District Administration presents its second consecutive Year Ahead edition to help K12 educators navigate the new year. This special section offers in-depth stories focused on the future of leadership, smart classrooms, assessments and standards, and technology and IT. You’ll also find trend forecasts by school leaders and results from our reader surveys on curriculum, outsourcing, […]
Injecting the arts into science, math, engineering and technology encourages students to think creatively and critically in traditional STEM subjects that, until the recent and widespread adoption of new standards, didn’t often encourage students to think outside the box. The rising popularity of blended STEAM programs reflects a nationwide K12 push to develop the next […]
In my 10 years of teaching the ninth grade, I have struggled with a certain category of students—the low performers. These are the students who walk into class on the first day of school expecting to fail. They know nothing about me, but I represent every adult who has ever failed them in the past. […]
Once used to reflect successful memorization of facts and figures, the process of grading has transformed into a near meaningless code, often fogged by a variety of factors that have nothing to do with learning. Cathy Vatterott, a professor of education at the University of MissouriÁ¢“St. Louis, says that over the years, grades have come […]
Some say that for principals, every day is their first day on the job. Alongside day-to-day building management issues such as hiring teachers, overseeing finances and student discipline, principals now guide teachers through new state standards and testing. As principal evaluations become a more common practice, district leaders need to provide them with a PD […]
Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution That’s Transforming Education Viking Ken Robinson, an internationally recognized leader on creativity and human potential, proposes a transformation of the nation’s schools from an outmoded industrial system to a highly personalized, organic model. Robinson’s approach draws on today’s unprecedented technological and professional resources to engage all students, develop their love […]
Public outcry over new standards-aligned tests led some states to cut funding, changing the exam landscape for 2015-16. In 2012, nearly every state was part of either PARCC or the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium. As of this July, just 18 states remained in Smarter Balanced, and 10 (plus Washington, D.C.) had stuck with PARCC. Twenty-two […]
How can districts use the Common Core-aligned assessments to improve education if the results won’t be available until later this fall, after the current school year is well underway? That’s the question district administrators have been asking themselves for months, ever since millions of American students took the first round of Common Core-aligned assessments earlier […]
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 […]
Improving the writing skills of all 6,500 students emerged as a top priority for the administrators of Mississippi’s Gulfport School District beginning in fall 2014. “We needed a resource that addressed the rigorous writing requirements of the Common Core, as well as one that would allow educators to teach writing in a systematic way,” says […]
