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| | LATEST NEWS FOR PRINCIPALS |
THE Journal
States are failing to provide teachers, parents and the general public with easily understandable and accessible reports on school performance, according to a new report from the Data Quality Campaign. The report, Show Me the Data: State Report Cards Must Answer Questions and Inform Action, examines school performance report cards produced by all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The DQC evaluated each state's report card based on what information was included, how it was displayed and whether it was accessible and understandable to the general public.
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Connected Principals (commentary)
George Couros, a contributor for Connected Principals blog, writes: "Going through university to become a teacher, my goal was to become a kindergarten teacher. This was what I trained for and it is what I wanted to do. Before I was even done university, I had an interview for a kindergarten opening at a school division near to where I lived, and I was ecstatic. The interview was going great, and I felt I had the job, only to find out later that they decided to go with someone else. Disappointed, but wanting to grow from the experience, I called them to ask for feedback, and was informed that they actually were planning to call me that day to offer me a job. High school technology teacher."
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Education Next
The school field trip has a long history in American public education. For decades, students have piled into yellow buses to visit a variety of cultural institutions, including art, natural history, and science museums, as well as theaters, zoos and historical sites. Schools gladly endured the expense and disruption of providing field trips because they saw these experiences as central to their educational mission: schools exist not only to provide economically useful skills in numeracy and literacy, but also to produce civilized young men and women who would appreciate the arts and culture.
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Takepart
Imagine you're babysitting two 12-year-olds, one boy and one girl. Which is more likely to be playing video games, and which one is painting a picture? Thanks to gender stereotypes, tech is often seen as boys' domain, while arts and crafts are assumed to be for girls. STEM — the acronym for science, technology, engineering and math — doesn't exactly conjure visions of toys and games. But a recent survey by Two Bit Circus, a Los Angeles–based engineering entertainment company, shows a significant gender divide between boys' and girls' interest in STEM that experts hope can be closed by child's play: in other words, finding ways to make school more fun and engaging for kids.
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eSchool News
Got Code? Students across the Rowland Unified School District, along with their families, are continuing their exploration of computer coding and programming by participating in Computer Science Week and the worldwide Hour of Code. "Hour of Code" is a global movement to expose students to computer science by teaching students a minimum of one hour of computer programming.
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By: Pamela Hill (commentary)
 "Follow the leader" is a game in which the participants copy the actions and words of a person who has been chosen as leader. In many ways, this mirrors the instruction of a special educator and her resource students. Research and best practice has proven that direct instruction is a form of instruction that is effective for students with learning disabilities. But teachers must reverse the process and begin to follow the students in order for them to thrive.
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[FreshGrade Education Inc.]
In this free eBook, elementary principal, Matt Renwick shares specific strategies and tools to build independent learners. You'll learn how to create a more connected classroom, give better feedback, and set authentic tasks for a real audience. EdTech RoundUp described FreshGrade as uniquely combining student-led portfolios with flexible, custom assessment and parent engagement in one. FreshGrade is used by teachers, parents, and students in all 50 states and in more than 70 countries around the world.
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Education DIVE
Effectively engaging students in the classroom within an age of constant technological distraction can often seem like a battle of the brain, one where teachers consistently try to strike the balance between substantive learning goals and fun. Increasingly, educators looking for new ways to improve student outcomes have turned their attention toward interactive teaching tools, such as gamification.
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Edutopia (commentary)
Elena Aguilar, a contributor for Edutopia, writes: "The majority of communities in the United States have English language learners and consequently, the great majority of teachers are engaged in identifying how to serve this group of students. Here are a few highlights of what I've learned ELLs really need from more than 20 years of working closely with them in public schools."
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District Administration Magazine
K-12 educators increasingly embrace life skills curricula that promote social-emotional learning, mindfulness, problem-solving and other soft skills. Many districts no longer view such programs as "nice to have," but as essential components of overall instruction. The growing emphasis on life skills is making an impact. In schools where students demonstrated significantly improved social and emotional skills, there was an 11-percentile-point achievement gain in attitudes, empathy and behavior — compared to schools where such skills were not part of the program, according to an extensive study by researchers from Loyola University Chicago and the University of Illinois at Chicago.
