More Missouri Districts Switching to a Four-Day Week
Since the 2011-2012 school year, the Harrisburg School District has operated with four-day weeks. Harrisburg was among the first districts in Missouri to drop classes once a week, but this year at least 160 public school districts are running four-day weeks, accounting for about 30 percent of the 581 school districts statewide, according to the…
Are Virtual Educators an Answer to Teacher Shortages?
One live virtual teaching company, Elevate K-12, notes an uptick in district interest in its services amid severe, ongoing educator vacancies, according to an article in K-12 Dive. There is a growing trend in which certified instructors are delivering live lessons virtually to in-person groups of students. An analysis of GovSpend data by The74 found districts…
Tiny School Lets Young People Direct Their Own Education
The headquarters of Alcove Self-Directed Learning looks like any small home in the largely Latino Boyle Heights section of Los Angeles. This self-directed learning center for teens and tweens allows young people to direct their own education. It is part of an expanding ecosystem of alternative educational models throughout the U.S. focused on individualized learning,…
Biden Administration Urges Schools to Carry Naloxone
Overdose deaths among teens have been increasing, prompting the Biden administration to call on schools to purchase and carry the opioid overdose antidote naloxone, according to Education Slice / NPR. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Dr. Rahul Gupta and U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona wrote a joint letter urging every…
Training Future Teachers to Be Computing Education Champs
A new program at the City University of New York, the Computing Integrated Teacher Education (CITE) program, launched with funding from the Robin Hood Learning + Technology Fund, Google, Gotham Gives and NYC Public Schools, trains future teachers to use computing concepts in a broad range of subjects, from social studies to science, and at…
Cellphone Bans Can Ease Students’ Stress & Anxiety, Say Educators
A statewide policy in Florida, signed into law in May, prohibits students’ use of cellphones during instructional time, according to an article in Education Week. “I can tell you that the result of it on a very wide scale has been extraordinarily positive for [students’] mental health from an anecdotal perspective,” said Heather Kreider, the principal…
Ways AI Tech Can Help in the Classroom
Here are some simple ways Sarah Connell Sanders, a teacher writing in the Worcester (Mass) Magazine, is using artificial intelligence to go beyond disruption and strive for sustained innovations in her classroom. “AI can provide dozens of alternative suggestions for writing lesson plans and save an awful lot of time. Tools such as ‘Magic Bus’ allow me to refine and improve…
Wi-Fi On the Way to School
More school buses across the country could be fitted with Wi-Fi after a recent vote by the Federal Communications Commission. In a 3-2 vote along party lines, commissioners will allow school districts to use money from the E-Rate program, which helps schools and libraries buy affordable broadband, toward Wi-Fi and supported devices on buses, according…
Indiana High School Builds Education-to-Entrepreneurship Pipeline
Interest in entrepreneurship was growing among high schoolers at Warren Central High School, Warren, IN. The school responded this year by creating a new pathway where students can launch their own businesses. Plus, they earn up to 16 college credits — roughly a full semester of classes, according to Chalkbeat Indiana. Indiana education leaders are pushing…
A Crucial Factor in Reducing Chronic Absenteeism
Schools fighting a surge in chronically absent students should focus on strengthening the bonds they have with parents, according to recent research. Schools that had the strongest ties with families before the recent rise in chronic absenteeism are less likely to be experiencing those high absence levels today, according to Education Week. These are some…
