7.6.21 Begin your assessment empowerment journey with principle #1: Learner context I am the youngest sibling in my family, and like many youngests, I would hear, “Oh, you’re so-and-so’s little sister” a lot from teachers growing up. I would politely nod while also... Read more
7.1.21 How to democratize your school improvement planning process In our last post, we talked about how it’s insufficient to rely solely on student outcome data like grades, graduation rates, and test scores to inform school improvement. Focusing too... Read more
6.29.21 Why success depends on having the right mix of data—and how you use it In education, as in just about every other field these days, organizations are looking to the power of data to help them solve their most intractable problems. For school leaders diligently... Read more
6.24.21 Learn how to use ESSER funding to help students with disabilities As the pandemic continues to reverberate throughout our education system, schools find themselves with both unprecedented challenges and rare, potentially transformative opportunities for... Read more
6.22.21 4 indispensable frameworks for successful goal setting “If you have built castles in the air,” wrote Henry David Thoreau in Walden, “your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” In his own... Read more
6.17.21 Racism hurts kids. Here are 5 things you can do about it. The long bus ride home seemed much shorter than usual that day. The words I’d overheard my teacher say consumed me, and it was like I forgot I was on a bus at all. “They get that laziness... Read more
6.15.21 Why achieving equity in education demands innovation How does innovation break down classroom barriers to more equitable teaching practices? Meg Guerreiro, a research scientist with NWEA, partners with schools to develop assessments that not only... Read more
6.10.21 Dr. Angela Johnson answers our questions on English language learners As the US population grows, so does the number of students in our schools who don’t speak English as a first language. In fact, the number of English language learners grew by 28.1% between... Read more
6.8.21 Here’s how to help your child keep learning all summer long The summer slide is a slippery thing to grasp. What causes it? Who does it affect? Should we cower in fear at the mere mention of it? If you’re asking yourself any of these questions as the... Read more
6.3.21 3 ways to support early learners impacted by the COVID-19 “kindergarten bubble” One of the many ways schools are being transformed by COVID-19 is a change in public school enrollment, which is likely to have important consequences in classrooms across the nation,... Read more
5.27.21 How to continue the fight for equity a year after George Floyd’s death Crystal Braswell is the kind of person who will call you “sweetie” just minutes into meeting you for the first time, but only in that rare way that makes you feel like you’ve known her... Read more
5.25.21 Before the national outrage: Why young kids need to be taught about racism My name is Nina Murphy, and I, too, was affected by the death of George Floyd. I’m a 16-year-old junior at Whitney Young High School in Chicago, and I live with my mother and older brother. I... Read more