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.PRINCIPAL LEADERSHIP
Principals intend to keep a positive attitude in 2022 as they focus on relationships
District Administration Magazine
Strengthening relationships and keeping a positive attitude in 2022 are anchoring one principal’s strategy for establishing some stability in the face of COVID’s ongoing unpredictability.
"Everything we do is based on relationships," says Matthew Lewis, principal of Garfield Elementary School in Montana’s Lewistown Public Schools. “Once we have that established, everything else comes pretty easily.”
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What teachers want you to know about this year
EdSource
We offered the members of EdSource’s Teachers Advisory Group to describe a unique moment in the past year that captures something important or to write something they’d like people to know about how the year has been so far.
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Schools already had a fragile grasp on stability. Then Omicron hit.
Chalkbeat
The first week of January was the most disrupted of the school year, as the more highly transmissible omicron variant contributed to a rise in staff and student absences. Some schools struggled to function normally but kept their doors open, while others temporarily closed their buildings and returned to virtual learning.
Those hiccups have left students and teachers fighting to maintain a tenuous grasp on the stability and academic progress they’ve made so far this year.
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Promoted By
Boosterthon
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Promoted By
The Daily Mile
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How to make the most of SEL tools
THE Journal
Social-emotional learning (SEL) remains a top priority in K–12 education. One recent survey found that teachers believe in the value of SEL for academic success and well-being, and see it as a tool that’s helpful for the transition back to in-person instruction.
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4 ways to manage regulatory compliance in the education sector
District Administration Magazine
Educational institutions need to ensure high standards of operations and make sure that they’re following not only regulatory best practices but ethical best practices as well. Compliance management is necessary in order to ensure responsible operations and failing to comply with relevant laws and regulations can result in serious consequences.
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Black and male teachers score lower on observations despite similar qualifications
K-12 Dive
The research from Vanderbilt further highlights the challenges Black educators face despite evidence of the value they bring to schools. Ten years of data from New York City Public Schools, for instance, suggested Black students are less likely to be suspended when they are taught by Black teachers. Having just one Black teacher in elementary school boosts a Black students’ likelihood of enrolling in college by 13%, and having two Black teachers during that time increases college enrollment likeliness to 32%.
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The poorest students are falling furthest behind. Can mentoring help?
District Administration Magazine
Mentoring could be a key tool in K-12's COVID recovery, particularly as evidence of the inequitable academic impacts of the pandemic mount.
More than 80% of teachers said mentors — trusted adults who get to know and support individual students — improve academic performance and also help students become more independent learners, according to a survey by Gradient Learning.
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Assessment is critical to helping English learners achieve language and content proficiency, especially as educators continue to work to close gaps caused by disruptions in learning. Learn more about the different types of assessments needed to ensure equitable support and academic excellence for ELs. Read the Whitepaper.
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Decade of data highlights SEL best practices from 20 districts
K-12 Dive
In 2011, eight large school districts formed a network to figure out how to implement research on effective social and emotional learning programming into real-life, districtwide practices.
To the surprise of several participants, not only did those districts discover it was possible to expand their SEL practices, they've also sustained high-quality programming despite changes in local leadership and budgets.
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Kids are back in school — and struggling with mental health issues
NPR
Schools across the country are overwhelmed with K-12 students struggling with mental health problems, according to school staff, pediatricians and mental health care workers. Not only has this surge made the return to classrooms more challenging to educators, it's also taxing an already strained health-care system.
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Focusing on key standards to accelerate learning
eSchool News
While each standard is important and it should not be up to individual teachers which are taught and which are not, the truth is that each year some skills get overlooked or rushed past. It may not be ideal, but there are so many that, as education researcher Bob Marzano once noted, if we taught students to master every standard in each grade, we’d have students in class year-round and they wouldn’t graduate until they were in their twenties!
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5 superintendents to watch in 2022
K-12 Dive
Amid a new spike in COVID cases due to the omicron variant, district leaders are continuing to adapt their strategies or step into entirely new situations altogether as they face "damned if you do, damned if you don’t" decisions around how to maintain in-person learning or return temporarily to remote environments alongside big-picture questions around recovering lost learning and more.
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Where are state COVID vaccine mandates for schools heading?
K-12 Dive
Even without state mandates in place, some individual school districts have started enforcing their own vaccine requirements.
