How to be an effective 21st-century education leader
Today’s K-12 superintendents must be forward thinkers, bold leaders, and skilled communicators in order to lead their schools effectively in the 21st century, said the winners of eSchool…
Month: March 2012
2012 Tech-Savvy Superintendent Award winners discuss the keys to their success
Winners of the 2012 Tech-Savvy Superintendent Awards sat down with eSchool News Editor-in-Chief Dennis Pierce to discuss the qualities they think are important for today’s superintendents, the initiatives…
eSchool Media honors 10 of the nation’s tech-savvy superintendents
Sponsored by GlobalScholar and JDL Horizons, the 12th annual Tech-Savvy Superintendent Awards from eSchool Media recognized 10 senior school district executives from around the nation who demonstrate outstanding…
Alan November: What’s your plan for making every home a center of learning?
The 2012 Tech-Savvy Superintendent Awards ceremony featured a keynote speech from Alan November, a former classroom teacher and ed-tech pioneer who co-founded the education consulting firm November Learning.…
Mark Evans: The ‘three Cs’ that ed tech can help address
For Mark Evans, being a tech-savvy superintendent means “always looking down the road,” with an eye toward how technology can help school districts achieve what he calls the…
Daniel Frazier: ‘Bold leadership’ is needed for today’s schools
Daniel Frazier, superintendent of Iowa’s Sioux Central Community School District, believes the most important thing school leaders need to do today is “show bold leadership.”
Nicholas Gledich on the importance of ‘pausing and planning’
Nicholas Gledich, superintendent of the Colorado Springs School District 11 in Colorado, says one of the things his district has learned is the value of “pausing, planning, and…
Michele Hancock: The key to ed-tech success is ‘constantly communicating’
Michele Hancock, superintendent of the Kenosha Unified School District in Wisconsin, attributes much of her district’s ed-tech success to constant communication with stakeholders.
Michael Hanson: How he’s taken his district from worst to first in ed tech
When Michael Hanson became superintendent of California’s Fresno Unified School District in 2005, the district was on the verge of a state takeover, and an audit revealed it…
‘Hunger Games’ becomes part of school curricula
For some school kids around the country, the odds have been in their favor as they've scored the ultimate field trip—an outing to "The Hunger Games." Field trips…
C.J. Huff: Creating new possibilities from unspeakable tragedy
On May 22, 2011, the town of Joplin, Mo., lost six schools in an EF5 tornado that killed 160 people and displaced half the student body. Joplin currently…
Jerri Kemble: Today’s superintendents must be ‘willing to take risks’
Jerri Kemble, superintendent of the Centre School District in Lost Springs, Kansas, knows first-hand the challenges of leading a small school district: She’s not only the superintendent, but…
Brad Saron: Ed tech is not about devices, but ‘how you use them’
For Bradford Saron, being a tech-savvy superintendent “has less to do with the devices you have and more to do with how you use them. In my judgment,…
Movie review: ‘Bully’ packs an emotional wallop
If you feel like you've already read quite a bit about the documentary "Bully," you have. But that still won't prepare you for the experience of seeing it.
William Skilling on moving from professional development to ‘professional learning’
The most important part of effective leadership “is not knowing how do to something, but knowing what to do”—and then turning it over to the people with the…
How GlobalScholar’s mission aligns with the Tech-Savvy Superintendent Awards
In a recent video interview with eSchool News Editor Dennis Pierce, Mike Fay, executive vice president of sales and marketing for GlobalScholar, explained how his company’s mission aligns…
Top Ten Education IT Systems Management Pain Points
Managing IT for a university, community college or K-12 school system doesn’t have to be difficult or require tons of ... Read more
How enterprise-grade Wi-Fi supports interactive learning
This paper examines how schools can apply 802.11n enterprise-class Wi-Fi technology while overcoming such traditional challenges as shrinking budgets, high network management costs, and nagging performance and reliability…
$25,000 up for grabs for STEM educators
Entrants must record a 2-minute video demonstrating something innovative they have done in the classroom, along with a short essay and lesson plan, and submit it online. First…
$10K college scholarship for middle, high school students
Students can win a $10,000 college scholarship, a NOOK Tablet, publication in an eBook, and a trip to Washington, D.C. Teachers can win a NOOK Tablet and $5,000…
Matching grants for schools
The PTA Matching Grant Program matches 50 percent of qualifying funds when used toward eInstruction technology. For every dollar a school’s PTA raises, eInstruction will contribute 50 cents.…
Robo-readers: the new teachers’ helper in the U.S.
