Albemarle County, Virginia—A snake bit Pam Moran in front of her class on her first day of teaching 40 years ago. Moran, now a superintendent in Virginia, had no one to blame but herself on that fateful day in 1975. Thinking it would be an unconventional way to introduce herself, Moran had brought a garter […]
Patricia Baltzley Board chair, Gardiner School District (Mont.) "The way high schools are currently designed—both with architecture and teaching and learning—needs to be revisioned in all high schools, not just those considered innovative. Instructional needs of the students are different and will continue to be different. We need to get out of the Industrial Age […]
The ever-increasing pace and variety of technological developments continues to be a challenge for K12 assistive technology products. As education content becomes available in more digital forms—videos, software programs and apps—adapting platforms for student use is critical to help those with special needs access information as easily as do their classmates. In addition, with more […]
Making Teachers Better, Not Bitter: Balancing Evaluation, Supervision, and Reflection for Professional Growth ASCD Tony Frontier, an educational consultant and educator, and Paul Mielke, a public school superintendent, use their personal experiences to address the importance of encouraging and supporting PD when assessing teacher competence. The authors provide nearly three dozen step-by-step protocols (and actual […]
A new accountability and data collection system that the U.S. Department of Education proposed for teacher preparation programs last fall already faces challenges. Regulations proposed under the Obama administration to improve transparency around teacher preparation require states to provide a lot of data—including placement and retention rates, feedback from graduates and employers, student learning outcomes, […]
The suicide rate among 10- to 14-year-olds is on the rise. While the statistics are dire, a solution seems to be taking shape. Prevention may be in the hands of the students themselves. Dan Cohen, a University of Missouri doctoral candidate specializing in suicide prevention, cites a 2015 study titled "Saving and Empowering Young Lives […]
District leaders in 2017 will focus heavily on adopting new assessment strategies and instructional technology when it comes to classroom instruction, according to a DA survey of K12 leaders. In the 2015 survey, about 50 percent of respondents say that new testing techniques will be a top priority, compared to only 40 percent in the […]
K12 educators increasingly embrace life skills curricula that promote social-emotional learning, mindfulness, problem-solving and other soft skills. Many districts no longer view such programs as "nice to have" but as essential components of overall instruction. The growing emphasis on life skills is making an impact. In schools where students demonstrated significantly improved social and emotional […]
It's no secret teachers are jumping ship in record numbers, and the dwindling numbers of incoming grads don't even come close to patching the gap as the demand for teachers rises. The Learning Policy Institute reported in 2016 that enrollment in teaching programs is down 35 percent nationwide (and has been for years), and the […]
In 1896, researcher H.E. Krazt asked 2,400 students in grades 2 through 8 to describe the attributes of an effective teacher. Krazt believed that by identifying the desirable characteristics of a teacher, he could establish a benchmark upon which teachers could be evaluated. With qualities of "helpfulness" and "physical appearance" topping the list, the results […]
