According to a CoSN report, more than half of school districts and about one-third of public schools in the United States are in rural areas. Rural communities have unique challenges, ranging from poverty and vast travel distances to a lack of affordable internet access.
When only 28% of a school district’s third graders are reading at grade level, changes are clearly needed. In the Aldine Independent School District just outside of Houston, Texas, the need for change resulted in a dual focus on improving the district’s leadership bench and revamping literacy instruction, in order to provide an equitable education for all students.
News about economic stimulus funding for K-12 education brought a lot of excitement, confusion, and questions for both vendors and school districts. Who gets the money? How much and how is it distributed? Where can it be spent? During an edFocus Friday edWebinar, “Build Your K-12 Sales and Marketing Plans Around the ESSER Funding,” Rita Ferrandino, Founding Partner at Arc Capital Development and Innovation Consultant at Catalyst @ Penn GSE – University of Pennsylvania, explained the purpose of the three rounds of stimulus funding and how they could impact education companies.
Presented by Andrew Fletcher, Senior Executive Director, Early Literacy, New York City Department of Education; Rebekah Nelson, Instructional Specialist, Early Literacy, New York City Department of Education; and Sandy Goldberg, Education Director, The WNET Group
Presented by Dr. Peter Aiken, Superintendent, Manheim Central School District (PA); Dr. Amy Carter, Superintendent, Meridian Public School District (MS); Dr. Matthew Dillon, Superintendent, Petal School District (MS); and Dan Leffingwell, Superintendent, Noble Local School District (OH)
Moderated by Ann McMullan, Project Director, EmpowerED Superintendent Initiative, CoSN (Consortium for School Networking)
Presented by Cathlin Goulding, Ed.D., Co-Director, YURI: An Asian American Education Project, and Teacher, Adolescent Social Studies Program, City University of New York; Freda Lin, Co-Director, YURI: An Asian American Education Project, and Teacher; and Kristina Kirtley, Senior Producer, Content and Youth Engagement, WNET New York Public Media
“How are the children?” That’s how Dr. Baron R. Davis, Superintendent of Richland School District Two (SC), starts every meeting. He isn’t just asking, though, if they are physically well. Like the traditional Maasai greeting, he’s asking if the people in his district are making the children their priority every day and making sure they are doing everything to take care of the children on every level.
Presented by Dr. Aaron Spence, Superintendent, Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VA), and Dr. LaQuiche R. Parrott, Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VA)
Moderated by Dr. Valerie Truesdale, Assistant Executive Director, AASA, The School Superintendents Association
Presented by Dean Pedro Noguera, Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, UCLA
Moderated by Dr. Mort Sherman, Associate Executive Director, AASA
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.