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| | LATEST NEWS FOR PRINCIPALS |
The Conversation
How would you react if you were told that your local public school planned to change the schedule from the traditional Monday-through-Friday model to a schedule that contained four longer school days? Would you worry about long days for young children, their academic accomplishments and, of course, childcare? Across the U.S. many public school districts have considered the option of schedule change as a way to manage budget cuts and reallocations. A surprising number of schools, especially in the western United States, have adopted just such a policy. In most cases, students in these schools now attend school Monday through Thursday.
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Brookings (commentary)
Some of the never-before-seen phenomena of today — rapidly expanding connectivity, mobile entrepreneurship, the breakdown of traditional corporate relationships, the global skills gap — have left students facing unexpected pressures, as well as unimagined opportunities. It's clear that the use of technology is now key for everyone hoping to join the labor force. "As Average is Over" author Tyler Cowen claims, "workers more and more will come to be classified into two categories. The key question will be: 'are you good at working with intelligent machines or not? Are your skills a complement to the skills of the computer, or is the computer doing better without you?'"
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Education World
A report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office analyzes why most eighth grade students in the U.S. fall below proficient in geography. According to the report, "[a]bout three-quarters of eighth grade students — the only grade for which trend data are available — were not 'proficient' in geography in 2014, according to GAO's analysis of nationally representative data from the Department of Education (Education)." The GAO attempted to figure out why geography instruction in the U.S. is lacking and interviewed officials and teachers in several states to do so.
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By: Erick Herrmann
 In this era of more demanding standards for all students, close reading has become a common exercise for students in various grade levels. For English language learners accessing complex, grade-level text can be especially demanding. Difficulty and challenge, however, should not dissuade us from helping all students, including English learners, read and access complex, grade-level text. Scaffolding, a key concept when working with ELLs, will need to be utilized.
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eSchool News
STEM education, while always a national focus, is receiving more attention in recent days, as surveys and legislation reveal awareness of its importance to the nation's success. Three out of four Americans in a recent survey said they think "science is cool in a way that it wasn't 10 years ago." Seventy-three percent of participants in the Finger on the Pulse opinion survey, from Horizon Media's WHY Group, agreed with the statement that "in the future, all the best jobs will require knowledge of computer coding languages."
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Science Weekly Magazine
Science Weekly Magazine
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Education DIVE
Training students for science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills has become an imperative for schools as the need for workers in related fields has risen. But actually making the new programs work can be tricky. The endeavor can seem daunting amid the many competing priorities, it can be hard to find teachers who are ready to teach STEM subjects and, as always, money can be hard to come by.
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EdTech Magazine (commentary)
Catlin Tucker, a contributor for EdTech Magazine, writes: "Educators today are facing two major shifts in education: a move to Common Core Standards and increasing pressure to teach with technology. In my new book, "Creatively Teach the Common Core Literacy Standards with Technology," I provide educators with concrete strategies, creative lesson ideas and a wide range of technology tools to help them transition to the new set of standards."
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RESEARCH LABS, a student-centered core curriculum, takes students through a project-based learning process using rigorous CCSS instruction as they become experts on a topic of their choice. Student-driven formative assessment and leveled research libraries ensure all students learn grade-level content, regardless of current reading level.
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Education Week
English language learners who enter kindergarten with a basic grasp of academic language, "either in their primary language or in English," are more likely over time to be reclassified as former ELLs, a new analysis from Oregon State University has found. Karen Thompson, an assistant professor of cultural and linguistic diversity in Oregon State University's College of Education, reviewed nine years of student data from the Los Angeles Unified schools to gauge how long it takes students to develop English proficiency. Most research indicates that it takes students at least four years to become fluent in academic English, language that allows students to retell story or understand mathematical word problems.
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MindShift
The design and engineering process is an important part of the Next Generation Science Standards, but it can be difficult for teachers to work in challenges that feel authentic and relevant in the real world. Several public school teachers in Seattle and Houston worked with Boeing engineers to develop engineering curriculum that both meets required standards and gives kids a chance to build something with their hands.
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Edutopia
Google searches for "classroom design" or "science of classroom design" yield helpful results on how to set up your classroom for student success. Yet, with the increasing use of educational technology, student learning isn't limited to the physical classroom. According to a 2012 study by Evergreen Education Group, roughly 275,000 students are enrolled full-time in online education. The growing popularity of online education may be due, in large part, to innovations in multimedia learning and instruction, defined as "presenting words and pictures that are intended to foster learning" (Mayer and Moreno, 2003).
