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 […]
Patricia Baltzley Board chair, Gardiner School District (Mont.) "The way high schools are currently designed—both with architecture and teaching and learning—needs to be revisioned in all high schools, not just those considered innovative. Instructional needs of the students are different and will continue to be different. We need to get out of the Industrial Age […]
Principal DeMarcos Holland, of New Manchester High School in the Douglas County School System in Georgia, has replaced traditional class tardy bells with music, including compositions created by students and teachers. The friendlier sounds have lowered the average number of tardies from between 50 and 60 per day to less than 10. Holland has also introduced […]
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 […]
School district leaders in the southern United States looking to tackle equity challenges have some help on the way. Administrators who want to make changes, such as creating healthy eating initiatives or discipline reform, can apply for a fellowship designed to give them more effective resources to help eliminate racial and economic disparities across their […]
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 […]
Making Teachers Better, Not Bitter: Balancing Evaluation, Supervision, and Reflection for Professional Growth ASCD Tony Frontier, an educational consultant and educator, and Paul Mielke, a public school superintendent, use their personal experiences to address the importance of encouraging and supporting PD when assessing teacher competence. The authors provide nearly three dozen step-by-step protocols (and actual […]
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 […]
Nearly half of all superintendents say STEM will receive new or additional attention this year in classrooms, according to a DA survey of K12 leaders. Unlike last year, which showed that more readers would implement new reading and language arts programs (at least in elementary schools), nearly half of all readers say they will focus […]
