In many school districts today, hiring practices for administrative leaders often consist of “replacement filling” waiting for a position to open up before searching for candidates, according to a 2014 report on K12 education titled “Best Practices in Succession Planning” created by Hanover Research, a market research and survey analysis company based in Washington, D.C. […]
Here are Hanover Research’s suggestions for a succession model, from the District Management Council’s model. Set the stage It is worth “overinvesting” in setting the stage internally to avoid later roadblocks. Contemplate the purpose, goals and expectations of succession planning. Recognize the expansive reach of succession planning—the potential cost savings in hiring new leaders and […]
New teaching techniques and learning technology top the agenda at this fall’s conference of the National Council for the Social Studies. Technology is quickly becoming a popular tool in social studies classrooms as teachers find ways to make history come alive for their students, who simultaneously learn about content and improve their technology skills, says […]
A focus on teaching social-emotional skills—persistence, resilience, communication and other non-cognitive abilities—has led to an obvious jump in reading and math scores in Nevada’s Washoe County School District. Washoe’s students are now “less likely to be suspended, more likely to attend school, and they graduate at a much higher rate than students who didn’t have […]
Illinois Sen. Kimberly Lightford sponsored a new state law that eliminates zero-tolerance discipline policies in schools. Designed to reduce the number of days students are restricted from classrooms for certain offenses, the legislation requires schools to explore other disciplinary options, such as counseling and extracurricular programs, before a student can be suspended more than three […]
Social emotional learning helps students learn the coping skills critical for dealing with themselves, other people and their schoolwork. While SEL has become more mainstream over the past few years, you have been researching it since the mid-1970s. What piqued your early interest? In those years, we did a lot of work with at-risk populations. […]
When only 13 percent of sophomores at the Grandview School District in Washington passed the state math exams six years ago, administrators decided to develop their own curriculum. For instance, leaders had concluded the textbooks they purchased didn’t adequately teach fractions and integers, leading to gaps in student learning. Grandview spent about $200,000 to hire […]
More than 51 percent of young adults across the United States say that a high school money management class would have benefitted their lives, according to a study from the National Financial Educators Council. While 45 states include personal finance in state standards, only 17 states require high school students to take a personal finance […]
As the 20th largest school district in the nation and the sixth largest school district in Florida, Duval County Public Schools has special challenges with integrating technology in every classroom. The district had projectors and interactive whiteboards, but there was no across-the-board standard for the school’s core classroom equipment. Additionally, the equipment was aging. Projector […]
Beth Schiavino-Narvaez has led Hartford Public Schools in Connecticut for two years. But it’s been two decades since a landmark state court case—Sheff vs. O’Neill—ruled that Hartford schools had violated the U.S. Constitution by isolating children based on race and socioeconomics. And despite new budget woes, Schiavino-Narvaez continues to fight for better schools. The school […]
