John Gaddis, superintendent of Somerset County School District in Maryland, quells parent frustration over repeated snow-day cancellations by posting humorous videos on Facebook. Gaddis—while wearing flip flops, swim trunks and Hawaiian shirts—films himself in the snow fishing, roasting marshmallows and sitting in a beach chair next to a grill. Parents reportedly like the videos and […]
Finding innovative ways to make math matter to students is key to improving competency in all grades. At Ridgewood Community High School outside Chicago, students are building a home on campus. The project, part of a Geometry and Construction class, reflects administrators’ efforts to make math relevant through real-world applications. “Our thought was, ‘It’s not […]
In Oakland USD, girls who were chronically absent and suspended frequently told researchers in a 2015 study that sexual assault and harassment were among the biggest barriers for them at school. Every Friday, for example, boys in fourth and fifth grade and in middle school would make a game of slapping girls’ butts. But those […]
The new Fordham Institute report, Is There a Gifted Gap?, gave me a lot of food for thought this week. Let’s start with some important positives: Although gifted education research is in many ways thriving, attention to policy research has been woefully underdeveloped, and this study is a major contribution to filling that void. I’ve also […]
When Kristie Autrey became curriculum director for Mitchell County School District in North Carolina, and learned the state had partnered with Learning Ally, she jumped at the chance to implement it. Learning Ally is a nonprofit library of high-quality, human-read audiobooks and a suite of teacher and student resources that integrates into the school instruction […]
Students in seventh-grade math classes are not necessarily ready for seventh-grade math. They may be rusty in concepts taught in sixth grade, or ready for high-level applications covered in high school. That is why the ALEKS¬Á personalized learning program from McGraw-Hill Education is an integral part of the math curriculum in Oak Creek-Franklin middle schools, […]
In the 10 years leading up to Madison School District’s latest math curriculum update, state standards had changed almost too often to count. So it is understandable that the Phoenix-based district would welcome a program that ensured all material complied with current standards. But not just any program. After researching solutions and piloting two options […]
To expand support for its at-risk students, Berkeley Township School District three years ago held six meetings with teachers, parents, businesses, nonprofits, the Berkeley Police Department and the Division of Children Protection and Permanency. Administrators in the New Jersey district—working with guidance counselors, nurses and parents—identified at-risk students struggling socially, academically and at home. “We […]
The small rural district of United Local Schools in northeast Ohio has seen its math scores increase in the eight years it has used Everyday Mathematics® in its elementary school classrooms. In 2015-16, the first school year in which all sixth-grade students had used Everyday Mathematics since kindergarten, those students scored 26.8 percentage points higher […]
At the fast-growing Manor Independent School District located outside of Austin, Texas, over 38 percent of students are English language learners. These students are expected to master the same standards as their native English-speaking peers. Meredith Roddy, Director of Bilingual and ESL Programs, is tasked with closing the achievement gap between ELL students and native […]