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Education Week
After more than a year of deliberations, a set of professional standards for education school leaders are set to head out the door. The National Policy Board for Educational Administration unanimously adopted the standards. They will no longer go by the acronym ISLLC, short for Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium standards, as they have been known since they were first devised and adopted as professional benchmarks for principals and school leaders in 1996.
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Graceland University is ranked #5 in the country for Online Masters of Education programs by US News and World Report. We have a 98% graduation rate and 97% would recommend our program to a friend. We have 4 programs to meet the needs of practically any teacher.
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MiddleWeb (commentary)
Patti Grayson, a contributor for MiddleWeb, writes: "What are your picks for the five craziest times of the school year? You know, those times where the kids are so spun up that you realize nothing you say will be remembered tomorrow? You ask yourself, 'Why am I even trying to teach today?!' Here are my votes for days when students (and teachers) are at their craziest..."
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Education Week
When an employee of the Provo, Utah, school district mistakenly clicked on a phishing link in an email last year, the private data of about 500 employees were put at risk. District officials personally went to every school and district department to meet with employees face to face and explain what occurred. The district also paid the bill for a year of credit monitoring for employees. Afterwards, the district altered its practices on sharing sensitive information to improve data security, and employees were retrained to better recognize suspicious links and other scams. "It was a kind of learn-as-we-went-along kind of thing," said Caleb Price, the spokesman for the 13,000-student district.
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By: Janet B. Reyes
 Many educators and parents are unaware of one potential reason some students perform poorly or inconsistently in school: underlying problems with perceptual-motor integration. This system relates to sensory intake and processing, awareness of body position and differences in muscle tension. Deficits in these processes may cause behavioral and learning issues that are mistaken for ADHD or learning disabilities. Perceptual-motor development occurs in sequence as a child matures.
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District Administration Magazine
Students can explore the Great Wall of China and the surface of Mars using wearable technology products that are dropping in price and becoming more education-focused. Wearable technology — defined simply as anything electronic and worn on one's body — will be mainstream in schools within four to five years, predicts the 2015 New Media Consortium Horizon Report.
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"The Fundamental 5 maximizes teacher effectiveness. It is the best instructional system I have ever observed." Robert Brezina, U.S. Academic Decathlon Past President.
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| | FEDERAL ADVOCACY AND POLICY |
Education Week
The U.S. Department of Education announced that it has given 17 additional states the greenlight on plans to bolster teacher quality and make sure that low-income kids get their fair share of effective teachers. The states are: Alaska, Alabama, Arizona, California, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. That's in addition to the 16 states approved last month.
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The Hill
Strong farm-to-school programs are increasing student participation in breakfast and lunch programs and reducing how much food ends up in the trash, according to new data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. According to the preliminary Farm to School Census data from the 2013-2014 school year released Tuesday, 75 percent of schools with farm-to-school programs reported seeing at least one positive benefit — either reduced plate waste, better acceptance of healthier meals, increased participation in school meal programs, lower school meal program costs or more support from parents and community members.
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The Oregonian
Roughly a third of Oregon's American Indian and Alaskan Native students were chronically absent last year, the worst statewide rate out of student groups. The Oregon Department of Education released data showing the percentage of students who attended at least 90 percent of school days. Statewide about 17 percent, or nearly 94,000 students, missed that benchmark. The state provided data broken down by grade and student groups, including low-income students, African American students, students with disabilities and others, for districts and schools. Data shows that attendance rates for the state's approximately 7,850 Native students has hardly budged since the 2013-2014 school year, with about 30 percent missing too much class.
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NAESP
With the school year back in full swing, educators are happy to see students back in the classroom. Many kids, however, aren't in classrooms as often as they should be. Poor student attendance has serious consequences: research shows that by sixth grade, chronic absence is a leading indicator of whether a student will finish high school. Fortunately, NAESP has a wide variety of resources to help principals improve attendance in their schools.
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NAESP
Parent engagement is a positive force in elementary schools, but reaching out to families who speak different languages is not always easy. The heart of truly successful parent engagement is a commitment to connect with each and every family. These strategies for working with families of English language learners will help you get your school year off to a great start with lasting benefits.
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