Turning superintendent transitions into strength–not division
When a long-serving superintendent departs, districts inherit more than a vacancy. They inherit emotion, legacy, and the uncertainty that comes with change.
Supporting neurodiverse learners requires more than accommodation: It demands systemic change
Approximately 1 in 5 children in the United States are estimated to be neurodivergent, representing a spectrum of learning and thinking differences such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and…
New research highlights the importance and challenges of K-12 student engagement
While there is wide agreement that student engagement plays a vital role in learning, educators continue to face uncertainty about what engagement looks like, how best to measure…
The untaught lesson: Prioritizing behavior as essential learning
In classrooms across the country, students are mastering their ABCs, solving equations, and diving into science. But one essential life skill--behavior--is not in the lesson plan.
5 keys to AI success: A roadmap for K–12 administrators
Like many educators, I have strong feelings about the abundance of artificial intelligence now used in schools. Some teachers choose to take a Gandalf approach to AI and…
Choice-ready: Exploring a new standard for preparing students for the future of work
As AI, automation, and global connectivity continue to reshape every industry, today’s students are stepping into a world where lifelong careers in a single field are increasingly rare.
4 tips to create an engaging digital syllabus
Back-to-school season arrives every year with a mixed bag of emotions for most educators, including anticipation and excitement, but also anxiety.
Phones, devices, and the limits of control: Rethinking school device policies
A growing body of research and an even louder chorus of educators point to the same conclusion: students are distracted, they’re disengaged, and their learning is suffering. What’s…
5 ways to infuse AI into your classroom this school year
As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to reshape the educational landscape, teachers have a unique opportunity to model how to use it responsibly, creatively, and strategically.
Tips, tools, and truths: Making PD meaningful in today’s classrooms
As a classroom teacher and district leader with over 26 years of experience, I’ve attended countless professional development (PD) sessions. Some were transformative, others forgettable.
Beyond AI: Human connection still drives school attendance
At ISTE this summer, I lost count of how many times I heard "AI" as the answer to every educational challenge imaginable. Student engagement? AI-powered personalization!
3 steps to build belonging in the classroom
The first few weeks of school are more than a fresh start--they’re a powerful opportunity to lay the foundation for the relationships, habits, and learning that will define…
In training educators to use AI, we must not outsource the foundational work of teaching
I was conferencing with a group of students when I heard the excitement building across my third grade classroom. A boy at the back table had been working…
Is gamification the key to achieving true inclusion in special education?
Key points: For students with special needs, learning can often resemble a trek through dense woods along a narrow, rigid ... Read more
The complex dynamics of principal turnover in modern educational institutions
The departure and replacement of school principals represents one of the most significant organizational changes within educational institutions, creating ripple effects that permeate every aspect of school operations.
Preventing harm by connecting the dots in school safety
Swatting--false reports of school violence intended to trigger a police response--continues to increase across the country. During the 2022–2023 school year, nearly 64 percent of reported violent incidents…
From disconnection to partnership: How consistent communication transformed our school culture
When I became principal of Grant Elementary a decade ago, I stepped into a school community that needed to come together. Family involvement was low, staff morale was…
KU researchers publish guidelines to help responsibly implement AI in education
Researchers at the University of Kansas have produced a set of guidelines to help educators from preschool through higher education responsibly implement artificial intelligence in a way that…
Optical LAN: The silent hero of modern learning
From immersive AR/VR learning in science labs to hybrid classrooms, real-time collaboration platforms, and remote learning at scale, how students learn and educators teach is changing rapidly.
4 ways to transform your classroom through playful gamification
Every educator hopes to instill a lifelong love of learning within their students. We strive to make each lesson engaging, while igniting a sense of curiosity, wonder, and…
Growing AI use in school PR leads to roadmap for responsible use
A new collaborative report from the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA) and engagement platform ThoughtExchange reveals a swift rise in the use of AI in K-12 communication…
Creative approaches to teaching math can help fill AI talent gap
Not surprisingly, jobs in AI are the fastest growing of any in the country, with a 59 percent increase in job postings between January 2024 and November 2024.…
Why high schools should use teaching assistants
Exam scores always seem to go up. Whether it’s the SAT when applying for college or an AP score to earn college credit, competitive scores seem to be…
Why student engagement starts with teacher clarity
In Alpine School District, we serve a wide range of students, from Title I to highly affluent communities. While our population has traditionally been predominantly white and middle…
4 ways AI is empowering the next generation of great teachers
How can we best prepare and support our teachers as they navigate increasingly complex classrooms while also dealing with unprecedented burnout and shortages within the profession?
Lessons from DENSI: Weaving digital citizenship into edtech innovation
A few weeks ago, I had the thrilling opportunity to immerse myself in the 20th anniversary of the Discovery Educator Network (the DEN), a week-long journey that reignited…
Counslr Launches in Schools Across the Country to Increase Mental Health Care Access
New York, NY, August 12, 2025 – Counslr, a leading mental health and wellness platform, announced today that it has expanded its ... Read more
5 steps to a successful literacy training rollout for teachers
A lot of teachers assume that once students get to fourth or fifth grade, they already know how to read. And while this is true most of the…
We’re losing STEM teachers–here are 5 ways to keep them and grow the ones we need
The critical shortage of qualified STEM teachers continues to challenge schools and districts across the country. This is especially true in high-need schools where early-career or uncertified teachers…
Supporting youth mental health through connection, creativity, and community
The mental health needs of students are evolving, and our systems have struggled to keep up. For many families, accessing care is still time-consuming, costly, or confusing.
Integrating AI into education is not as daunting as it seems
Forty-some years ago, students sat in straight rows with books, papers, and pencils neatly lined up on their desks. But beginning in the 1990s, educators faced very different…
AI teacher tools display racial bias when generating student behavior plans, study finds
Asked to generate intervention plans for struggling students, AI teacher assistants recommended more-punitive measures for hypothetical students with Black-coded names and more supportive approaches for students the platforms…
Radical transparency in school benefits: A smarter way to manage public dollars
For public school districts across Florida and much of the country, employee benefits--particularly health insurance--are among the largest and fastest-growing budget line items.
Resilient MTSS: Adding a trauma-responsive lens for student support
Across the country, our schools are being taxed beyond their capacity to support educational success. We’ve known for a long time that students need a three-dimensional structure of…
Just thank ChatGPT: How teens turned a secret tool into a shared success
The more we listen to our students, the clearer it becomes: AI is not on the sidelines of learning anymore, it’s at the center. Students are using it…
As schools embrace AI, an educator offers top tips, cautions, and predictions
In the last year, we’ve seen an extraordinary push toward integrating artificial intelligence in classrooms. Among educators, that trend has evoked responses from optimism to opposition.
Students are anxious about the future with AI–their parents are, too
In a Spring 2024 Education Next article, I argued that, despite the conventional wisdom that students were all in on artificial intelligence (AI), many in high school and college felt…
How to strengthen student workforce readiness with classroom and career connections
Today’s workforce requires adaptable, skilled individuals with the confidence to creatively apply background knowledge to complex, real-world opportunities.
Emergent writing: 3 ways to plant seeds for lifelong literacy
Just as a gardener plants seeds and nurtures them into strong, flourishing plants, early childhood educators have the opportunity to nurture the earliest seeds of literacy in young…
6 steps to transforming parent engagement, one message at a time
We always want to make it easy for families to receive, consume, and respond to our messages, and our new communications platform helps us achieve that goal.