6 key principles for a successful SEL program

A social-emotional learning (SEL) curriculum adds valuable lessons to a student’s normal school day that will help propel them beyond academic success and onto success in life. No matter the program, there are common practices that lead to creating a successful and sustainable SEL environment. The presenters of “7 Must-Haves for Successful and Sustainable Social-Emotional Learning” reviewed these common practices and shared how they work in their district and school.

1. Leadership must be committed to the program.
Leadership does not have to be the school leaders; it can be the students themselves. In District Lead School Counselor Dr. O’Tasha Morgan’s district, students started to take on leadership roles and achieve more after the district implemented a mentoring program. The mentoring program gives students a chance to participate in community activities, engage in conversation with students in different grades, and demonstrate their SEL learning overall.

2. Professional development (PD) is mandatory.
Faculty and staff need to have PD on what SEL is all about and why it’s important. If they can identify with the PD in a way that impacts their personal lives, that’s a win-win situation. “Any time we can do the PD—it’s one of the only things that changes the teachers, as opposed to just kind of helping them strengthen their curriculum knowledge,” said Dr. Morgan. Derrick Hershey, principal at Shiloh Point Elementary School in Georgia, added that you can’t just provide teachers with a resource; you have to offer training to really dig into the subject.…Read More

There are not enough moonshots taken in education

I am extremely lucky to work in an organization that sets enormously high standards and one that accepts disequilibrium as part of the change process. I’m also well aware that this is uncommon in most school districts. Twenty-first-century challenges need 21st-century approaches; however, school leaders are often quick to adopt minor improvements to existing systems in lieu of larger changes that would upset the status quo. What is needed in the current state of education are more moonshots.

What is moonshot thinking?

Moonshot thinking is going 10x bigger or better. While most organizations try to improve by 10 percent, organizations that think outside the box and strive for 10x better tend to approach problems in drastically different ways and—more times than not—achieve 10x better results.…Read More

Designing custom ed-tech software requires joint effort

Off-the-shelf education technology platforms can often fall short when aligning with educators’ specific approaches to instruction. As a result, many school systems take matters into their own hands by developing custom software and tools only to find they lack the scale, revenue sources and expertise to do so successfully.

In a new study, the Clayton Christensen Institute profiles two organizations that co-designed technology to help school leaders bridge the disconnect between instructional models and new technologies.

“Connecting Ed & Tech: Partnering to drive student outcomes” examines a unique collaboration between Leadership Public Schools (LPS), a charter school management organization that operates three high schools in the San Francisco Bay Area, and Gooru, a nonprofit ed-tech company. Each organization had separate yet related issues – LPS needed more robust technology to support a new blended learning program at scale, while Gooru needed a school partner to help align its technology with specific classroom use cases. Rather than developing solutions independently, LPS and Gooru merged their teams to collaboratively design a tool that has already shown positive learning results for LPS students.…Read More

School leadership under the microscope

Catch up on the most compelling K-12 news stories you may have missed this week

Every Friday, I’ll recap some of the most interesting and thought-provoking news developments that occurred over the week.

I can’t fit all of this week’s news stories here, though, so feel free to visit eSchoolNews.com and read up on other news you may have missed.

Don’t miss our interactive thought leader interviews from ASU+GSV! Click here.…Read More

The 4 essential elements of any successful one-to-one program

Not all successful one-to-one programs are alike. But they do share some common ground

As more and more schools and districts set goals to provide one-to-one access to technology to students to meet teaching and learning goals, district and school leaders are faced with the task of planning and implementing technology resources at levels that they might not have experienced in the past. My district, Santa Ana Unified (SAUSD), is increasing access to students through a program called “Access for All,” a well-received iPad and Chromebook initiative. Through this experience, we have developed a model for planning and implementation. Here’s how we got started.

Establish your vision

It is important that any plan to increase levels of access to technology to students does not move forward as a “technology for technology’s sake” effort, but that is integrated as part of the district or school vision for teaching and learning. At SAUSD, the goal of expanding access to technology to students is aligned to the district Framework for Teaching and Learning and has been established as an essential part of the district vision. This vision is centered on establishing a growth model with expanding choice options for students, enhancing personalized learning pathways, and providing a wide variety of blended learning opportunities to support increased student engagement and improved student learning outcomes.

Provide opportunities for stakeholder engagement

One of the first considerations when planning a one-to-one initiative is establishing support and funding. The Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) is a critical part of California’s Local Control Funding Formula. As part of establishing the LCAP plan, school districts must engage parents, educators, staff, and the community.…Read More

N.J. experiments with new engagement platform

New engagement platform uses web and mobile-based technology to help students and their parents navigate K-12 challenges

Evolution Labs and The New Jersey Association of School Administrators (NJASA), the state’s professional association of school leaders, have partnered to further develop and make available to NJASA members the company’s web- and mobile-based student and parent success platform, Suite360.

Suite360 leverages new media engagement features with critical content to help students and parents navigate a range of issues, from bullying and cyber-bullying to mental health and wellness, to academic pressures. Under the partnership, NJASA will provide guidance to help shape the platform to meet the specific needs of its member districts.

Dr. Richard G. Bozza, Executive Director of the NJASA will formally announce the partnership and program at the upcoming Techspo 2016 conference in Atlantic City, January 28-29.…Read More

4 questions every tech leader should answer

21st-century requirements in schools are changing, and being a good leader means solving new puzzles. Are you keeping up?

leader-technology-CoSN

As schools continuously work to construct digital learning plans that will help transform teaching and learning, it is essential that school technology leaders are updated with the latest policies and practices that could impact their district’s future decisions.

Technology has changed the way students learn, and more importantly, it has changed school and district leaders’ roles. But technology and its capabilities are changing at such a rapid pace that even chief technology officers (CTO) require constant “updates” to solve some of the post pressing questions in schools this year.…Read More

Six ways to engage in Connected Educator Month

School leaders can make a concerted effort to engage their staff in Connected Educator Month

connected-monthDuring Connected Educator Month, it’s important to realize that the skills, information, and resources shared among school leaders and teachers should be used and applied all year long for the most impactful teaching and learning.

Here, Patrick Larkin, the Assistant Superintendent for Learning for Burlington Public Schools in Massachusetts, outlines some key steps school leaders can take to support Connected Educator Month in October, and all year long:

A few years ago, I was leading a conversation on the topic of getting more school leaders “connected” at a conference in Philadelphia with my friend George Couros, a school administrator from Edmonton, Alberta.…Read More