Developed in collaboration with Wilson Language Training, Great Minds released Geodes, a new category of books for new and emerging readers. With Geodes, Great Minds introduces Readables books, which give students opportunities to practice language while building and extending knowledge, vocabulary and more.
One North Dakota bill would have mandated school board members be randomly drug tested at least once a year during their term. The other would have made school boards create a drug testing policy for staff or those receiving remuneration for services provided to the school district.
New Washington legislation focuses on suicide prevention, school resource officer training and mental health. Legislators also hope to open regional safety centers to provide training, support and coordination to teachers and students.
Can schools avoid the temptation to add more screen time to animate students' lives? Given proficiency learning's emphasis on adaptive learning, real-time monitoring, technology use and student engagement, it seems inevitable what that the answer will be.
Parents of children with disabilities filed a class action lawsuit against the Oregon Department of Education, accusing the state of denying their children the opportunity to attend school for a full day. According to the lawsuit, some Oregon public schools are shortening the school day for children whose disabilities lead to challenging classroom behaviors.
The Atlanta school board will devote a full day to fleshing out a districtwide plan to improve schools, an ambitious goal that starts with rating all of its schools. The rating system would be unique to Atlanta and include data that isn't reflected in the state's report card.
The Alabama State Department of Education posted the new list of schools declared "failing" under the Alabama Accountability Act. This year, there are 76 schools in 27 school districts on the list as compared to 75 schools in 29 districts last year. Inside this year's "failing" schools are 38,420 students, with 92 percent being black. Only 461 white students and 1,661 Hispanic students attend schools on the list.
Policymakers could solve two of our most challenging issues in education with a single approach. Higher base salaries and well-planned monetary incentives would address both the financial burden of being a teacher and the inequities that permeate our education system by attracting and retaining excellent teachers.
Moonlighting at an assembly line might help teachers pay the bills, but it won't help their students learn more. There is a better way, says DA guest columnist Michael Driskill, the chief operating officer at Math for America and a former teacher.
