Every K12 IT manager wants all school software to work together seamlessly, but incompatible programs often prevent the sharing of key data. From notebooks unable to run the most popular software to communication failures between learning management systems and key learning programs, incompatibility can result in a mess where expensive technology designed to revolutionize instruction […]
Five years ago, Windsor Locks Public Schools in northern Connecticut was designated an Alliance District, meaning it was one of the 30 lowest-performing academic districts in the state and needed help. The good news was that the designation came with funding to improve instruction, inspiring district leadership to go in a new direction—doing away with […]
Longtime Superintendent Bill Harrison started recruiting teachers from abroad in 1997 in the face of a shortage in North Carolina. “We thought international teachers would not only fill a slot but add a cultural component” Harrison says. The then-superintendent of Cumberland County Schools contracted with a company called Visiting International Faculty. Twenty years later, Harrison […]
Welcome to the second annual game-based learning special report in District Administration. Games continue to grow in popularity in K12 lessons ranging from science and math to English and social studies. They include alternate reality games that hook students’ imaginations and introduce social-emotional learning lessons to help students process feelings and thoughts. In a soon-to-be-released […]
Across the country, youngsters in all grades are connecting with senior citizens on projects that transcend community outreach to provide students with true curricular value. While doing research for National History Day, students in Tea McCaulla’s Florida high school stumbled upon Women’s Airforce Service Pilots and Letters from Home, a book by World War II […]
When Teasley Middle School in Cherokee County, Georgia, opened for the 2013-14 school year, teachers and administrators were looking for an opportunity to help students in grades 6 through 8 better understand STEM learning content. Teasley is a Title I school with more than half of its students receiving free or reduced lunch. It also […]
Educators have offered instruction that goes beyond the rote for many years, but the concept of deeper learning has recently grown in scope as higher education and the economy demand a more complex blend of intellectual and social skills. Today’s deeper learning proponents urge schools to focus on six competencies: mastering rigorous academic content; thinking […]
The assessment that prospective principals must take to obtain an administrative license in 18 states may be a barrier to non-whites and urban educators, says a 2017 study. Researchers focused on the use of the School Leaders Licensure Assessment in Tennessee and found that the exam did not provide an effective performance screen. A team […]
Champaign Unit 4 School District in Illinois wanted to give its teachers a very clear pathway to evolve their math instruction to meet rigorous, Common Core state standards. District leaders were very happy with earlier results from McGraw-Hill’s Everyday Mathematics and saw Everyday Mathematics 4, its latest iteration, as an enticing solution, especially in teaching […]
Teachers at Calusa Elementary School in Boca Raton, Florida, are committed to making sure students meet rigorous state standards. Nevertheless, Calusa, which serves about 1,200 students in grades K5, was still struggling to monitor state standards. Just before the start of the 2016-17 school year, 12 Calusa teachers began a pilot program using Standards Tracker […]
