Student Success

From providing a range of innovative initiatives, including social-emotional learning programs to giving English language learners quality support, 54 school districts have been named among DA’s newest batch of Districts of Distinction this year. The honored districts from 23 states were chosen for the national recognition program for their innovative and unique twist on traditional […]

Dennis R. Maple, President, First Student, Inc. How do you build a workforce culture centered around safety? School bus drivers carry the nation’s most important assets: our children. And with the types and numbers of decisions school bus drivers make daily, drivers must make safety their core value. With more than 25 million children riding […]

The great majority of school violence prevention programs do not work. This is demonstrated by bullying continuing at unprecedented rates. Also, rampage school shootings—which the National Research Council calls a “new and unique violence”—continue to periodically shock the nation. It is critically important to address this violence effectively because schools are crucibles of the future. […]

In March, Netflix premiered 13 Reasons Why. The dramatic depictions and riveting subject matter quickly resulted in Netflix declaring the program its most-viewed show. Extremely troubling to psychology professionals across the nation is that 13 Reasons Why did not highlight the significant role mental illness plays in youth suicide. The show also fails to encourage […]

Chicago Public Schools will require a new first-of-its-kind program to ensure all students leave high school with a post-graduation plan. Starting with the past year’s freshmen class, every student must have their Learn.Plan.Succeed plan approved to graduate. Chicago is the first large urban district in the country to implement the program, which many city schools […]

A federal judge ruled last spring that the predominantly white city of Gardendale, Alabama, may secede from its more diverse county school district—even though the judge saw racial motivations behind the city’s efforts. Jefferson County, Alabama, has been struggling to comply with a federal desegregation order since 1971. Gardendale students have been attending the Jefferson […]