Gail Pletnick, superintendent of Dysart Unified School District 89 in Surprise, Arizona, was elected president of AASA for 2016-17. The 2016 Arizona Superintendent of the Year and a member of AASA's digital and personal learning consortia, Pletnick will focus on reshaping the national public education agenda and empowering district leaders through advocacy, networking and PD. […]
Starting fresh with a new math curriculum was the goal for Gloucester Township Public Schools in fall 2013. The K-8 district, which is located 14 miles southeast of Philadelphia in New Jersey and serves 6,400 students, had a new curriculum and instruction department team charged with the task of updating outdated materials. "We did not […]
Meria Carstarphen is a team player—literally. She has played football in the hot summer sun alongside varsity players at Atlanta Public Schools. The district superintendent also gives her personal cell phone number to staff and students alike. They can text her or call her—any time. In addition, they follow each other on Twitter. Meria Carstarphen […]
Educators generally agree that we are testing too much. On the heels of No Child Left Behind, we've had 15 years of often misguided national and state accountability policies that have only just been rolled back. Driven by a robust parental "opt out" movement, Congress' latest action puts more authority back with the states. But […]
While detention remains a staple of student discipline across the country, many school leaders are looking at ways to modify the practice, or even replace it, with approaches that may be more effective in actually reducing bad behavior. Classic detention, where bored students sit silently and unproductively in classrooms after school, has limited value as […]
Xenia Community Schools in Ohio faced a crisis in 2012 that forced administrators to slash $10 million from its annual budget. The district signed a five-year contract with a transportation contractor and saved $458,000. Still, such a move can be a challenging—and sometimes controversial—issue for many districts. Xenia Community Schools in Ohio faced a crisis in 2012 that forced administrators […]
For Portland Public School students in Oregon involved in The Circus Project, tumbling, acrobatics, juggling and conditioning activities help them learn to trust each other and themselves more. "The students pay attention because of the intensity of the experiences and the perceived risk in circus" says Jenn Cohen, The Circus Project's founder and artistic director. […]
Blended learning can support a more personalized approach to education. You've no doubt heard of the teaching approach in which students spend part of the day learning online at their own pace and part of the day receiving instruction from a classroom teacher. But there are still a number of misconceptions about what blended learning […]
Urban districts struggling with budget cuts can increasingly look to foundations, nonprofits and private companies for support in driving district success efforts—from enhancing instruction to expanding healthcare to boosting college preparation. "Collaboration across sectors is necessary to solve problems whose root causes are complex and multifaceted, and which need extensive, coordinated resources from many different […]
Why settle for one superintendent when you can have three? It's happening at District 49 in the Pikes Peak region of Colorado. Peter Hilts is chief education officer. He considers himself the visionary. Jack Bay is the "practical" chief operations officer who handles transportation, construction activities and IT. And as chief business officer, Brett Ridgway […]
