Individualized K12 professional development provides flexibility and freedom
Tina Weaver

Seeking alternatives to expensive professional development that takes teachers out of their classrooms and requires substitutes, Madison County Public Schools in Virginia developed a solution. Teachers want relevant professional development to be available when they have time. They want choice and immediate feedback. Read more>>

Sponsored by Rosetta Stone

In partnership with GettingSmart, this toolkit will help districts navigate through the steps needed to implement an online language program in schools. Learn about the options and how to set up a team for a successful implementation. Read more>>

New N.M. school lunch law cooks up a fiscal problem
Albuquerque Journal

Regardless of the cost, serving everyone the same lunch is the only way to truly ensure there is no shaming of kids whose parents don’t pay the lunch tab. That makes it incumbent on the New Mexico Legislature to provide sufficient resources to schools to meet that mandate. In reality, that likely means increasing taxes or making cuts elsewhere—both less palatable than cold cheese between two slices of bread. Read more>>

Sponsored by AdvancED

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) provides an opportunity for states to move accountability beyond test scores and look holistically at school quality by proposing a non-academic indicator for their ESSA plans. Measure student engagement to provide actionable data and drive improvement for all students. Read more>>

Making teaching more appealing to young people
U.S. News & World Report

What millennials want in a workplace is flexible hours, plenty of feedback from their bosses and creative stimulation. Unfortunately, education is falling far short of the ideal millennial workplace. We need to improve the classroom experience with its rigid hours, frequent lack of recognition, and 25 kids who need to learn specific things by specific deadlines. Read more>>

Sponsored by Penguin Random House

Computer coding teaches kids how to think creatively, work collaboratively and reason systematically. It is quickly becoming a necessary and sought-after skill and one that is ideal to start teaching in the elementary and middle school classrooms. Find out more with free exam copies of any DK Coding Workbooks. Read more>>

The wrong end for student journalist bill in Indiana Senate
South Bend Tribune

Some might look at what happened to a recent Indiana Senate bill upholding freedom of the press for student journalists and dismiss it as affecting “only” student publications. That would be the wrong way to understand what the recent defeat of this bill says about First Amendment rights—and how easily this basic principle can be defeated with a dose of fear and misinformation. Read more>>

Sponsored by itslearning

When Columbus Farmer’s Market shoppers approach Columbus Signature Academy’s booth, they’re greeted by a group of third-graders eager to sell their jewelry, scarves, survival bracelets, rag dolls and stress balls, says Dean Wright. Read more>>

We can’t deny opioid crisis
The Columbus Dispatch

It has come to the point where schools and businesses are stocking Narcan, just as they keep a cardiac defibrillator on hand. As pitiful as it seems to have to stock Narcan in schools, this effort is rooted in reality. Opioids are cheap, easily available and highly addictive. Read more>>
Published by District Administration