Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

Swing Education Surpasses One Million Hours of Classroom Substitute Teaching

SAN MATEO, Calif.– Substitute teachers sourced via  Swing Education, a tech-enabled staffing marketplace that matches schools with qualified substitute teachers,  have filled more than one million hours of classroom instruction in the 2022-23 school year. 

Though Swing has been helping schools fill classroom vacancies since 2015, this is the first time the company has crossed the one million instructional hour mark in a single school year. 

“We never had an explicit goal to reach a million teaching hours, but knew we were going to get there and it kind of snuck up on us, to be honest,” said Mike Teng, CEO of Swing Education. “Reaching this number is significant and it feels extraordinary, especially as it lands during teacher appreciation week, which is this week. It also validates the real service we’re providing to schools and students since having a stable pool of substitutes is critical for maintaining instructional consistency and quality.”…Read More

3 ways to improve access to speech-language therapy

Schools today are facing a harsh reality: there is a chronic shortage of qualified speech-language pathologists (SLPs). As an SLP and clinical director who has worked with school districts across the country, I’ve watched this problem grow over the years. This, compounded with large amounts of paperwork and high caseloads, makes it difficult for SLPs to manage their workload, contributing to many students not getting the services they need.

Despite long-term efforts made by school administrators to help students and SLPs surmount service barriers, it’s clear that in-school speech-language therapy initiatives could still use a boost.

Here are three things administrators can do to improve student access to speech-language therapy.…Read More

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HMH Completes Acquisition of NWEA

Learning technology company HMH announced that it has completed its acquisition of assets from research and educational services organization NWEA. The combined organization will harness the collective power of instruction and research-based insights to support educators in their efforts to drive better outcomes for students.

NWEA CEO Chris Minnich will join HMH’s executive leadership team as president of a new NWEA division. The division will maintain its current offerings including its flagship assessment MAP Growth and continue to offer platform-agnostic assessment solutions to its thousands of partners globally. In addition, educators will benefit from a connected solution linking NWEA’s assessments with HMH’s curriculum. This will enable them to better understand how students are growing academically and how to maximize that growth with content specific recommendations that advance student learning.

“We are thrilled to welcome NWEA’s talented and innovative team to the HMH community. Together, we are deeply focused on the transformative power of education,” said Jack Lynch, CEO of HMH. “We look forward to diving into our collective work in support of students and teachers.”…Read More

Labor market problems start with the K-12 system

The U.S. has a two-pronged labor market problem: a labor shortage and a skills gap. If every unemployed individual in the U.S. found a job right now, there would still be 4 million open jobs. Furthermore, a National Federation of Independent Business survey found that 54 percent of business owners struggle to hire qualified workers. As it becomes increasingly evident that schools are not providing students with the requisite skills to succeed in the labor market, the root of the persistent labor shortage and skills gap in the U.S. can be traced back to the K-12 education system.

However, career and technical education (CTE) programs have shown great promise in addressing this issue. The Department of Education (ED) notes that students who focus on CTE courses in high school have higher median annual earnings, graduation rates, and employment rates than non-CTE students. Despite the proven efficacy of CTE programs, inadequate federal investment remains a primary barrier to implementing successful programs nationwide.

It’s essential to adopt new funding methods and policies to mitigate this barrier, expand CTE programs in K-12 schools, and encourage widespread adoption of these programs to bridge the skills gap and foster student success. Like most education programs, CTE programs are primarily funded by state and local resources. Accordingly, increasing the implementation rates will be predicated on encouraging outside funding sources, such as private-sector partnerships and philanthropic organizations, to bridge the gap in federal funding and support the growth of CTE programs.…Read More

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Public Television’s Instructional Learning Series Let’s Learn Returns with New Episodes

New York – Let’s Learn, The WNET Group’s instructional learning series for children ages 3 to 7, has launched new episodes on public television stations nationwide (check local listings) and letslearn.org. The series debuts 20 episodes, additional content partners and added accessibility features. Let’s Learn has also launched a new website, making it easy to stream all episodes on any device at any time. In the New York metro area, Let’s Learn airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on THIRTEEN and 4 p.m. on WLIW21.

