That morning started like any other that semester. I parked in the visitor lot at the high school in San Antonio, Texas, and showed the receptionist my ID badge with the word “SUBSTITUTE” printed in bold purple letters across the bottom. She smiled and waved me to a desk in the back of the office where she handed me a sticky note with a room number on it. I made my way through the school, searching for the number, as students gathered outside their advisory classes eating their breakfasts. I found my room—an eleventh-grade chemistry class—unlocked the door and reviewed the teacher’s lesson plans for the day. Written across the board in large letters were the classroom expectations: BE RESPECTFUL, BE RESPONSIBLE, BE READY. In retrospect, these guidelines were perhaps a reminder for me, just as much as for the students.
Federal funding for education takes center stage in this week’s Federal Flash, with Congress reaching a deal to fund the government through September 30 and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos testifying on the Hill.
If there are two places where children should feel safe in America, it is in their homes and schools. Unfortunately, for too many of the nation’s children, their classrooms have become killing zones. It does not matter the grade level or state; first graders in Connecticut and community college students in Oregon alike are victims of mass school shootings. No community—large, small, urban, rural, or suburban—is immune to the rash of gun-related violence. Unless the nation acts, these tragic incidents that murder our children will continue to occur.
Education is the single greatest economic development package for states. But how can states build a skilled workforce?
What better way to wrap up the 2018 state of the state addresses than to focus on governors calling education the key to a strong economy and a pathway towards better lives for Americans?
This week’s digest features a new guidebook on building high-quality assessment systems, a framework for project-based learning, lessons on deeper learning from Olympic athletes, and more.
Schools and classrooms across the country buzzed with excitement on February, 22, 2018 as thousands of educators and students celebrated the seventh annual Digital Learning Day (DLDay).
The celebrations have come to an end for now, but here are three things we learned from another great DLDay:
Nancy was born in Italy and brought to the United States at age five. She graduated from high school and received her bachelor’s degree from Towson University. She is one of more than 3 million Dreamers in communities across the country—undocumented young people who were brought to the United States as children. Like Nancy, less than one-quarter of them have been granted deferred action from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) implemented under the Obama Administration in 2012.
Watch Nancy tell her story via the video at the bottom of this post.
This week’s digest features lessons in deeper learning from a special education teacher, expansion of career and technical education opportunities in Memphis, guiding steps to move to competency-based education, and an upcoming Twitter chat. Read Entire Post
As governors are delivering state of the state addresses across the country, one message rings loud and clear: the need for more career training opportunities and early college experiences for high school students.
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Recent national data shows that high school graduation rates for African American and Latino students continue to climb, narrowing gaps in achievement between these students and their white and Asian peers. Yet these gains in high school graduation rates have not yet translated to comparable increases in postsecondary education enrollment and degree attainment.
