Closing Equity Gaps

Posted on November 24, 2020 Written by

The impact of COVID-19 threatens to worsen long-standing equity gaps in postsecondary attainment … and ultimately in economic mobility.

Helping students (especially those minority students often left behind) access and succeed in postsecondary education requires innovative approaches to monitoring and supporting their progress throughout high school.

This article shares some of the most critical predictive measures schools across the country are using to reverse the trajectory of inequitable outcomes. Understanding and applying these strategies is a vital investment in the future of not only our students, but our country as a whole.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged: , , , ,

Social-Emotional Learning

Posted on November 10, 2020 Written by

Students need to develop strong social-emotional skills to thrive in school, career, and life. Test scores matter, but do your students have the SEL training they need to succeed?

The current U.S. Department of Education budget sets aside dedicated funds for education initiatives that support social-emotional learning programs. For information on their programs and grants, visit their Center to Improve Social and Emotional Learning and School Safety.

In addition, ASCD is now offering free resources to Support Social-Emotional Learning. These are designed to help students:

  • regulate their emotions,
  • manage stress,
  • cooperate with others,
  • set and achieve goals,
  • teach self-awareness, and
  • build self-confidence.

According to research by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, social-emotional learning helps students to be “twice as likely to attain a college degree in early adulthood; 54% more likely to earn a high school diploma; and 46% more likely to have a full-time job at the age of 25.”*

The resources above should give you a great start on providing this important training for your staff and helping your students develop these vital skills.

* Research from “Early Social-Emotional Functioning and Public Health: The Relationship Between Kindergarten Social Competence and Future Wellness,” published on October 09, 2015, in American Journal of Public Health.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

PBL increase?

Posted on October 27, 2020 Written by

During the COVID 19 shutdown in the spring of 2020, many school districts shifted their focus to Project-Based Learning (PBL) activities assessed through feedback. Some experts now say this could remain a major focus as the pandemic finally begins to wane. This article discusses the trend and what it might mean.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged: , , , ,

The “Four-Day” School

Posted on October 13, 2020 Written by

Changing the school week to four days instead of five is a trend that’s quickly spreading across the country.

On the positive side: Many teachers and administrators love having continuous three-day weekends. Stay at home parents like having a free weekday for doctor visits and running errands. And it does seem to save some money (although surprisingly little).

On the negative side: The change is often tough on lower-income parents, who have trouble paying childcare for the days their kids don’t attend school. Also, low-income students rely on public schools for almost half their meals — breakfast and lunch during the week — so there are health and nutrition issues involved. And some studies show that a truncated week has a negative impact on learning for low-income students.

To date, there is little peer-reviewed research on this topic. However, this article contains abstracts and links to the most notable studies so far.

One caution: As with many topics these days, confirmation bias is a very real danger. Many will read this article and only extract the portions that support their pre-existing views (or simply doing what they want, regardless of the consequences to students). But serious educators who truly care about what is best for their students should challenge themselves to explore this topic with an open mind.

Just sayin’ … : )

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged: , , , , , , ,