IT Archives

Don’t forget nature’s classroom

July 29, 2026July 29, 2026 by Vanessa Garza, Girls Athletic Leadership School Los Angeles

Outdoor education has been shown to improve academic outcomes across subjects, including science, reading, and math, while also strengthening motivation, well-being, and school engagement. Studies also link outdoor…

Literacy

Digital detox: Reducing screen time creates space to build literacy skills

July 28, 2026 by Dr. Cheryl Lundy Swift, Learning Without Tears

In a digital world, handwriting remains an essential way young students build the physical and cognitive foundations for literacy.

Walk into almost any elementary classroom today and you will likely hear the same concern from teachers across grade levels: Many students can swipe, tap, and navigate a…

Teacher Professional Development

Summer reading for teaching and school improvement: Harnessing the Science of Learning

July 24, 2026 by Miriam Williams, M.Ed., 3P Learning

When implemented thoughtfully, Science of Learning principles help educators focus their energy on what moves the needle for student learning

Every summer, I find myself in conversations with teachers and administrators trying to figure out why their current pedagogical practices are or aren’t working. So, once I came…

Literacy

My son wasn’t dyslexic—he was never properly taught to read

July 23, 2026 by Jenny Kier, Reading Horizons

Children deserve explicit instruction in phonics, decoding, and language structure before frustration with literacy becomes identity.

When my son Hunter was in fifth grade, his teacher told me he was struggling with reading comprehension. I nodded politely and moved on.

District Management

Chronic absenteeism isn’t the problem–it’s the signal

July 22, 2026 by Dr. Natasha Scott, Cumberland County Schools

Chronic absenteeism will not be solved by a stricter attendance policy--it will be solved by people who focus on belonging and support.

Every school leader I know has a version of the same moment: You pull up a student's attendance record expecting to find a discipline problem, and instead you…

Teacher Professional Development

PD for innovation: Reimagining solutions for engagement, burnout, and achievement gaps

July 21, 2026 by Adam Piccoli, Special Education Teacher

Innovation in PD gives teachers autonomy to pursue PD that benefits their students and aligns with district priorities.

Do you think you’re creative? Try this: List as many uses for a paperclip as you can in two minutes. Most people imagine a standard size metal or…

College and Career Readiness

WorkKeys is lowering the bar on student proficiency

July 16, 2026 by Christy Hovanetz, Ph.D, ExcelinEd

Allowing WorkKeys to substitute for ACT proficiency does not redefine success; it lowers the bar for what counts as proficient.

School accountability systems measure whether students are mastering the academic standards states expect them to teach and signal where additional support is needed. Education is one of the largest budget…

Teaching Trends

Children learn best on paper: We need better technology, not less of it

July 13, 2026 by Abbas Manjee, Kiddom

Technology should make teachers' work lives easier and their impact more powerful, not have students spend more time on screens.

It is an odd thing to hear from someone who builds education technology for a living, but the most important tool in an elementary classroom is still a…

Student Well-Being

Schools need SEL assessments to fight chronic absenteeism

July 9, 2026July 9, 2026 by Jennifer Robitaille, Riverside Insights

Districts need evidence-based SEL frameworks and tools to find and quell chronic absenteeism in the earliest stage possible.

Our schools face a paradoxical challenge: chronic absenteeism, which is being treated as an attendance problem, actually isn’t.

Teacher Well-Being

5 ways to rest, reflect, and recharge this summer

July 8, 2026 by Jamie MacPherson, Van Andel Institute for Education

Summer offers educators a chance to focus on self-care, reflect on their teaching successes, and gear up for another academic year.

Summer break has finally arrived, and if you're like most educators, you're probably feeling a lot of conflicting emotions. There's relief that the school year is behind you,…

College and Career Readiness

Rethinking employability skills in K–12 education

July 6, 2026 by Vernier Science Education

Employability skills require intentional, consistent development across all content areas and all grade levels.

What does it actually mean to prepare students for the future? What skills do they need to succeed in tomorrow’s workforce?

District Management

Data-driven decision-making is the key to unlocking K-12 district success

July 3, 2026 by Jennifer Duvall, Red Rover

Data-driven decision-making helps districts create a more stable and motivated educational environment that benefits both staff and students.

Today’s K-12 school districts have numerous responsibilities, from managing staff resources, to ensuring student safety, to fostering a learning environment where all students flourish.

College and Career Readiness

The hidden curriculum gap

July 7, 2026July 1, 2026 by Dr. KC Curberson-Alvarado, Alliance for Decision Education & H3 Solutions Group

Aligning CTE with Decision Education can prepare students for their first step after graduation--and for every decision that follows.

