Andrew Smith, chief strategy officer in North Carolina's Rowan-Salisbury School System, is leading a digital-first initiative that three years ago aimed to give an iPad or a MacBook Air to all students—and their teachers—from grades 3 through 12. Rowan-Salisbury became 1-to-1 by the 2014-15 school year. Three years into a digital-first initiative, Andrew Smith, chief strategy […]
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 […]
School superintendency is a family business for the Prusators. Todd Prusator leads Community Consolidated School District 231 in a small community 70 miles west of Chicago. His two brothers, Bob and Jeff, also are Illinois superintendents, all within about 30 miles of each other in the northwest corner of the state. The three brothers, who […]
In some districts, the principal's office may as well have a revolving door for its high turnover rate. According to one report, more than half of principals leave after three years, especially in urban areas. In 2011, the philanthropic Wallace Foundation launched a $75 million initiative to help six urban school districts cultivate effective school […]
With increased technological surveillance to protect and monitor students has come deep consequences for student privacy and equity, according to a new report from the National Association of State Boards of Education. While school surveillance is on the rise—and overwhelmingly supported by parents—the collection and use of data is severely unregulated and a cause for […]
As Donald Trump settles into office, a pachyderm-size question now looms for educators: What will U.S. education policy look like under his Republican-led administration? On the campaign trail, Trump discussed eliminating the Common Core, scaling back the influence of the U.S. Department of Education, and supporting school choice with vouchers and an increase in charter […]
The amount and variety of payments that come into a district can be overwhelming to those who manage school funds. Fees are collected for different purposes and are routed to different places, and many districts still accept only cash or check as payment. There can be a large administrative burden in keeping these varied funds […]
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 […]
An Ohio student's overdose in 2015 proved to be the final straw for Belpre School District Superintendent Tony Dunn. The communities surrounding the district had seen a high rate of opiate abuse over the past decade. As use trickled into schools, district leadership concluded that drug testing was necessary. Belpre High School enacted a mandatory […]
In many school districts today, hiring practices for administrative leaders often consist of "replacement filling" waiting for a position to open up before searching for candidates, according to a 2014 report on K12 education titled "Best Practices in Succession Planning" created by Hanover Research, a market research and survey analysis company based in Washington, D.C. […]
