Stacey McNinch-Curschman, the secondary curriculum director for Visalia USD in California, knew that as her district was ramping up its training efforts around Common Core standards for mathematics in 2013, as well as its own district-level curriculum changes, both administrators and teachers would need to be continually learning and improving themselves. “If we work effectively […]

Traditionally, many school districts have focused on learning, testing, and meeting educational standards to prepare their students for college. Schools have cut many practical programs like shop class, which build valuable skills and work experience, and replaced them with advanced academic courses like AP Calculus. Many forward-thinking educators, however, are now renewing interest in helping […]

Teachers at Calusa Elementary School in Boca Raton, Florida, are committed to making sure students meet rigorous state standards. Nevertheless, Calusa, which serves about 1,200 students in grades K5, was still struggling to monitor state standards. Just before the start of the 2016-17 school year, 12 Calusa teachers began a pilot program using Standards Tracker […]

District Administration welcomed education policy expert Robert Balfanz for this web seminar about what the last 10 years of research has found when it comes to improving the most challenged and lowest-performing schools, as well as the implications of the Trump administration and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos on these efforts. Balfanz is research professor […]

The IRS is warning district officials: Be wary of phishing scams targeting tax forms and other sensitive employee data. Over two dozen school districts have fallen victim to these attacks in recent months, the IRS says. CoSN and ASBO International were among the agencies that received alerts from the IRS, asking them to warn members […]

Shawn Joseph, director of schools in Metro Nashville Public Schools in Tennessee, created four new groups of K12 educational facilities. Each group will consist of about 40 schools and have a new area superintendent who will report to the chief of schools. The effort will streamline communications, giving administrators one person to report to instead […]

Seeking alternatives to expensive professional development that takes teachers out of their classrooms and requires substitutes, Madison County Public Schools in Virginia developed a solution. Teachers want relevant professional development to be available when they have time. They want choice and immediate feedback. The district needs effective PD that is incorporated into classrooms. As director […]

Telemedicine, in which a remote doctor or physician’s assistant provides health care via the internet, has caught on in the business world and is now making its way into public schools. Five of the Title 1 buildings in Maryland’s Howard County Public Schools offer telemedicine for students, says Sharon Hobson, a registered nurse who coordinates […]