This message was sent to ##Email## To advertise in this publication please click here November 19, 2020 .ALAS UPDATES STREAM HERE  SPONSORED VIDEO Reimagine Computer Science Professional Development BootUp is committed to delivering high-quality computer science professional development to elementary teachers that boosts their confidence to teach 21st-century skills in the classroom. More than ever, computer science provides students with invaluable skills for their futures. WATCH VIDEO .SCHOOL LEADERS NEWS What school superintendents want from the Biden administration Education Week Perhaps more than any other time in the last three decades, the pandemic has thrown into relief the kinds of services districts provide that tend to be invisible during "business-as-usual times": health care, nutrition, after-school care. And in the absence of any coordinated federal response to the K-12 challenges of the pandemic, the nation's school districts have been forced by default into making consequential decisions about staffing, security and health. READ MORE To reduce mingling and quarantines, schools divide classes into quadrants Journal Inquirer Schools are going to start using a new policy to determine which students and teachers have to quarantine after a positive case of COVID-19 is identified in the system in an effort to decrease the number of people who are affected each time. The new policy will involve the use of "quadrants" in the classrooms, which will mean splitting classrooms along four imaginary lines. READ MORE  SPONSORED CONTENT Promoted by AKJ Education Bienvenidos: A complete literacy program to involve schools and engage immigrant families and caregivers in your community. Spanish Collections: Curated collections focused on popular curriculum themes Spanish Guided Reading: Our bestselling collections based on F&P reading levels A to Z that focus on building better readers Authentic Spanish/ESL: Develop literacy and broaden cultural understanding for Spanish classrooms and English Language Learners Social and Emotional Learning (SEL): Help children understand and navigate their emotions and the world around them Schools are doing COVID-19 temperature checks: Do they really help? Eduation Week The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention doesn't recommend schools use them. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious-disease expert, called them "notoriously inaccurate." And they can be expensive and time-consuming. Yet more than half of U.S. district leaders say their schools are conducting or plan to do temperature checks for students and employees for in-person instruction as a means of screening for coronavirus infection, according to a nationally representative Education Week Research Center survey conducted last month. READ MORE An ELA framework for English learners MiddleWeb (commentary) Valentina Gonzalez and Melinda Miller, contributors for MiddleWeb, writes: "I experienced an extraordinary feeling while reading Valentina and Melinda's book. I was reading the introduction when I began highlighting text, making notes on the pages, and writing takeaways in my notebook. "Reading & Writing for English Learners" is a book that highlights the best of my two worlds: my English learner world and my educator world." READ MORE  FEATURED ARTICLE   6 myths about emergent bilinguals Promoted by Renaissance Learning “Unless students start learning a second language early, they’ll never truly master it.” “Bilinguals are really just two monolinguals in one person.” “The best way to promote English literacy is to immerse bilingual students in English-only instruction.” Educators encounter these and other misconceptions all the time. In a new blog, two bilingual educators respond to these and other myths, explaining why it’s so critical to use an asset-based approach when teaching emergent bilingual students. They also provide tips for supporting strong English-Spanish biliteracy, and they share links to helpful research and resources. Explore the myths LEARN MORE   Did COVID-19 really drive teachers to quit? Education Week News headlines over the summer raised a fearful specter: teachers resigning or retiring en masse, terrified they’d get COVID-19 if they returned to the classroom. But an Education Week analysis shows that the predicted wave of leavers has not materialized across the nation. As the start of the 2020-2021 school year approached and many districts began rolling out plans to bring students back to campus, teachers across the country wrestled with the difficult decision of whether to leave their jobs to protect their health and that of their loved ones or stay in the classroom. READ MORE .TECHNOLOGY The state of educational technology in a post-pandemic world EdTech Magazine Some may say 2020 is the year of educational technology. When COVID-19 pushed schools to go remote, educators and students became more reliant on technology than ever before. The transition to this learning environment also revealed new insights on the state of technology in education. The "education system is evolving at an unprecedented rate, and making effective edtech investments will be critical in the year ahead," according to a recent report by Promethean. READ MORE 3D printing, STEAM are on the rise in classrooms eSchool News 3D printing is becoming an increasingly important part of educators' interactive and engaging STEAM learning strategies, a new survey reveals. As teaching methods progress from more traditional learning environments to more dynamic and active, educators are seeking new ways to help students build important 21st-century skills such a critical thinking and problem solving, according to a new survey from 3D printer manufacturer MakerBot. READ MORE Rise of e-Books reflects rise of remote education THE Journal The use of e-Books