Let’s Learn serves as a supplemental resource to support children’s learning at home and in the classroom. Featuring a dynamic and diverse group of educators, episodes offer age-appropriate content focusing on foundational reading, writing and literacy skills, with literacy coaches modeling best practices for using science of reading-based pedagogy. The series also focuses on math, science, social studies, arts and social-emotional learning. Content partners include Education Through Music, Memphis Zoo, National Dance Institute, New Victory Theater, New-York Historical Society, New York City Children’s Theater, Studio in a School, University of Connecticut’s Feel Your Best Self program, and WUSF’s Meet the Helpers.

“Let’s Learn stands out because it features teachers who speak to kids directly, inviting them to learn,” said Sandra Sheppard, Director and Executive Producer of Kids’ Media & Education for The WNET Group. “Families, caregivers and educators rely on Let’s Learn as a trusted resource that supports children’s academic and social development. We’re thrilled to bring new episodes and an enhanced digital experience to young learners in the tri-state area and beyond.”…Read More

Let’s perfect existing tech solutions before rushing into AI

ChatGPT is barely six months old, but AI is already a buzzword in K-12 education.

It grabbed the attention of decision makers immediately, earning a ban from NYC schools in January of 2023, with other large districts following. Others are embracing the technology, with voices like Sal Khan encouraging educators to teach with AI.

As school leaders rush to take sides, it’s important to remember AI is unproven and unvetted, especially for school and district-level solutions. Instead, it’s critical for leaders to realize that most schools can greatly improve how they manage critical daily functions using existing, effective, and easy-to-implement technology.…Read More

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3 supports for educators implementing restorative justice practices

Educators are embracing restorative justice practices to facilitate safe and relational school environments and address inequities in school disciplinary practices. Research-based guidance offers insights on how to structurally support educators through restorative justice implementation, and there are resources for teachers and support staff as they integrate restorative practices into their roles.

Educators play an important role in restorative justice (RJ) implementation–they are often tasked with ensuring that RJ practices are implemented in classrooms, and they engage in many of the day-to-day interpersonal RJ practices. Because transitioning to RJ is a long and challenging process, it is necessary to provide educators with resources that can help them along the way. Without these broader systemic supports, it is possible that RJ programs may not be equipped to be successful in the long term.

With the need for systemic support for educators in mind, here are some ways to support educators in playing an active role in the development and implementation of RJ programs.…Read More

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3 ways ChatGPT can reduce teachers’ workloads

Everybody’s talking about ChatGPT and how it’s going to impact K-12–and generally not in positive terms!

Granted, ChatGPT might make writing that 11th-grade essay on symbolism in “The Great Gatsby” a whole lot easier (which, to be fair, does make grading a whole lot harder). Aside from that, there are real positives to our new AI pal, and overworked teachers can embrace it as the gift that it is: a free personal teaching aide. The one who sketches out the lesson plans and assessments, finds source materials, and just generally carries out the grunt work.

In other words, ChatGPT can save teachers a whole lot of time.…Read More

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How did the pandemic impact students’ social capital?

Students’ access to opportunities in life largely depends on their access to diverse, supportive relationships. Now, updated Christensen Institute research illustrates the impact students’ connections and relationships have on their ability to achieve success in adulthood–and underscores the need for schools to track this data as they measure students’ progress.

The updated report augments ongoing research and provides education leaders with the tools, knowledge, and sample survey items to make important strides toward measuring students’ networks in more equitable, meaningful, and actionable ways.

Emerging research from other organizations has strengthened the need to understand just how important relationships and resources are to students, particularly as opportunity gaps grow even wider.…Read More

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