A cadre of canines visits San Francisco Bay Area elementary schools, where struggling readers gain confidence and improve literacy by reading aloud to their furry friends. Readers of the Pack, a program run by the nonprofit 4Paws Learning and Wellness Center, sends certified therapy dogs and handlers to schools, libraries and after-school programs. "Young students […]
The redesigned SAT seeks to expand opportunities for all students to go to college—but its focus on reading comprehension may make the exam more difficult for English-language learners and low-income students. The SAT updates were announced two years ago, and first rolled out in March. The new test aligns with the Common Core, and asks […]
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 […]
While national graduation rates hit an all-time high of 82 percent in 2014, the trend for students with disabilities remained flat at nearly 63 percent, according to the most recent data. In Georgia, Nevada and Mississippi, students with disabilities graduated from high school at half the rate of their non-disabled peers. Students with disabilities who […]
At Banneker High School in College Park, Georgia, dedicating a wing of six classrooms, an office and a conference room to just 139 ninth graders and their six teachers is an exercise in innovation. The wing is the foundation of a Junior Achievement (JA) pilot program called JA Magnet Business Academy, JA-MBA. Junior Achievement is […]
In 2015-16, states increased pre-K funding for the fourth consecutive year, according to a recent report from the Education Commission of the States. Total state funding for preschool programs rose by $767 million, to a total of nearly $7 billion—a 12 percent increase over the prior year's spending levels. In the 2015-16 budget year, 32 […]
Aggressive parent fundraising to support athletic teams, buy school equipment and pay for field trips further widens disparities between affluent and economically challenged schools and districts, according to recent research. The number of nonprofit parent-run organizations that raise funds for school programs rose from 3,475 in 1995 to 11,453 in 2010, according to "The Rise […]
No matter how cutting-edge the technology or advanced the curriculum, students have a hard time mastering essays and equations if they're hungry, traumatized or feeling marginalized by a textbook's inaccurate portrayal of their ethnic group. "If you came to work and hadn't eaten for a day or two, you wouldn't be prepared to work" says […]
Winfred Roberson Jr. was unanimously voted new superintendent of economically and culturally diverse Glendale USD in California, where he will oversee 33 schools and more than 25,000 students. Roberson had been superintendent of Davis Joint USD for the past six years, a district where 69 percent of the students who took the English portion of […]
First-time Superintendent Bilal Tawwab started work at Flint Community Schools in September, prepared to take on the district's budget deficit of $10.5 million and a number of poor-performing schools. The city's infamous water crisis erupted during his first month at the helm of the district of 7,000 students. Tawwab, formerly assistant superintendent at Detroit Public […]
