What does it mean to become a Future Ready librarian?

On Saturday, April 13, one hundred librarians gathered in Columbus, Ohio for a one-day workshop of professional learning, networking, and sharing to help librarians become instructional leaders in their schools and districts – a critical element of success in becoming “Future Ready.”

What’s the secret to effective classroom management? You may have guessed it. There is no silver bullet for classroom management success. That’s what edutopia found when surveying teachers to find their go-to strategies.

Today’s digest highlights strategies for effective classroom management, measuring approaches that address the whole child, the need for high-quality instruction, and more.

During a wide-ranging hearing held by the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos testified on a wide range of Education Department priorities.

Federal Flash covers the controversial exchanges during the hearing, including one question that DeVos struggled to answer.

The end of March means one thing for hundreds of educators: the annual Deeper Learning conference. If you didn’t make it out to sunny San Diego last week, don’t worry, here are some highlights from the inspiring event.

Today’s digest also covers why it’s important to prioritize relationships in schools, how to motivate students for better learning experiences, and an upcoming webinar on improving education for diverse learners.

A flurry of education hearings in the House of Representatives and Senate; All4Ed releases a new analysis on the identification of schools for support and a new video on how federal education funding can support dual enrollment; and the middle grades are celebrated.

Programs such as dual enrollment, concurrent enrollment, and early college high school that allow students to complete college-level course work during high school are effective and increasingly popular models for improving student access, affordability, and completion of college. Such programs are particularly important for and effective at improving outcomes for students from low-income families and students of color.

Under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), states have reimagined their school accountability systems and come up with new ways to identify schools for support and improvement. Although the federal law allows some flexibility in designing these methodologies, it requires states to identify schools for three categories of support: comprehensive, additional targeted, and targeted support and improvement (CSI, ATS, or TSI, respectively).

Today’s episode of Federal Flash examines which programs are funded, cut, or eliminated in President Trump’s education budget. It also covers new action from Education Secretary Betsy DeVos that could prompt a lawsuit, as well as a separate court order ruling against the Education Department on students of color being disproportionally identified for special education services.

A yearlong performance assessment may sound like a lot for a high school senior. But in Oakland, California, seniors are using their capstone projects to solve problems facing their community while building critical skills for college and careers.

Today’s digest highlights how Oakland’s Graduate Capstone Project is making a difference for high school seniors and how Oakland Unified School District is empowering students through Linked Learning. It also covers a new book on deeper learning schools and the upcoming Deeper Learning Conference.

Oakland, California. The name by itself is so rich in history it exudes feelings of nostalgia or grief—or both. The city housed the late Maya Angelou and the infamous Black Power movement and helped fuel a generation of critical dissenters to the racial and social injustices that plagued America. Like many other American cities, Oakland segregated its populace by placing African Americans into overcrowded public housing units on the city’s west side and whites into government-sponsored suburban developments on the east side. But Oakland is a city that has been raising its voice for generations.