keys Archives

6 keys to effective tutoring

Key points:

For tutoring to work, students have to show up

Finding a curriculum designed for tutoring is important to program success

As educators continue to work to accelerate learning for students following the pandemic, many are turning to tutoring to provide support. Tutoring is one of the most effective math interventions available for students, but the quality of tutoring varies widely.

Here are six keys to ensuring your students are receiving the best tutoring available.…Read More

Five Keys to Success with Virtual Education

Virtual education meets the needs of so many students who aren’t being served well in a traditional school setting, which is why it’s critical for school systems to provide virtual options. However, it can be challenging to deliver virtual instruction effectively.

The Southern University Laboratory Virtual School (SULS) in Louisiana is a good example of how to lead virtual education successfully. SULS uses curriculum and instructors from Stride Learning Solutions to offer students in grades K-12 throughout Louisiana an exceptional and highly personalized online learning experience.

Seven keys to effective teacher development

(Editor’s note: This article is the third in a three-part series about how school systems can build on the progress and leverage the investments they’ve made in technology during the pandemic to achieve true digital transformation. Part 1 looks at how K-12 leaders can develop an effective blueprint for redesigning education in a way that’s more equitable, meaningful, and learner-centered, and Part 2 explores how leaders can obtain stakeholder buy-in and support for their vision.)

Building on the changes that school systems have made during the pandemic to achieve true digital transformation requires an adaptive approach to K-12 leadership, as well as a focus on successful change management. These are adjustments that have to take place at the administrative level. But real transformation won’t occur unless it reaches the classroom as well, with teachers embracing change and trying out new approaches to instruction.

For this to happen, teachers not only have to buy in to what their school systems are looking to accomplish; they also need effective professional learning.…Read More

Redesigning education for post-pandemic success

(Editor’s note: This article is the first in a three-part series about how school systems can build on the progress and leverage the investments they’ve made in technology during the pandemic to achieve true digital transformation. Part 1 looks at how K-12 leaders can build an effective blueprint for redesigning education in a way that’s more equitable, meaningful, and learner-centered. Part 2 will explore how leaders can obtain stakeholder buy-in and support for their vision, and Part 3 will examine what professional development should look like to turn this vision into action.)

COVID-19 arguably produced the biggest shift in education since the invention of the printing press. Nearly overnight, teaching and learning moved from classrooms to online environments. School systems invested thousands of dollars in Chromebooks, Wi-Fi hotspots, and other technologies. Educators spent countless hours working to ensure that students could learn from home uninterrupted.

Yet, aside from where the learning occurred, what else actually changed?…Read More

Evidence-Based Strategies to Boost Student Engagement and Success

Congress has passed more than $190 billion in pandemic relief aid for K-12 schools since March 2020. To take advantage of this funding, schools must use evidence-based practices as they aim to combat learning loss and meet the needs of students who were most affected. Understanding by Design (UbD) and Project-Based Learning (PBL) are two evidence-based learning strategies that have proven to be effective. This white paper takes a closer look at these two strategies by examining how they work, why they’re effective, and how they can engage and motivate students and help close achievement gaps.

6 tips to give students a skills refresh

Have you heard the adage, “If you don’t use it, you lose it?” If you stop playing the piano, you become a little rusty on the keys. If you stop running, you lose the muscles and lung capacity you had developed. And if you don’t use all that calculus you labored over in high school, the next time your child asks you for help on their calculus homework, you might be a little out of your league.

We’re starting to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Many students have been learning remotely–or may have been learning in-person, but the structure of the day was far from normal. Without a doubt, many students have lost some of their social and motor skills. If you don’t use it, you lose it, right?

What do we do to help our students regain these “educational muscles?” Here are six sure-fire ideas to re-ignite learning:…Read More

3 keys to protecting student data and privacy

When the sixth-largest school district in the United States announced in early April that hackers were holding its data ransom for $40 million, administrators everywhere paid attention.

The Fort Lauderdale-area district has 232 schools and a budget of $2.6 billion for the 2020-21 school year—seemingly, the district has plenty of resources to protect against cyberattacks. It also has thousands of students and staff who use hundreds of applications and technologies each day.

How do educators ensure that they keep students’ data, records, and personal information private and secure? And, on the flip side, how do they ensure that the integration with other systems remains seamless, so student data is always up to date, accurate, and accessible to teachers, students, parents, and district officials?…Read More

Empowering Students with Equitable Access to Career Experiences

Aiming to help all students succeed beyond high school, a growing number of K-12 school systems are expanding opportunities for career exploration and extending these activities into the younger grades. Connecting what students are learning to careers not only deepens their engagement in school but also helps them make more informed choices about their future. What’s more, giving students early exposure to career options is a critical strategy for closing economic gaps and putting students on a path toward college and a high-paying career. This white paper explores why school systems should empower all students with equitable access to career experiences, and it describes the keys to doing so successfully.

7 keys to effective online learning

Online learning’s reputation has taken a hit in recent years amid reports of poor academic performance and concerns over lax regulation. While there is certainly some cause for concern, many of the problems center on for-profit providers who manage full-time virtual schools. The truth is that not all online learning experiences are of suspect quality.

When done well, online learning can be highly successful—opening the door to numerous learning opportunities that students otherwise wouldn’t be exposed to, while providing very rich and rigorous instruction. In fact, students who take online Advanced Placement courses from VHS Learning consistently outperform national passing rate averages on AP exams.