But it’s still difficult for districts to enforce mandates without the state backing them up, said Dorit Reiss, professor of law at University of California, Hastings in San Francisco. California’s statewide mandate cannot go into effect until the FDA fully approves the vaccine for younger students.
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As school communities have struggled to address the mental health needs of their students, the focus has been on treatment. Understandable.
However, we can start proactively helping our students in elementary school. Brain-based mental health literacy & resilience training provide strong Tier 1 support.
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.EDUCATION POLICY
.SCHOOL TECHNOLOGY
Why K-12 leaders believe latest big shift to remote learning is only temporary
District Administration Magazine
Despite the nationwide push to keep students learning in person amid omicron, more and more districts are shifting to temporary remote instruction due, in particular, to staff shortages.
Of course, student infections are also playing a role this week as some large districts — including Cincinnati Public Schools, Jefferson County Public Schools in Kentucky, the Rochester City School District in New York and The School District of Philadelphia — have closed some or all classrooms through the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, if not longer.
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Amid Omicron surge, policies restrict districts' remote learning options
K-12 Dive
Districts in states with tight restrictions around remote learning are finding themselves unable to pivot to online instruction amid another surge of COVID-19 infections and school shutdowns.
Instead, some schools facing staffing shortages or high absence rates from the spread of the omicron variant are relying on inclement weather or emergency days to close schools altogether.
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App helps students study better
Phys
What began with a single course in the Cerego app has now grown to include more than 20 courses in medicine, bio-pharmaceutical sciences, chemistry, life science and technology, molecular science and technology, and archaeology. You learn and practice the course materials in an app on your phone. "You can practice while you're waiting for the bus. That's completely different from having to open a 1,200-page book. You therefore use dead time to learn boring material."
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Education nonprofit to bring VR learning to local schools
NBC Right Now
The education nonprofit Learning with the Five Senses is launching a two-year long action research study called the Global Classrooms Project, which will use virtual reality headsets to improve students’ cultural competencies. This will begin this September at several local schools in alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
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How blended learning can drive education in the year ahead
Tech & Learning
As we enter 2022 much like we entered 2021, we are uncertain of when the pandemic will end and unsure of what the ongoing health crisis means in the operation of schools across our nation.
One might begin to consider that we are entering an endemic.
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| Promoted by
Brainfuse, Inc. |
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- State-Aligned: 24/7, state-aligned online tutoring support
- Accessible Platform: Our easy to use whiteboard is available from any desktop or mobile device
- Experience: Brainfuse has completed over 15 million one-to-one online tutoring sessions since 1999
- High-Quality Tutors: Our tutors undergo a rigorous selection and training process
- Field-Tested: Brainfuse has consistently outperformed other online tutoring companies in head-to-head trials
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As pandemic continues, educators say they'll continue to use technology in and out of the classroom
Cision via Yahoo
As schools grapple with yet another fast-spreading COVID-19 variant in the wake of the holidays, a new survey administered by Clever – the most widely used digital learning platform in U.S. K-12 schools – examines educators' perspectives on education technology in the midst of this period of profound change. Eight in 10 teachers say their (or their students') use of ed tech has increased compared to before the pandemic.
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.PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
How to motivate students to actually do homework and reading
EdSurge
Much of our students' educational experiences have taught them to search out the rewards for a transactional gauge of their actions in the form of points or grades. In Susan Blum’s "Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (And What to Do, Instead)," we discover that when it comes to concerns about grade inflation.
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Learn tips and strategies to deliver inspired feedback, master MTSS, and create a culture and curriculum that’s inclusive and effective for every learner. Bestselling author Katie Novak (Innovate Inside the Box and UDL Now!) and Mike Woodlock show you how. Order A UDL Playbook for School and District Leaders today!
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How literature can enhance math and science
Edutopia
Many of my students are surprised by how much I love to read. I hear, “But you’re the math and science teacher!” and “Why don’t you just teach reading?” I always explain that the way we divide subjects in school doesn’t exist in the real world. In everyday life, we don’t separate our time into short blocks to focus on one set of skills, so why do we do this in school? Here are three ways I incorporate reading into elementary science and math classes.
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Teaching civics after Jan. 6
U.S. News & World Report
Political polarization and distrust — capped by last year’s riot at the U.S. Capitol — have prompted renewed interest in teaching civics, with educators considering how best to explain the workings of democracy to K-12 students.
