Decades of reforms have proven insufficient to address persistent racial disparities in educational opportunities. In school systems across the United States, meaningful efforts to ensure access to strong educational opportunities require a bold and significant shift. A new tool from the Learning Policy Institute and the Racial Equity Leadership Network, a program of the Southern Read more about Districts Advancing Racial Equity Tool[…]
The recent report Are Students Ready to Thrive in an Interconnected World? from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), explores students’ ability to examine issues of local, global and cultural significance; understand and appreciate the perspectives and worldviews of others; engage in open, appropriate and effective interactions across cultures; and take action for Read more about Are Students Ready to Thrive in an Interconnected World?[…]
Eric Nentrup, writing for Getting Smart, reviews Turnaround Children’s new tiered support toolkit for educators who are supporting children and families in crisis. Excerpts of the piece appear below: Turnaround Children recently released a tiered support system action pack that takes advanced learning science and makes it accessible for educators to respond to the crises Read more about Responding to Crisis With A Tiered Support System[…]
Schools and out-of-school time (OST) programs across the United States are increasingly prioritizing and implementing practices to support children’s social and emotional development. A new report from the RAND Corporation provides early implementation lessons from six communities about how to enact social and emotional learning (SEL) in elementary schools and in OST programs. These communities Read more about Adult SEL Skills: A Foundation for Building Student SEL Skills[…]
America’ Promise Alliance has released a new report examining young people’s perspectives on the importance of relationships, belonging and agency to their overall learning. What Drives Learning: Young People’s Perspectives on the Importance of Relationships, Belonging, and Agency is the newest report in the How Learning Happens research series. Based on findings from a nationally Read more about What Drives Learning: Young People’s Perspectives on the Importance of Relationships, Belonging, & Agency[…]
Far too many Black, Indigenous, and other youth of color lack access to educational resources, including technology, enrichment activities, suitable school buildings, and diverse and effective teachers. As if resource disparities were not enough, these students are often held back by low teacher expectations, exclusionary disciplinary practices, curricula that neglect the struggles and contributions of Read more about Culturally Responsive Teaching: A Reflection Guide[…]
Building trust is a major theme of Stand for Children’s free, new guidebook, Preventing a Lost School Year, which was created to help district leaders plan for academic and social-emotional learning in the coming school year. The 2019-2020 school year was severely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and, without the right preparation and intervention, the Read more about Preventing a Lost School Year[…]
Writing for The 74, Adam Pisoni explores ways that scheduling for the return after COVID can make schooling more equitable. Excerpts from the piece appear below: As educators across the country struggle to wrap up the current COVID-ravaged school year, administrators and schedulers are hard at work determining what the 2020-21 school day will look Read more about Changing How Schools Draw Up Their Schedules Can Make Classes More Equitable Next Fall[…]
Writing for the Shanker Institute, Matthew Kraft and Grace Falken explore the importance of school climate for both teachers and students. Excerpts of the piece appear below: The quality of a school’s teaching staff is greater than the sum of its parts. School environments can enable teachers to perform to their fullest potential or undercut Read more about Why School Climate Matters For Teachers And Students[…]
Over the last year, Education Evolving published a series of blog posts focused on the growing problem of teacher turnover, and uplifting the stories of schools, strategies, programs, and leaders that buck the trend. This series has now wrapped up. Check out some of the top posts: Why Teachers Leave: What the Data Say How Read more about Retaining Teachers: Fostering Conditions Where Talent Thrives[…]
Writing for Chalkbeat, Matt Barnum has compiled eight lessons the sector has learned from education research in 2019. Excerpts of his piece appear below: Education research is hard to keep up with, and often enough, it’s hard to even understand. It seems like there are more caveats than clear conclusions, findings are “mixed,” and one Read more about Eight lessons we learned from education research in 2019[…]
New Schools Venture Fund has released a new insight brief, “Using Expanded Measures of Student Success for School Improvement.” Nearly five years ago, in 2015, NSVF began investing in a national portfolio of innovative public schools that all embrace what they call an expanded definition of student success. So far, the organization has invested in Read more about Using Expanded Measures of Student Success for School Improvement[…]
The GTL Center’s Mentoring and Induction Toolkit is a ready-to-use resource for states working closely with districts to build strong mentoring and induction programs. The purpose of the GTL Center’s Mentoring and Induction Toolkit is to give regional comprehensive centers (RCCs) and state education agencies (SEAs) tools, resources, and support to facilitate meaningful conversations with Read more about Mentoring & Induction Resources from the Center on Great Teachers & Leaders[…]
Healthy educators are more productive, less likely to be absent, and better equipped to support student development when they themselves are mentally, physically, socially, and emotionally well. By creating opportunities and infrastructure for employee wellness programs, state boards of education and other policymakers can foster the physical and emotional well-being of teachers and school leaders. Read more about Supporting Educators through Employee Wellness Initiatives[…]
Each year in the United States, 46 million children are exposed to violence, crime, abuse, homelessness, or food insecurity, as well as a range of other experiences that cause psychological trauma. These experiences create toxic stress that can affect children’s attention, learning, and behavior. Research on human development shows that the effects of such trauma Read more about Educating the Whole Child: Improving School Climate to Support Student Success[…]
Writing for AEI, Laura Hamilton and Heather Schwartz explore the complex topic of measurement of social and emotional learning (SEL). They posit that the way in which advocates choose to measure SEL will play a critical role in shaping the effort’s goals and success, but provide several warnings about measurements: First, the lack of clarity Read more about Getting smart about social and emotional learning measurement[…]