American high school students are terrible writers, and one education reform group thinks it has an answer: robots, Reuters reports.
Early education cuts would pull more than two million kids from public preschool
Even as a growing body of research attests to the importance of early childhood education as an antidote to poverty, the House is preparing to pass a Republican…
New high in U.S. autism rates inspires renewed debate
About one in 88 children in the United States has autism or a related disorder, the highest estimate to date and one that is sure to revive a…
California bill would extend free meal program to charter students
At the Blue Oak School in Chico, where 60 percent of the charter school's student body comes from low-income households, it’s a source of school pride that the…
Chicago schools face $700 million budget gap for 2013
According to NBC Chicago, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is facing an estimated $700 million budget gap for fiscal year 2013, Yahoo! News reports.
National leaders brainstorm for digital learning
In a move that could be considered encouraging for advocates of digital learning, leaders from the Education Department (ED), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the textbook and…
School district, ACLU reach settlement in filtering lawsuit
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said on March 28 that it has settled a lawsuit with a central Missouri school district whose internet filtering software was blocking…
Nine steps to transforming education with a holistic view of data
This white paper explains how Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, which had information from 80 schools spread across 22 databases, integrated its data resources to provide faster, more meaningful data…
10 Steps for Migrating Curriculum to Common Core
Based on insights from leading K-12 experts and curriculum developers, this new white paper identifies the key steps for successful ... Read more
Kindergarten loans are a sad reality of our time
Following Tuesday's news that wealthy parents are being targeted for more money from their kids' expensive private schools comes a very different, but equally terrifying, tale: Some parents…
Could you pass the 8th grade by today’s testing standards?
As Texas students started taking a new state-mandated test this week, districts across the state have gradually signed on to a resolution that says high-stakes standardized tests are…
Opinion: Who wins when educators cheat?
This week, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution released results of an investigation of standardized test scores in school districts across the nation, says Tavia Fuller Armstrong for Yahoo! News.
States miss opportunity on teaching financial literacy
While The Great Recession has left millions of Americans unemployed and wiped out countless retirement accounts, it hasn't inspired educators to get serious about teaching financial literacy, the…
Head Start agencies sue over Obama’s recompetition rules
Not long ago, Bob Ruseau, a stay-at-home dad who lives in Medford, Mass., ran into an old friend from the neighborhood who said she was surprised by how…
Readers: Parents not experienced enough to run failing schools
It must be exasperating to be a parent whose child is in a "failing" school, with nowhere else to go. But should parents be allowed to take over…
School program makes use of new skills, old computers
When a large company or famous philanthropist donates computers to children to advance their learning and give them online access to the world, it makes an impact. But…
College Board launches BigFuture, a free new college planning tool
The College Board is looking to change the way students find their ideal college or university. The nonprofit organization just launched BigFuture, a new college planning tool. It’s…
Brooklyn High School fines students $100 for using Facebook, threatens expulsion if they don’t stop
Controversy ensued after Beis Rivkah High School in Brooklyn, N.Y., pulled from class every 11th grade student who used Facebook and handed them a written ultimatum: delete their…
NYC bans Halloween, birthdays, aliens and more on school tests
Students in New York City's public schools cramming for tests can delete words like birthdays, junk food, Halloween, dinosaur and even dancing from study lists, NBC reports.
