Case Study: How One Texas School District Is Repurposing Staff Development Time to Embrace the Science of Reading
Unleashing the power of professional learning communities through richer, curriculum-based learning in the Aldine Independent School District. This is the next installment in a series of articles by the Knowledge Matters Campaign to elevate stories of educators implementing high-quality instructional materials. Edna Cruz is a bilingual skills specialist and Alaura Mack is an instructional skills specialist working […]
How Early Relationships Fuel Brain Development and Learning
Hau and Kang: Investing in early relationships is not just an act of kindness; it is a societal imperative that builds our future relational economy. Among the most profound expressions of love are the relationships that shape a child’s earliest years. Just as love between adults fosters connection and growth, the loving relationships children experience […]
Out-of-School Programs Play an Outsized Role in Child Development
After school and summer programs can enhance academic motivation and increase school attendance, but face access, funding and workforce challenges. What if one of the most crucial experiences for the development of school-aged children doesn’t happen during the school day at all? What if it has little to do with learning to read, sharpening math […]
What’s the ‘Sad Beige’ Parenting Trend — and Does It Affect Infant Development?
Millennial minimalism has taken over every corner of design in the last decade, from sterile, subway tile-covered coffee shops to muted cardigans that evoke “quiet luxury” to furniture favoring clean lines. But nowhere is the neutral palette more prominent than in the nursery. On social media, the decorative trend has been dubbed “sad beige” parenting. Marked […]
North Carolina Approves 11 New Goals Targeting Education & Workforce Development
Goals include ensuring 2M North Carolinians ages 25-44 will have earned an industry-valued credential or degree. The governor’s Council on Workforce and Apprenticeships convened on Thursday in Raleigh to discuss and vote on strategies that were drafted to achieve 11 goals related to workforce development in North Carolina. In a previous meeting in September, the council discussed the […]
A Form of Professional Development That Research Shows Might Actually Help Teachers: Coaching
“Professional development” is a four-letter word to some teachers, calling to mind all-staff lectures promising quick fixes, often from consultants who appear on inservice day and are never seen again. Similarly, researchers have generally been unable to find strong evidence on what forms of teacher professional development work or even whether the estimated billions of dollars districts […]
In Washington, D.C., a Road Map for Reinventing Professional Development in Schools
Just when the Trump Administration is proposing to cut federal funding for teachers’ professional development, the local D.C. government is doing the opposite, with lots of progress to show for it. They believe that teachers — not governance, not technology — make the biggest difference in how much students learn in school. And so do […]
3 More States See Education Plans Approved, Parents Becoming Professional Development Advocates, Tracking Military Students & More
This update on the Every Student Succeeds Act and the education plans now being refined by state legislatures is produced in partnership with ESSA Essentials, a new series from the Collaborative for Student Success. It’s an offshoot of their ESSA Advance newsletter, which you can sign up for here! (See our recent ESSA updates from previous weeks right here.) […]
Technology-Focused Professional Development Can Help America’s Teachers Bring Their Classrooms Into the 21st Century
Last week, my home state of North Carolina became the sixth state where thousands of teachers took to the streets to make their voices heard. In a right-to-work state, teachers took personal days to fight for better pay and increases to per-pupil spending, both of which are well below the national average in North Carolina. The […]
Louisiana Gets 1st Federal OK for Innovative Assessments Pilot, Professional Development Comes Up Short, and More
This update on the Every Student Succeeds Act and the education plans now being refined by state legislatures is produced in partnership with ESSA Essentials, a new series from the Collaborative for Student Success. It’s an offshoot of their ESSA Advance newsletter, which you can sign up for here! (See our recent ESSA updates from previous weeks right here.) […]
Teacher Professional Development Is in a Rut, but Better Research Can Help. New Partnership Is Looking to Do Just That
When the topic of teacher professional development comes up, educators often groan. Teachers are overtaxed, and their professional development experiences frequently feel like a waste of time. When I was in the classroom, I was one of those groaning educators. I would sit through professional development that bore no relation to the content I taught […]
How One Rural Elementary School Achieved Over 80% Reading Proficiency
Lambert: You don’t need a huge budget to transform reading outcomes. You just need a consistent, collaborative, data-based intervention model. When you think of education innovation, you might not think of a small, rural elementary school in Buffalo, Wyoming. But I’m here to change your perception. About 4,500 Wyomingites call Buffalo home. My school, Cloud […]