Restorative justice in schools is a growing trend as administrators look to build relationships with students and school staff rather than use out of school suspensions—which can lead to incarceration.
New York may begin screening preschoolers for dyslexia, and Montana now requires schools to test all new students, up to second grade. The policy changes come as parents pressure educators to enhance interventions.
This roundup covers the impact of advanced academics on kindergartners, the effects of teachers' unions on student achievement, the benefits of transitional programs for special needs students, and the advantages of family-school interventions, among other topics.
In thinking about our education system, the most important question must be: “And how are the children?” Students, and particularly low-income students, students of color, and English learners, must have grade-appropriate assignments, strong instruction, deep engagement and teachers with high expectations for student success.
State Schools Superintendent Steve Paine supports a one-time pay incentive for educators who aren't certified to teach math, but are teaching it anyway, to increase their math education skills, and for elementary school teachers to also improve their math pedagogy. Last school year, only about 37 percent of tested public school students scored as at least “proficient” in math, and the proficiency percentage for high school juniors was only 29 percent.
In school districts across the country, administrators and teachers unions are increasingly working together to address challenges. Districts are seeking help from unions on pressing political issues, including how to address Dreamer students who are concerned about deportation after the Trump administration rescinded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. This has brought the […]
Rose L. Colby's book Competency-Based Education introduces educators to a new model for anytime, anywhere schooling, and provides curriculum resources for redesigning the traditional structures of our schools. Colby, a competency-based learning and assessment specialist, says seat time doesn't equal learning. A system based on demonstrating competencies does more to prepare students for higher education […]
Fourteen teachers in Utah's Ogden School District reached the classroom via a nontraditional, perhaps looser route. Rather than attend a teaching college and earning the standard credentials, they leveraged their bachelor's degrees and professional expertise. The new state rule that allows this—called Academic Pathway to Teaching—mimics new policies a handful of other states have passed […]
For decades, the J. Sterling Morton High School District in the Chicago suburbs was in bad shape. It had a gang problem. Some students underperformed on state tests and were no longer accepted to their first-choice colleges. And the district faced a deficit of millions of dollars. In 2008, when Michael Kuzniewski became superintendent, he […]
