Learning gains are more important than ever before, and there are many reasons your district may be considering designing a summer school program. Summer enrichment activities help students not only maintain, but also increase their academic skills, according to Miami Dade School District (2011). A Borman and Dowling study found that students from high-poverty schools…
School district leaders have a lot on their shoulders. Their decisions affect so many members of a community – parents, faculty, teachers, and most importantly, children. Choosing a proper curriculum that will support your established vision and help carry out your mission is critical. You can’t afford to risk your students’ education with a ‘fly-by-night’…
Good teachers can be hard to find, but because of the stress and upheaval caused by two years of pandemic teaching, keeping them is harder. In a March 2021 EdWeek Research Center survey, half of the teachers said they would likely quit their job within the next two years. Only 34% of them said they…
Did you know? April 2 is World Autism Awareness Day, and April is National Autism Awareness Month! To help you increase autism acceptance in your community, here are some strategies for teaching autistic students that can make a big difference. You Are Not Alone First, let’s start by acknowledging that teaching autistic students can be…
As you head into Spring break and state testing season, your teachers are probably getting tired, and you may need a rest yourself. And yet, it’s time to start thinking about preparing your faculty for next year – whether you schedule training at the end of the school year, over the summer, or in the…
Imagine one of your colleagues is sitting in your office watching you and taking notes on how well you email parents, monitor student achievement, and revise policies and procedures. This goes on for hours, and you don’t find out until after you’ve finished working whether or not they thought you did a good job. Do…
You’ve probably heard of Harriet Tubman and Rosa Parks, but there are many lesser known Black women who made history. Each had to overcome racism and sexism to prove they were just as smart and capable as everyone else. Their stories can enrich your social studies teaching any time of the year, not just during…
This is the point in the year when you start to hope your students have actually learned something. But as with all good questions, asking yourself if your students have grown leads to more questions. How can I tell if they have grown? How do I communicate that growth? And once I know where my…
No matter how well your teachers prepare students for exams, test anxiety can prevent children from showing how much they’ve learned. According to Healthline, students experience test anxiety when they’re afraid of getting a low score. Severe cases can cause stomach pain, nausea, shortness of breath, headaches, dizziness, vomiting, or diarrhea. A study published in…
“If you can light the spark of curiosity in a child, they will learn without any further assistance.” Ken Robinson A good science curriculum sparks curiosity in a child. Unfortunately, many outdated subject-based science programs do not foster curiosity in the younger grades. Instead, they consist of unrelated activities that don’t build lasting knowledge and…