Teacher Retention

Posted on June 4, 2024 Written by

Increasing teacher shortages have become widespread and are now a serious issue in many districts. So educational leaders need to develop and implement wise strategies to only recruit new faculty, but more importantly, to retain the teachers they have.

Teacher teams offer one approach to improving retention. In addition, as this article shows, the proper application of teacher teams can also have a markedly positive impact on teacher effectiveness.

And that creates a win-win situation for everyone involved.

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Myths About Engagement

Posted on August 9, 2022 Written by

As we’ve noted before, engagement is a vital component in most educational settings. In fact, it’s often the single most influential factor in promoting student achievement.

Motivational experts at the American Educational Research Association recently discussed three possible myths related to engaging students. Their findings were interesting to say the least.

In addition, the link above also includes a brief summary of a meta-analysis by Carlton Fong of Texas State University. Fong identified several ways that students can control their own motivation.

Look for more on this important topic in the future …

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SEL Skills That Impact Academic Success

Posted on January 4, 2022 Written by

According to a study of students in eleven countries (including the U.S.), curiosity and persistence are the strongest predictors of academic success in math and reading. The study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is the first major global assessment of students’ social and emotional skills, and it looked at five key areas:

  • Task performance (such as persistence, and self-control),
  • Emotional regulation (such as optimism and reaction to stress)
  • Collaboration (like empathy and trust)
  • Open-mindedness (such as tolerance, curiosity, and creativity)
  • Engagement with others 

One of the most surprising findings was that across countries and socioeconomic backgrounds, 15-year-olds showed lower social-emotional skills than 10-year-olds did. This may have significant implications for those who work with teenagers.

This article (complete with graphs) outlines the findings. More information on the study itself can be found here.

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