After-school acceleration Deborah Yaffe Districts across the country are finding ways to turn after-school programs into learning experiences that motivate students and close equity gaps. YMCAs, churches and other community groups, and private companies have emerged as go-to providers of after-school programs. Read more>> Title I schools and bridging the achievement gap in literacy Sponsored by VocabularySpellingCity.com Title I aims to close the achievement gap between low-income students and their peers, providing funding for supplemental literacy programs at qualified schools. VocabularySpellingCity’s learning strategy ensures student retention of content with activities that encourage critical thought and enhance comprehension. Read more>> How can schools prioritize for the best ways kids learn? KQED It’s no longer enough for teachers to get a credential and then sit back and teach the same content year after year. To be part of modern learning, teachers need to actively educate themselves about the context students live in and how they can improve as educators. Read more>> How to support dyslexic students in your school Sponsored by Learning Ally Twenty percent of the student population has dyslexia. Join us for a webinar where we'll cover why students struggle; what administrators need to know about identification, accommodations and interventions; and building a district culture to support struggling readers. Attendees will receive a CE certificate from edWeb. Read more>> Mentors bolster new teachers Courier-Journal The first years of teaching are difficult. The difference for our next generation of new teachers is that unlike those before, they will not have to go at it alone. Considering the payoffs—lower teacher turnover, higher confidence and improved student outcomes—programs to support new teachers and their mentors are well worth it. Read more>> Taking your board from strategic planning to strategy and planning Sponsored by BoardPaq Do you just let your organization respond to strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities (SWOT) as each of those circumstances develop? Your board needs to go from strategic planning to strategy and planning. BoardPaq has become the first board portal to integrate a SWOT analysis tool into its product. Read more>> What punishment works in our schools? Abilene Reporter-News A school district has a lot of irons in the fire, be it updating facilities or simply teaching students for the 21st century. But considerable time, sadly, is spent on punishment. A solution? The student behaving. That should be taught at home, but we know in many cases it's not. Thus, school districts have been thrown unfairly into the discipline business. Read more>> California's baffling new approach to evaluating public schools Los Angeles Times After three years of work, the California Board of Education revealed a draft of its new annual school accountability system. One reason the charts are so over-complicated is that they’re being larded with too many factors that don’t reveal how well students are learning. If a school doesn’t suspend any students, but also doesn’t improve academic outcomes, why should it get credit for hollow achievements? Read more>> |