College focus propels improvements in rural California district

Superintendent Yolanda Valdez has worked to increase expectations in a high-poverty district where most students are the children of migrant farmworkers and few might otherwise consider college.

By Tara García Mathewson • Nov. 28, 2016

Report: Barriers hinder equity at home, in school and through funding

Scholastic Education surveyed 4,700 teachers and principals who universally agree equity is an important priority.

By Tara García Mathewson • Nov. 28, 2016

Explore the Trendline➔

Curriculum

Educators are exploring a variety of strategies to improve students’ learning experiences while continuing to navigate ongoing political disputes.

By K-12 Dive staff

Who is Betsy DeVos, Trump's pick for ed secretary?

President-elect Donald Trump has chosen the Michigan billionaire, charter school proponent and active Republican to lead his Ed Department, but her power could be limited.

By Tara García Mathewson • Nov. 28, 2016

Student-based funding formula possible for Mississippi

Lawmakers could rewrite the state’s ed funding formula, moving to a model that allocates a base student cost and assigns extra money to address at-risk qualities.

By Tara García Mathewson • Nov. 28, 2016

Michigan gov's attorneys argue literacy not a right

Seven students from Detroit’s public schools are suing the state, claiming “slum-like conditions” in schools limit access to literacy and violate their civil rights.

By Tara García Mathewson • Nov. 22, 2016

Ed Sec King calls for end to corporal punishment

More than 110,000 students received corporal punishment during the 2013-14 school year, the latest for which data is available, and a disproportionate number were black.

By Tara García Mathewson • Nov. 22, 2016

How can educators best incorporate apps in the classroom?

A teacher and researcher say identifying problems to be solved and seeking review or sample apps are key.

By Tara García Mathewson • Nov. 22, 2016

Montessori has long been alternative to 'factory' ed model

Personalized learning has gained steam in recent years as new tech tools make it easier to tailor instruction to student needs, but Montessori has done that for more than a century.

By Tara García Mathewson • Nov. 22, 2016

Bilingual ed is newly legal in California, but challenges remain

Voters approved the return of bilingual ed in the state earlier this month, but it will be up to individual districts to bring the programs back — and staffing is sure to be a challenge.

By Tara García Mathewson • Nov. 22, 2016

Schools turn to universal screening to increase equity in gifted programs

Florida's Orange County Public Schools started screening all second graders in 2012 and saw immediate growth in the number of black, Latino and low-income students identified as gifted.

By Tara García Mathewson • Nov. 22, 2016

DC schools boost pre-K attendance with home visits

Research makes clear that attendance matters as early as preschool, but getting parents to buy into the importance of daily participation presents a challenge.

By Tara García Mathewson • Nov. 22, 2016

Teacher strengths vary — and schools don't measure them well enough

Researchers at Brown and Harvard University identified four measures of student skill, looking at whether “good teachers” were good at developing all of them.

By Tara García Mathewson • Nov. 22, 2016

School CIO role shifts with rise of data analytics

The chief information officer's time used to be taken up by IT tasks, but as ed tech's classroom presence grows, they must help educators and administrators assess data daily.

By Tara García Mathewson • Nov. 22, 2016

Women outnumber men in ed everywhere but the superintendent's office

During the 2011-12 school year, women comprised 76% of teachers, 51% of principals and 78% of central office staff — but occupied just 27% of superintendent offices nationwide.

By Tara García Mathewson • Nov. 22, 2016

Californians primed to oppose Trump's $20B voucher plan

On the campaign trail, the president-elect outlined a massive federal school choice program that would give money to students from low-income families to leave their public schools.

By Tara García Mathewson • Nov. 22, 2016

Strategist outlines habits of most successful schools

After a series of digital leadership summits in California, CDW-G's Eric Patnoudes compiled a list of the five common practices.

By Tara García Mathewson • Nov. 21, 2016

Is drug-testing in schools worth it?

Some districts randomly screen students who participate in athletics or extra-curricular activities, while others defer to research that says it doesn’t do much as a deterrence strategy.

By Tara García Mathewson • Nov. 21, 2016

'What Kids are Reading' report reveals trends in habits, achievement

Using data from its Accelerated Reader 360 platform, Renaissance has released its ninth annual trends report, finding high-quality reading practice can help students surge ahead.

By Tara García Mathewson • Nov. 21, 2016

UPDATE: Michelle Rhee removes herself from ed secretary candidacy

The former DC schools chief met with the president-elect this weekend, but in the end decided to remove herself from the running.

By Tara García Mathewson • Nov. 21, 2016

Apprenticeships could be key to preparing manufacturing workforce

If manufacturing jobs do increase under a Trump presidency, apprenticeships could be an important path to filling them.

By Tara García Mathewson • Nov. 21, 2016

Common Core not prescriptive about digital literacy

The standards for ELA mention technology use but leave much to be desired among literacy experts who want teachers to develop a greater focus on digital literacy.

By Tara García Mathewson • Nov. 18, 2016

How should states rethink accountability under ESSA?

David Griffith and Mike Petrilli, a research and policy associate and president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, respectively, offer their take on the perfect accountability system.

By Tara García Mathewson • Nov. 18, 2016

Districts should have succession plans in place at all times

Many districts wait until positions are open to think about who can fill them, but experts say it is better to be proactive and incorporate succession planning into broader strategic initiatives.

By Tara García Mathewson • Nov. 18, 2016

Benefits of preschool clear, but quality is critical

New research exploring the short- and long-term benefits of preschool in North Carolina say the early childhood program led to higher test scores and fewer special ed placements, to start.

By Tara García Mathewson • Nov. 18, 2016

Research: Schools should think twice about complete switch to keyboards

Peter West, director of eLearning at Saint Stephen's College in Australia, writes for eSchool News that humans have 40,000 years of communicating with sticks and pens, and that’s important.

By Tara García Mathewson • Nov. 18, 2016