A convergence of market maturity, increased availability of high-capacity bandwidth and a track record of security has more K12 districts trusting their mission-critical administrative software to the cloud. In the cloud computing model, districts contract with a provider for on-demand access to a shared pool of resources like networks, servers, storage, applications and services. Districts […]
Robert C. Fisler School serves 960 K8 students in the suburban Fullerton School District in Orange County, California. Second- through eighth-grade students participate in the school's 1-to-1 laptop program, which has been in place since the school opened in August 2004. But access to technology is meaningless without the right digital programs. Elizabeth Ellison, eighth-grade […]
Online learning activity in public districts has overtaken state-level virtual schools and charters, according to the 12th annual "Keeping Pace with K12 Digital Learning" report, released in December. With more affordable online options, growing teacher and CIO expertise, and improved digital curriculum products, schools can more easily adopt blended learning models, the report states. Most […]
The bad news seems to be everywhere. The School District of Philadelphia had 190 teaching vacancies in October. From New York to California, enrollment in teacher-preparation programs has fallen by double-digit percentages. The president of Nevada's Board of Education called her state's teacher shortage "horrific" according to published reports, warning that, if conditions don't improve, […]
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 […]
Students three years from now will use two or three mobile devices in the classroom compared to the current ratio of one device to every two students, according to a survey of districts by the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN). The steady decline in cost and expanding capabilities of mobile devices make them more viable […]
Teaching research skills once meant asking students to turn stacks of library books into essays on the poetry of Emily Dickinson or the causes of the Civil War. But today, it's just as likely to mean asking second-graders to design a museum exhibit on the physics of flight, encouraging a 10th-grader to make the case […]
Eighth-graders have made no academic progress in U.S. history, geography or civics programs over the last five years, according to the latest test results from "The Nation's Report Card," released this past August by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Fewer than one-third of students scored proficient or better on any of the NAEP […]
By fall 2014, figuring out how to meet the requirements of the Common Core State Standards was critical for administrators in Glendale USD. The district, which is just outside of Los Angeles and serves over 26,000 students, was in need of high-quality materials that could help them transition to the Common Core while providing each […]
