TOP NEWS Ocala Star Banner Some officials across Florida are turning to a controversial alternative to meet the demands of a state law that requires armed defenders in every school. The Duval County School Board has became the second in two weeks to approve hiring and training dozens of new armed “safety assistants” to protect classrooms. Read more>> Sponsored Sponsored by Istation Authentic Spanish literacy lessons and assessments from Istation Español enhance learning with computer-adaptive activities that include Latin culture and literature. Plus, schools get the formative data that drives intervention and differentiates instruction. Learn more and request a free demo account. Read more>> CNN Oklahoma teachers ended their walkout last month, but they pledged to continue to fight for more school funding and higher pay. That's what caught the attention of Fort Worth school system officials. Their billboard campaign is aimed at recruiting current teachers and students soon-to-earn education degrees from across state lines. Read more>> The Baltimore Sun The move comes after Maryland's Superintendent Karen Salmon agreed to exempt the county this year from having to make up eight hours lost to bad weather, on the condition that the county rework the schedule to lengthen the time high schoolers are in class each day. Read more>> KFDA Through the Texas Education Agencies "Grow Your Own" grant, the Amarillo ISD can now provide financial assistance to multiple paraprofessionals working towards their bachelor's and ultimately becoming certified teachers. Read more>> The Hechinger Report Students with disabilities in Mississippi are missing out on valuable classroom instruction time due to suspensions. Suspensions are especially common for black students with disabilities, who miss nearly three times as many days as their white peers, according to a new report. Read more>> The 74 The oft-cited statistic that superintendents on average stay on the job for only three years may be an anomaly, according to a new report from the Broad Center. A survey of superintendents who have served in the 100 largest school districts since 2003 found that they had been in office an average of six years when they departed. Read more>> Sponsored Solution Tree We should think of our own learning and growth as part of a mutually beneficial ongoing professional development process. A big part of that idea is that we share and become more transparent in our practice as educators. Read more>> OPINION NPR There are students with exceptional, far-ahead-of-the-curve intellectual ability that also struggle with a learning disability or difficulty. Schools can respond in a number of ways. Teachers can take responsibility. Just being trained in the characteristics of twice-exceptionality, that's a huge leg up. Read more>> KQED Reverse planning for challenging assignments is more effective than forward planning for a few reasons, researchers found. For one, it helps the planner consider critical steps and then identify likely obstacles. Read more>> New Bern Sun Journal Schools should be able to figure out a way to give students a little time to celebrate without bogging down the ceremonies in delays. Giving students an opportunity to dance or otherwise show enthusiasm wouldn't cause any harm and actually could bring some levity to the high school and university ceremonies. Read more>> From DA Magazine Ariana Fine A lot of science goes into building a great acoustic guitar. For example, students must analyze malleability, weight and other composition factors when picking the wood to make their own instrument. Read more>> INDUSTRY NEWS Achieve3000/iCivics Achieve3000 and iCivics are partnering to offer middle and high school students government and civics readings designed specifically for their grade so that students can learn the fundamentals of American democracy at their own individual reading levels. Read more>> EdgeMakers California has granted A-G approval for six EdgeMakers courses on innovation and entrepreneurship and Texas has approved EdgeMakers’ foundational Innovative Thinking course. Students can take the courses for elective credit starting in the 2018-19 school year. Read more>> Tyler Technologies, Inc. Community ISD has signed an agreement for multiple Tyler solutions, including Munis enterprise resource planning, ExecuTime time and record keeping, and Tyler SIS and Tyler Pulse student information solutions. Read more>> ✭ Visit the District Administration's PR Portal ✭ CONSTRUCTION WATCH The Columbus Dispatch Scattered across the Buckeye State are little-noticed districts that the state's building program has bypassed. Thousands of students attend classes in buildings that are woefully outdated with little prospect for improvement because the opportunity for much-needed state funding has lapsed. Read more>> Chalkbeat Colorado More marijuana tax money will go toward school construction starting next year, but the funds won’t go as far as they could have. That’s because some lawmakers are nervous about borrowing that money when the industry faces an uncertain regulatory future. Read more>> Springfield News-Sun The Ohio district's voters approved a $79 million bond issue that would build two pre-K through 12 buildings in the district. The state will contribute about $40 million to the project, bringing the total cost to $119 million. Read more>> | 