Administrators who don't feel their staffs have the time to manage community programs have contracted with outside groups to organize and oversee services.

The damage to teaching and learning caused by over-reliance on standardized tests is widely acknowledged. It includes narrowed curricula, teaching to the test, and one-size-fits-all instruction. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) offers a significant opportunity for states and districts to revamp their assessment systems. Unfortunately, few states plan to replace standardized tests with educationally […]

E ducators in Bradley County Schools in Cleveland, Tennessee, were faced with some staggering numbers: 48 percent of third-grade students were reading on grade level. That meant five out of every 10 were not. "We were above the state average of 43 percent" says Terri Murray, supervisor of Federal Programs/Media Services for the district where […]

In the Ventura USD in California, one low-achieving middle school at risk of closure was instead transformed into the De Anza Academy of Technology and the Arts (DATA), a high-achieving magnet school. A significant component in DATA's dramatic turnaround has been its innovative project-based and collaborative learning environments and makerspaces, which employ technology as a […]