A post-graduation readiness report by YouScience found that the majority of graduating high school seniors lack confidence in their post-graduation plans, including choosing a college, paying for it,…

District Management

Learning doesn’t happen by accident–it starts with consistency and communication

June 25, 2026June 25, 2026 by Dr. Mike Ryder, Hardyston Township School District

A student’s school experience can shift dramatically--not just from year to year but from classroom to classroom each day. They may feel seen and encouraged by one teacher,…

K-12 Cybersecurity

For schools, cyber resilience starts at the data layer

June 24, 2026 by Katherine Hennessey, Everpure

In cyber resilience, protect the data layer and build recovery plans around the data and services that keep learning and operations moving.

Cyber resilience in education starts at the data layer. That is because the data layer is where schools' most important information lives and where recovery begins when something…

Literacy

New generational reading, math scores have bright spots, but there’s still work to do

June 22, 2026 by Laura Stewart, 95 Percent Group

Every child, in every classroom, deserves access to the high-quality literacy instruction they need to unlock learning progress.

Ameer Baraka knew something was wrong long before anyone gave it a name. Ameer grew up in poverty in Louisiana and had difficulty learning to read, but no…

District Management

Don’t wait for September: Reach students now, when it matters most

June 19, 2026 by Dr. Josha Talison, Ecorse Public Schools

Changing how educators reach out to students, and focusing on community support, can prove invaluable in fighting absenteeism.

Here is a lesson for you: If you wait until the first day of school to address attendance, you've already lost the battle.

Teacher Professional Development

Maybe we have too much teacher training

June 15, 2026June 15, 2026 by Adam Geller, Edthena

When budgeting for teacher development, the focus should remain on what kind of training districts are funding.

“Maybe we have too much teacher training.” That headline is a sentence I never thought I’d write, given that I run a company built around supporting teachers’ professional…

District Management

Engaging K-12 families over the summer

June 10, 2026 by Dr. Kara Stern, SchoolStatus

The school communications calendar between May and September is a single arc, and districts that use this window well have a genuine head start.

It’s easy to connect with the families who show up in September already invested: responding to messages, attending events, kids showing up on time. In most cases, building…

K-12 Cybersecurity

Will schools answer the Canvas breach’s wake-up call?

June 4, 2026 by Michael Greene, Enzoic

The Canvas breach lesson is clear--modern education security requires more than firewalls and endpoint protection.

The recent Instructure/Canvas breach should be a wake-up call for every school and university relying on third-party platforms to power teaching and learning.

District Management

Data alone doesn’t determine school success–leaders who know how to use it do

June 3, 2026 by Chris Rose, Abre

School leaders must weigh quantitative data against qualitative insight and focus on long-term outcomes rather than short-term fluctuations.

Educators often see recommendations, dashboards, and strategic plans labeled as “data-backed,” as if the numbers themselves drive outcomes. The truth is that data alone cannot make decisions or…

AI in Education

How districts can build a shared AI structure

June 2, 2026 by Roney Lima do Nascimento, University of São Paulo

Districts that creates the right language, the structure, and competence statements around AI will get a return on whatever platform it picks

In the second week of January, a senior mathematics teacher with 22 years in the classroom raised a hand at the end of a staff meeting and asked…

Edtech Trends

Beyond the ban: Rethinking cell phone policies in schools with smarter solutions

May 29, 2026May 29, 2026 by Taki Skouras, Cellairis

Schools can implement systems and policies that allow for access to student devices while limiting their use during instructional time.

Across the country, educators, parents, and policymakers are struggling with a question that schools can no longer afford to avoid: What role should cell phones play in today’s…

Beyond Audit Season – A Checklist for Finance

May 28, 2026 by Vcarlson

For K–12 school districts, audit readiness isn’t built during audit season. It’s built one transaction at a time—through consistent, controlled, ... Read more

Curriculum & Assessment

Finding the “low way”: Reclaiming creativity in schools

May 28, 2026 by Joel Kupperstein, Project Lead The Way

Assessment and accountability matter, but we also need space for creativity that allows students to explore, revise, and discover.

When my daughter was little, every time we climbed into the car, she’d look up and ask, “Are we going to take the low way?”

District Management

When it comes to absenteeism, the real work begins in summer

May 26, 2026 by Piper Bognar, Van Dyke Public Schools

The effort required to maintain student connection to school and combat chronic absenteeism is extensive, continuous, and human-centered.

Every June, once the last bus leaves and the halls go quiet, I get the strong desire to take a deep breath and to allow the pressure of…

IT Innovations

Apple’s MacBook Neo has entered the K-12 debate–are IT teams ready for it?

May 25, 2026 by Apu Pavithran, Hexnode

MacBook Neo conversations are only the beginning--what matters more is if surrounding IT teams are ready to support the change.

