Without the right intervention tools, it is nearly impossible to turn a struggling reader into a successful reader. But with the right program, combined with effective teaching strategies, extensive gains for struggling readers in comprehension, fluency, and spelling are attainable in any district. In this web seminar, the principal of an innovative middle school in […]
Shawn Stover helps principals move beyond what he calls "the tyranny of the urgent." Stover, an instructional superintendent in District of Columbia Public Schools, says it's all too easy for principals to devote the bulk of their days to busing, athletic schedules, discipline, building maintenance and other issues that can demand immediate attention. Yet mounds […]
Coaching has surfaced as a key quality improvement strategy for early childhood instruction, according to a recent report by Bellwether Education Partners. District administrators have hired full-time, in-house coaches, some of whom had previously been in a PD or education leadership role. Coaching can be delivered in person, using email or a platform such as […]
When Upton High School in Wyoming switched from a traditional to a self-paced education model last year, Weston County School District Superintendent Summer Stephens' 15-year-old daughter reacted the way many students did. "'I don't know how to make choices,' she kept saying" Stephens recalls. "But now a year later, she has organized her classes and […]
School district administrators hate it when they stumble across closets full of unused computing devices or visit classrooms where whiteboards are being used as very expensive chalkboards. Technology leaders at Dysart USD in the Phoenix suburbs had real-world experience with this phenomenon and were determined to make changes, says Diana Hawari, chief information officer. "Buying […]
Last fall, a national problem arrived in Superintendent Richard Scaletta's corner of rural northwestern Pennsylvania. Principals in the General McLane School District began reporting unprecedented levels of misbehavior: students in frequent and severe distress, sometimes kicking, biting or throwing things.
Pressure to raise achievement test scores has become the driving force behind what is taught and how. Worse, the results from these tests reveal only a fraction of the overall picture of whether students are learning—and whether teachers are effective in their jobs, says Daniel Koretz. As one of the nation's foremost experts on education […]
Too many students graduate high school unprepared for college and career. There is a disconnect between what they know when they leave high school and what they are expected to know when they enter college and the workplace. They lack vital communications and critical thinking skills as well as real-world experiences. So, how do you […]
Fertilizing "floating" plants with nitrogen-rich fish feces provides real-life chemistry, biology and engineering lessons to high school students working in Baltimore Polytechnic Institute's aquaponic laboratory. Students manage four 200-gallon tanks of tilapia and yellow perch (which provide the fertilizer) as well as two 15-foot plant beds of fruits and vegetables. Because this required constant water […]
Towson University's Educycle program teams college students with high school interns to clean, run diagnostics on and redistribute 'old' computers. Refurbished devices go to Towson's student labs and to local Baltimore County, Harford County and Baltimore City school districts, who then install new software and operating systems. Educycle was launched in spring 2014 after Theresa […]
