Chronic absenteeism—students missing 10 or more school days in a year—has been rising across the United States. A recent study by Panorama Education showed that absenteeism nearly doubled from 2018-19 to 2023-24. That means more students missing out not just on academic learning but also on opportunities to connect with teachers and peers, impacting their future. During the edLeader Panel “Improving Attendance: Levers Within Your District’s Locus of Control,” district leaders identified key strategies that have helped get students back in the classroom.
Academic impact shows up in many ways, whether through state assessment results, graduation rates, or anecdotal stories about student progress. During the edLeader Panel “Building Academic Impact Into Your District Strategies: Making the Grade,” we learned it can be challenging for districts to determine the best ways to demonstrate impact for school-level reporting, district stakeholders, and their communities. But one Texas district found a way.
Today’s administrators face many challenges in addressing literacy within their districts. They have to deal with integrating technology, changing district and state policies, and hiring and retaining high-quality teachers, all the while learning from missteps and supporting staff.
Outcomes-based contracting (OBC) transforms traditional models, emphasizing results over processes. It’s a shift from districts considering the cost of a service to its worth in terms of its impact on student outcomes.
If, as many educators say, today’s students will work in jobs that don’t exist yet and use technology that hasn’t been invented, how do we prepare them? According to Dan Hunter, author of Learning and Teaching Creativity, and Dr. Rex Jung, President of Brain and Behavioral Associates, we teach students to understand and embrace their imagination. During the edLeader Panel “Creativity in and Out of the Classroom,” they discussed key aspects of imagination and creativity and how they help students become productive problem solvers.
What role can music play in school success? During the edLeader Panel “Boost Student Creativity and Engagement with Coding and Music,” experts and education leaders, including Alberto Carvalho, Superintendent of Los Angeles Unified School District, showed how the free Music Lab platform can help decrease absenteeism and increase engagement by giving students the opportunity to compose and remix music while learning essential coding and computer science skills.
Disoriented. Complicated. Collaborative. A work in progress. Do these words describe your district’s Multi-Tier System of Supports (MTSS) journey? Much of the audience who responded in the live chat during the edLeader Panel “Authoring Your MTSS Story: A Success Spotlight with Chicago Public Schools” described their district’s process like this, reflecting a common theme among many school districts nationwide.
Situated in the heart of Florida, Orange County is nestled between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf Coast and is a magical carriage ride from the “Happiest Place on Earth,” Walt Disney World! Given its location, it is no wonder that Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) is now home to 208,000 students who speak more than 170 different languages.
The best lesson plans and classrooms don’t make a difference if the students aren’t present. Chronic absenteeism poses a significant challenge for students, so what can be done about it?
For many educators, the first response to asking about using AI is, “No, not in our school.” But during the edLeader Panel “AI in Education: Steering Towards Equity and Empowerment,” experts explained why AI shouldn’t be automatically shunned and, instead, should be viewed as another powerful tool in an educator’s arsenal.