Due to COVID-19, most of our educational systems reflect a new normal, with hybrid and remote learning, increased use of technology, and teacher professional development. In a recent edLeader Panel sponsored by Boxlight, Dr. Alex Leis, CEO, and Krista Walker, Professional Development Program Manager of Boxlight-EOS, discussed the challenges and successes of professional development with panelists from Clayton County Public Schools (GA) and Phoenix Union High School District (AZ).
School systems, school buildings and classroom leaders have the opportunity to model methods to promote racial justice. The approaches will vary, from courageous conversations in the classroom to inclusive, student-centered school design.
How can school districts provide more equitable outcomes for their full range of students, while also implementing anti-racist policies and procedures? The hard work and “authentic journey” required to achieve these sorts of outcomes were discussed during a recent edWebinar, hosted by AASA, The School Superintendents Association and AASA’s Leadership Network. The presentation featured Dr. Luvelle Brown, Superintendent of the Ithaca City School District (NY), Lily Talcott, Deputy Superintendent of the district, and Deborah Ptak, Principal of the district’s Lehman Alternative Community School.
Science education during COVID has challenged the best of teachers. But even during the crisis, they dug in, designing creative digital learning experiences, using technology for enhanced remote engagement and leveraging local phenomena and investigations for students and their families to do at home.
Edtech is no longer a one-time purchase or a luxury item—it’s integrated across every system in school districts from the central office to classrooms to school buses. But for district leaders, the active support of the board and community stakeholders is just as important as the strategic tech plan and budget. In the edWebinar, “Strategic Technology Planning and Investment: Priorities, Cost and Impacts in Today’s Learning Environments,” sponsored by ClassLink and co-hosted by CoSN and AASA, three superintendents shared how they turn their stakeholders into advocates for a sustainable technology system in their districts.
Leaders in the Virginia Beach City Public Schools have been working on their equity agenda since 2015. But while their first two iterations focused more on achievement gaps and access to rigorous classes for all students, the plans didn’t address systemic inequities or really move the needle forward. During a recent edWebinar, hosted by AASA, The School Superintendents Association and AASA’s Leadership Network, Dr. Aaron Spence, Superintendent, and Dr. LaQuiche R. Parrott, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, explained why their Compass 2025 plan emphasizes equity throughout and how they keep equity front and center in their work.
For students in Jacksonville, FL and surrounding Duval County, where non-academic barriers often interfered with success in school, the implementation of mental health programs and other wellness initiatives has been accompanied by significant improvements in graduation rates and other important metrics.
Social, cultural, and political factors in 2020, such as civil unrest, COVID-19, and the presidential election, have resulted in the highest recorded stress levels of American adults. These stressors have led many to believe in unfounded explanations of events, situations, or conspiracy theories. This type of thinking blames the secretive work of sinister, influential people, involves complicated reasons, generally easily proven false, and relies on faulty logic, reasoning, and false evidence. Belief in conspiracy theories offers simple and often-sensationalized explanations for events we don’t fully understand, meets unconscious psychological and emotional needs, takes advantage of vulnerabilities caused by stress, fears, and anxieties, and provides a sense of community.
The combined impact of demographic changes, accountability measures, and special education requirements have created numerous challenges for educators and administrators in recent years, which were further complicated by the pandemic and societal issues during 2020.
Even before COVID-19 created online, remote, and hybrid learning environments in school districts across the country, most district and school leaders struggled with chronic absenteeism in their schools. Researchers like Dr. Todd Rogers, Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University and Chief Scientist at EveryDay Labs, have tirelessly worked with school districts to identify, develop and implement strategies to reduce absenteeism at scale.