The MacBook Neo may narrow a pricing gap, but it also exposes a management gap. A lower-cost Mac may be enough to spark fresh interest. However, it alone…

Teaching Trends

Summer isn’t just a season, it’s a strategy

June 12, 2026May 22, 2026 by Liz McChesney, National Summer Learning Association & Joan Brooks, Blue Star Education

Research from 35 years in literacy help to close opportunity gaps, build partnerships, and make summer learning count for every child.

Summer is full of learning opportunities that many children miss. When back-to-school season begins, some kids are already starting behind. That's all due to a lack of access…

Emergency Planning & Response

How comprehensive school safety planning protected our teachers and students

May 19, 2026 by Gregory Vaughn, S.L. Mason Elementary School, Valdosta City Schools

Why in-building coverage is a lifeline for school safety

When people outside of education talk about comprehensive school safety planning, it can sometimes sound theoretical: a checklist of protocols or a compliance exercise.

District Management

We can’t punish our way out of the attendance crisis

May 13, 2026 by Luvelle Brown, Ed.D, Ithaca City School District

Outreach around student attendance must be rooted in humanity, grounded in proximity, and carried out by those who know the community.

In the Ithaca City School District, we have long understood that relationships are not peripheral to the work; they are the work. A culture of love is not…

Literacy

This elementary school banned screens in the middle of the year. Will it solve their reading crisis?

May 8, 2026 by Lily Altavena, Chalkbeat

When it comes to the ban on screens, school leaders think it’s much easier to teach students technology skills than social skills.

Last month, Mesick Consolidated Schools banned digital devices in its elementary school of about 250 students. The decision wasn’t an agonizing one. The ban came at astonishing speed,…

ELL

Oracy is the missing link for multilingual learners

May 7, 2026 by Nesreen El-Baz, Bloomsbury Education Author & School Governor

When oracy is embedded, students move from answering to reasoning, from participation to contribution, and from silence to voice.

For multilingual learners, language is not just a subject to be learned--it is the very medium through which they access the curriculum.

Newsline

ClassMate by World Book Recognized with Prestigious ISTE Seal

May 5, 2026 by ESchool News Staff

CHICAGO, May 5, 2026 — ClassMate by World Book, the leading platform of trusted content that helps build knowledge through ... Read more

AI in Education

When AI means something different in every classroom

May 5, 2026 by Alex Luciano, Bilingual Second Grade Teacher, Central Islip, NY

AI is already in the classroom--will we give it a place that makes sense for teaching and learning as the technology evolves?

In many schools, AI is being handled through individual teacher decisions rather than a shared structure. That makes sense in the short term. Teachers are responding in real…

District Management

What it takes to build teacher confidence in math: 4 lessons for district leaders

May 4, 2026May 4, 2026 by Olivia Paris, Northeastern Educational Intermediate Unit 19

$As teacher confidence grows, the way that math feels in the classroom begins to shift and evolves into a move positive experience.$

After 20 years teaching high school math, I thought I understood why students struggled. Then I sat in my first professional learning session focused on early math and…

Teaching Trends

The 4 keys to creating meaningful student-led inquiry

April 30, 2026 by Cory Kavanagh, Van Andel Institute for Education

Inquiry-based learning can feel overwhelming, but it is very possible to establish student-led inquiry in the classroom.

Does the thought of student-led inquiry make you nervous? For some teachers, handing over control of the classroom to their students sounds like an invitation for disaster.

AI in Education

From innovation to impact: Three ways school districts can build a sustainable AI framework

April 24, 2026 by Carl Hooker, Innovation & Digital Learning Leader, Matt Holley, Lubbock-Cooper ISD & Amy Liang, Los Gatos Union School District

School leaders must move beyond experimentation and build AI systems that prioritize governance, purpose, and data integrity.

AI is here, and it’s moving fast. For schools, that speed is both an opportunity and a risk: The right tools can transform learning, but the wrong ones…

Literacy

5 ways to make reading click for teens

April 23, 2026 by Carey Sweet, The Reading League Florida Chapter

Five classroom-tested approaches that make reading engaging, relevant and sustainable for teens and middle school students.

Reading is competing for attention in a world built for scrolling. A recent University of Florida study found that the share of Americans who read for pleasure on…

Teaching Trends

When a teacher ditched screens, class got harder. That may be why it worked.

April 20, 2026April 20, 2026 by Matt Barnum, Chalkbeat

More educators and policymakers are having second thoughts about the growth of ed-tech, with some scaling back the use of screens.

Seventh-grade math teacher Dylan Kane decided to conduct an experiment in his classes by going cold turkey on ed-tech.

College and Career Readiness

Education in a connected world: Preparing students for global careers

April 17, 2026April 16, 2026 by Shaun Fuchs, Centennial Schools

To prepare learners for this world of work, education must prioritize advanced literacy and communication from the earliest years

The world of work is changing fast. Careers no longer sit neatly within a single industry, city, or even country; they span disciplines, time zones, technologies, and cultures.

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