Digital reading platforms can enable more personalized learning by providing engaging, interactive and customizable digital content to both students and educators in all subject areas, as well as supplemental curriculum materials, professional development resources, ELL and special education titles, and more. In this web seminar, presenters discussed ways to use digital reading platforms effectively. Highlights […]
Our public education system was developed to serve all children, with taxpayers supporting the common good. Recent years have seen the growth of private, charter and voucher schools that divert funding from public schools. The legality of this practice is often challenged, yet legislators still find ways to funnel tax dollars into private schools. How […]
When Tiffany Anderson took over as superintendent of Jennings School District near St. Louis in 2012, she faced high poverty and low academic achievement. As part of the turnaround effort, she focused on building supports for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, particularly those in foster care who struggle with social-emotional trauma and frequent changes in […]
When Rio Grande City Consolidated ISD introduced a digital reading program two years ago, some teachers balked at student assessments being performed by a computer. Those concerns abated as teachers saw increased proficiency for the 4,100 students using Istation Reading and Istation Espa±ol, says Serapio Trillayes, executive director for curriculum and instruction for the district, […]
On July 2, 2018, at 10:35 a.m., 25 middle school students in the Peoria, Illinois area had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to speak to an astronaut aboard the International Space Station. The conversation took place during the weeklong summertime STEM Academy, which was launched three years ago by the Peoria Heights School District, the University of […]
Districts are cultivating college and career readiness programs by allocating more resources to guide students, by building new partnerships and by focusing efforts beyond high school. Tennessee recently expanded and rebranded its statewide career and college readiness initiative as Tennessee Pathways, which now focuses on K8 in addition to high school. Part of that effort […]
Project-based learning is an inquiry-based and applied learning approach incorporating authenticity, student ownership, reflection, revision and public work. It is one of the leading instructional pedagogies to address today's learning. In recent years, thousands of teachers have participated in PBL professional development. It is pervasive in today's professional learning. However, little has been done to […]
Every spring, Graham Local Schools fourth- and fifth-graders hatch and release trout during a unit that covers aquaponics, hydroponics and conservation. Older students raise corn and soybeans on a sustainable farm operated by the rural district in southwest Ohio. Teachers in the Jim Thorpe Area School District in Pennsylvania have incorporated software such as GarageBand […]
Landing a big fish. Finding a hidden checkpoint. Mastering a video game. Snagging a flag. These—not grand slams, hat tricks or game-winning touchdowns—count as the big "plays" in the nontraditional sports that high schools are adding.
An externship program run by the Oklahoma State Department of Education expanded this summer, allowing K12 teachers to gain professional STEM experiences they can bring back to the classroom. During the pilot last year, teachers tested soil samples and worked in a concrete-making lab, among other activities, during a paid two-week externship at an Oklahoma […]
