A few years ago, San Francisco USD had questions about the hundreds of community-based organizations teaching reading to students and growing school gardens, among a wide range of other activities. Administrators wanted to know the risks of outside groups using school facilities, says Dorothy Gjerdrum, the senior managing director of public sector practice at Arthur […]
Leslie T. Fenwick has been praised as “a fearless voice in education on behalf of communities of color.” As dean of the School of Education at Howard University in Washington, D.C., Fenwick has devoted her career to improving educational opportunity and outcomes for African-American and other underserved students from the elementary through graduate school levels. […]
Educational neuroscience empowers teachers with new insights into how all students learn and holds promise for enhancing special ed, but myths and exaggerations sprouting up around the burgeoning field could lead to children being labeled, which could limit their abilities, experts say. Educational neuroscience empowers teachers with new insights into how all students learn and […]
A first-of-its kind class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of five students and three teachers against Compton USD in California alleges the district does not adequately address the impact of childhood trauma on learning. A first-of-its kind class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of five students and three teachers against Compton USD in California alleges the district […]
Principal selection has not significantly changed since the 1950’s and is often unsystematic. While the role of the principal has evolved greatly over the last 60 years, the methods used for selection have remained stagnant. In the 1950’s, principals’ duties centered primarily on staffing and facility management. Today, school principals may be responsible for tens […]
Sir Ken Robinson’s 2006 TED talk, “How Schools Kill Creativity,” still ranks as the most watched video of the series, viewed more than 30 million times. In that presentation Robinson said that we are all born with immense natural talents, but by the time we’ve been through an education system, far too many of us […]
The biggest changes in reading instruction in the coming year center on embedding literacy across all subjects a student studies during the school day. Engineering concepts, for example, can be used to break down the plots of stories and analyze characters. And ESL specialists should collaborate with subject teachers to align instruction so students are […]
A curriculum framework initially developed for special education students is gaining traction in general ed classrooms nationwide during Common Core implementation. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an approach created by a nonprofit that addresses students' individual learning needs to reach standards. Teachers allow students multiple ways of accessing information and demonstrating understanding for each […]
A "culture of safety"—at all levels of a district—is the first and most critical step in dealing with occupational injury. It also guides the prevention of, response to and mitigation of hazards in the workplace, including staff behavior. Students arrive in three days. A staff meeting starts in five minutes. A teacher wants to hang […]
Principals shifting their roles from building manager to instructional leader need more extensive PD to ensure top performance from teachers and students, according to a new policy brief from ASCD. Race to the Top's requirements linking teacher evaluations to student test scores is largely responsible for the change in the principal's responsibilities, says Susan Race, […]
