper learning done well could allow us to think more effectively or differently on how to enhance the […]
Educators have offered instruction that goes beyond the rote for many years, but the concept of deeper learning has recently grown in scope as higher education and the economy demand a more complex blend of intellectual and social skills. Today’s deeper learning proponents urge schools to focus on six competencies: mastering rigorous academic content; thinking […]
Educators want more effective ways to implement new teaching methods into lesson plans. The professional development market is advancing, offering flexible and sustainable solutions rather than one-off workshops, lectures and in-service programs. Many companies offer PD tools that show teachers how to embed lessons into learning management systems, so students have universal access to educational […]
Efforts to implement new high school graduation exams in Ohio and New Jersey are faltering, as some educators grow more concerned about the number of students struggling to meet the strict requirements. In Ohio, more than one-third of juniors have yet to earn the scores they need from the seven exams they must pass to […]