in schools has risen with the growth of remote education. A survey found that two-thirds of teachers (67%) said they're using more this year than last year, while more than eight in 10 of administrators (85%) said their districts were using digital books. In elementary grades (K-4), nearly half of teachers (48%) reported that they've adopted electronic versions of popular or educational books to supplement classroom curriculum. In high school, the leading use of ebooks is as an electronic replacement for class textbooks, cited by 39% of teachers. READ MORE 5 best practices for managing virtual breakout rooms EdTech Magazine Small group learning is absolutely essential today. In a virtual classroom, the instructor typically does most of the talking when leading a synchronous lesson. Students may find it more difficult to participate or think out loud in this environment. But with breakout rooms, educators can improve student engagement, differentiate instruction and give students more voice and choice in their learning outside of a traditional classroom. This key videoconferencing feature helps students learn and collaborate with each other in smaller groups during online or hybrid learning. READ MORE .POLICY CORNER And Justice for ELs Language Magazine And Justice for ELs is an essential resource for school leaders. Ayanna Cooper, editor of Language Magazine's Pass the Mic series and a former U.S. Department of State English language specialist, has "been there, done that" and is now sharing how best to translate today's federal mandates into actionable steps for ensuring the civil rights of our nation's multilingual learners. READ MORE A first look at education leaders and priorities for the Biden administration Tech & Learning President-elect Joe Biden hasn't officially been declared the winner yet, but the Biden team is forging ahead with planning for the transition into office in just two months. There are over 4,000 appointed positions that need to be staffed — this process takes time under normal circumstances. It's now looking to be the first big challenge for the incoming Biden administration. Time is of the essence. Among these positions to fill is the Secretary for the United States Department of Education. Biden has pledged to put a public educator at the top of the department and the team sees no room for negotiation in that pledge. READ MORE .EDUCATION HEADLINES How we can support our newcomer students MiddleWeb A newcomer is a student who is a child who immigrated from another country. Their experiences are quite different than those who are citizens of immigrant parents. READ MORE 5 promising K-12 data strategies emerged in 2020 District Administration Magazine Despite the disruptions of COVID, many states in 2020 have passed new bipartisan measures and proposed other bills to provide students and families with education data. Some 242 bills were sponsored and 43 new laws were passed, covering attendance and enrollment, assessments and online learning, according to the Data Quality Campaign's 2020 Education Data Legislation Review. More than half of 2020's bills called for new data collections or changes to existing reports on a range of education issues, the report said. READ MORE .CAREERS New Postings Every Week on ALAS Website! ALAS 11/18/20 — Data Management Fellow, Transcend Education, Flexible (Domestic travel when safe to do so) 11/18/20 — Executive Director of Information Technology, Durham Public Schools, Durham, NC 11/18/20 — Superintendent, Cheyenne Mountain School District 12, Colorado Springs, CO 11/18/20 — Superintendent, Springfield Public Schools, Springfield, MO 11/18/20 — Superintendent, Lyons Township High School District 204, LaGrange, IL 11/13/20 — Principal, Fairfax County Public Schools, Fairfax, VA 11/09/20 — Director of Student Services, Seekonk Public Schools, Seekonk, MA 11/04/20 — Superintendent, The School District of Clayton, Clayton, MO 11/02/20 — Chief Academic Officer, DeSoto Independent School District, DeSoto, TX 11/02/20 — Chief Financial Officer, Lockhart Independent School District, Lockhart, TX 11/2/20 — Chief of Communications, Lancaster Independent School District, Lancaster, TX 11/2/20 — Chief Financial Officer, DeSoto Independent School District , DeSoto, TX 10/30/20 — Part Time Professor, Dissertation Chair, Northcentral University, Scottsdale, AZ 10/30/20 — Part Time Professor, Educational Leadership, Northcentral University, Scottsdale, AZ 10/30/20 — Part Time Professor, Instructional Design, Northcentral University, Scottsdale, AZ 10/30/20 — Part Time Professor, Social Emotional Learning, Northcentral University, Scottsdale, AZ 10/30/20 — Superintendent, School District of Beloit, Long Beach, Beloit, WI 10/23/20 — Superintendent, East Baton Rouge Parish School System, Baton Rouge, LA 10/21/20 — Chief Executive Officer, Nevada State High School, Henderson and Las Vegas, NV 10/19/20 — Jorge Paulo Lemann Professorship for Brazil Studies, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA 10/19/20 — Superintendent of Schools, Champaign Unit 4 School District, Champaign, IL 10/16/20 — Director of Talent, Transcend Education, Flexible (Domestic travel when safe to do so) 10/16/20 — Superintedent, North Wasco County School District 21, The Dalles, OR 10/16/20 — Usable Knowledge Associate, Transcend Education, Fully Remote/Virtual Team 10/15/20 — Superintendent of Schools, Monroe County Community School Corporation, Bloomington, IN VISIT ALAS WEBSITE FOR MORE CAREER OPPORTUNITIES & INFORMATION!!   ALAS: Leaders in Equity Update Connect with ALAS Dennis Hall, Director of Publishing, MultiView, 469-420-2656 | Download media kit Hailey Golden, Senior Education Editor, 469-420-2630| Contribute news Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents P.O. 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