Burdened by demands to show outcomes and achievement, early education classrooms are often reduced to scripted lessons and meaningless craft work that imparts little learning. In her book The Importance of Being Little (Viking, 2016), Erika Christakis shows how the ever-increasing pressure to deliver has caused teachers to inadvertently stifle children's natural sense of wonder […]
Howard County Public School System in Maryland considers offering early retirement incentives a pretty effective cost-saving strategy. Administrators at the district of 76 schools twice contemplated—and decided against—offering an incentive in the last decade, before finally crafting a buyout plan in the 2014-15 school year that would save the district an estimated $11.4 million over […]
The bad news seems to be everywhere. The School District of Philadelphia had 190 teaching vacancies in October. From New York to California, enrollment in teacher-preparation programs has fallen by double-digit percentages. The president of Nevada's Board of Education called her state's teacher shortage "horrific" according to published reports, warning that, if conditions don't improve, […]
Districts facing rising English language learner populations and teacher shortages have turned to Puerto Rico for quality bilingual teachers who don't need a visa to work on the U.S. mainland. Dallas ISD hired 350 teachers from Puerto Rico for 2015-16, primarily to teach elementary-level bilingual classes. Oklahoma City Public Schools started the academic year with […]
Developers created some of the world's most recognized software in garages and college dorms. The same do-it-yourself (DIY) spirit thrives today across public education. School innovators customize software that ranges from small applications used within a single classroom to programs that support a district's full administrative functions. Districts build their own software when they can't […]
Back-to-school has become a thing of the past in an increasing number of districts that keep class in session all year. The number of public, year-round schools, also called "balanced-calendar" schools, increased by 26 percent from 2007 to 2012, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. More than 3,700 schools operate year-round nationwide, accounting […]
Many classrooms will remain without a permanent teacher this fall, as the teacher shortage becomes more severe in some states. Major enrollment drops in teacher prep programs signal worsening conditions in the coming years. Many classrooms will remain without a permanent teacher this fall, as the teacher shortage becomes more severe in some states. Major […]
By the time a 220-pound linebacker gets in his way, a high school running back has built significant momentum. The resulting collisions have been described with metaphors involving rams, brick walls and Mack trucks. Regardless of the analogy, these impacts can and do result in injuries for players of all ages. The most frequent sports-related […]
A cadre of students trained in IT support are providing teachers with Johnny-on-the-spot resources and bolstering the responsiveness of districts' lean tech staffs for routine requests. The eager students provide districts with an inexpensive and much-needed tech resource; and the students gain experience, new skills, and confidence, districts say. On any given day, teachers are […]
Student-centered CIOs must now focus more on the user experience than onjust keeping networks and machines functioning. "To be successful you have to dedicate 80 percent of your resources toward the service side of IT, and 20 percent to keeping the boxes working," says Jason Saltmarsh, an education technology consultant and former district technology director. […]