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Education DIVE
San Francisco-based nonprofit YouthTruth Student Survey released new data from 80,000 students in 24 states from grades five through 12, highlighting fairly dismal perspectives on school culture that worsen as students get older. According to its report, 44 percent of sixth graders rate school culture positively, and just 32 percent of ninth graders and 28 percent of 11th graders do the same — though students recognize adults treat students with more respect than students treat adults. Fewer than half of all students report discipline at their school is fair — but 49 percent of Asian students say it is, compared to 39 percent of white students and Latinos, 34 percent of multiracial students and 28 percent of black students.
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Medical Daily
A new study from Concordia University in Montreal has linked students who have occasional bad feelings to better overall grades. The students who were mostly happy during their four years of university, and also experienced occasional negative moods, had the highest GPAs at the time of graduation. "If you're generally happy, negative emotions can be motivating." said study author Erin Barker, according to Medical XPress.
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The Atlantic
When students at one California charter network graduate from high school, they get more than just a diploma. They're offered a job, too. "We need people who look like we do, who come from our neighborhoods and who understand what it is like to be the first, to become role models for future young people," reads the letter students receive on graduation day, signed by the co-founder of Partnerships to Uplift Communities Schools, Ref Rodriguez. "Your duty is to be a role model and encourage more young people to follow in your footsteps, so that they, too, graduate from high school and then from a college or university."
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K-12 TechDecisions
A recent study by Gallup found that only 1 in 5 parents are fully engaged with their child's school, meaning that 80 percent of parents aren't getting the information they need from their children's teachers. This could be due to parents' lack of interest, lack of time, or simply that they or their children's teachers don't have the tools or techniques to communicate effectively. While mobile technology has become a daily part of how we access most information, from email to news to where the closest Uber car is, schools are still learning how to use apps to improve communication with parents. Here, two teachers share their best practices for sharing real-time updates on what's happening in their classrooms.
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By: Pierre LaRocco (commentary)
 It seems like we hear about large-scale tragedies on a daily basis today. No one seems to be safe from news like this, including our students. We were once able to tell our students that school is a safe haven from everything on the outside. Well, it has been proven over and over again, that is not the case anymore as we see school violence and shootings on the rise nationwide. With a building full of both adults and students who feel less safe, how do we deal with our "new normal"?
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| | FEDERAL ADVOCACY AND POLICY |
Education Week
The U.S. Department of Education released final regulations and new guidance governing how testing is supposed to work under the Every Student Succeeds Act. It also announced $8 million in grants to states to improve science tests. If you've read through the proposal for assessments that a group of educators and advocates negotiated last spring, these final regulations will probably look very familiar to you.
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By: Brian Stack (commentary)
 President-elect Donald Trump recently named Michigan's Betsy DeVos to be the next Secretary of Education. DeVos, a strong advocate for school vouchers and school choice in her home state, is expected to bring this topic to center stage when she begins her term in Washington. It comes as no surprise that Trump is making a strong case for the privatization of our nation's schools, implying that a business-model approach will improve our schools for all students.
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The Hill
The White House announced new initiatives to bolster computer science in K–12 education. Citing the rapidly expanding demand for technology jobs, the Obama administration outlined new efforts by two federal agencies: The National Science Foundation plans to spend $20 million on computer science education in 2017, on top the the $25 million it spent in 2016, with an emphasis on training teachers.
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My Central Jersey
Two pieces of legislation aimed at improving school security measures, through design plans and training drills, were signed into law. "These laws are about putting safety first and we need to make sure the schools that house our children and educators are built emergency- ready," said Sen. Patrick Diegnan, D-18th District, who sponsored the legislation. "The new law will provide that individuals inside the school facility will be practicing safety through drills and other techniques and collaborating with emergency responders to ensure that responses will be carried out in the best way possible."
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NAESP
NAESP, in partnership with The Wallace Foundation, invites you to participate in a Twitter chat, "Cultivating Your Career," that will focus on finding time for professional learning, identifying the best opportunities, and planning next steps. The chat takes place Tuesday, Dec. 13, 8 p.m ET. Use #NAESPChat to join the conversation.
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NAESP
Being a school principal used to be a job you kept for life — or at least until you became the superintendent. But with increased turnover within schools there's a good chance this job may become the start of a new career.
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Designed for kids ages 5 to 12, Smart Play: Venti packs 20 exciting activities into its compact size.
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