For decades, civics has taken a back seat to priorities like math, reading and college preparation, educators say.
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The all-new AstroPure™ portable air purifier from AAF Flanders features an advanced interface that allows fine-tuning of settings and visualization of particulate levels. This interface can be locked to prevent unauthorized changes, and because the unit makes so little noise, distractions are kept to minimum.
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Imagination Playground
is a breakthrough playspace designed to encourage child-directed unstructured free play. Unlike traditional hardscape playgrounds, Imagination Playground is low cost, requires no installation, and can be used both indoors and out. Our Blue Blocks are proudly made in the USA from a closed cell waterproof foam, making them durable and easy to clean.
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Augmenting in-service days with teacher-led professional development
Edutopia
Each year, school districts set aside days for teacher in-service. In some cases, the topic and/or presenter is predetermined by the district. In other cases, the professional development days sneak up on the school administration, and there's inevitably the question, "So what are we doing with our next PD day?"
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Teaching must get more flexible before it falls apart
EdSurge
The Great Renegotiation is coming for schools.
According to national data, schools are not facing greater teacher vacancies this year than in years past. But if you’re reading this article — if you’re engaged enough in education to be reading EdSurge — you probably don’t believe that data. And for good reason.
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Using project-based learning to immerse students in their community
Edutopia
At PSI High, our students make things — they’ve created instructional videos, mini-documentaries, video game soundtracks, and competition robots. Our curriculum is rooted in the philosophy of project-based learning.
When I was first introduced to the concept, there was a bit of a learning curve. How could I integrate required standards and balance time without creating a throwaway project?
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Promoted by Stepping Stones Museum For Children
Empower your teachers with exciting new virtual STEAM-powered classes, clubs and workshops at award-winning Stepping Stones Museum for Children. The Stepping Stones Studio makes it easy to inspire and delight young learners with a celebrated lineup of play-filled, brain-building educational offerings now accessible to everyone, everywhere. “This is the most wonderful hands-on experience for children! The Traveling Seeds workshop was extraordinary. The students were engaged and learned a lot. I enjoyed watching the children play and learn at the same time,” a 1st grade teacher, Norwalk Public Schools, Norwalk CT. Click the link here for detailed information: https://www.steppingstonesmuseum.org/app/uploads/2021/12/21-School-and-Groups-Flyer-VIRTUAL-120821.pdf
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.EDUCATION RESEARCH
.IN THE STATES
Indiana teachers push back against school curriculum bills
Associated Press
A controversial Indiana bill that Republican lawmakers contend would increase transparency around school curricula has drawn opposition from dozens of teachers who testified Monday at the Statehouse that the legislation would censor classroom instruction and place unnecessary additional workloads on educators.
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Oregon schools face few limits on how to use millions in unexpected federal money
The 74
n some Oregon school districts, turf fields and lawn mowers were necessities to overcome the pandemic and get schools reopened.
Others used emergency relief money to retrofit buildings with ventilation systems, add laptop computers for students and pay for online teaching.
But the state still holds more than $1 billion meant to help school districts address pandemic-related issues.
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No remote learning option in NYC schools for 6 months
The 74
The timeline, which effectively means no virtual instruction through the end of the 2021-22 academic year, represents a stark rejection of the concerns of students, parents and teachers worried for the safety of in-person learning as the Omicron variant continues to cause roughly 40,000 new COVID cases per day in the city.
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.ASSOCIATION NEWS
NAESP Statement on Biden-Harris Administration Increasing COVID-19 Testing in Schools
NAESP
On Jan. 12, 2022, the White House released a fact sheet, “Biden-Harris Administration Increases COVID-19 Testing in Schools to Keep Students Safe and Schools Open,” that identifies new actions they’re taking to increase COVID-19 testing in schools. NAESP Executive Director L. Earl Franks, Ed.D., CAE, offers the following statement on this announcement on behalf of NAESP.
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Stepping Up to the Plate
NAESP
As leaders of school buildings and staff, principals have unparalleled insights into their schools’ needs. Because of their unique role, they’re well positioned to know which resources and policy supports are needed most. Yet, despite this wealth of important information, principals might be missing an opportunity to inform the very individuals—policymakers—who make critical funding and policy decisions that impact their schools, students, and staff.
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