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.

10 instructional strategies that lead to academic growth

Key points:

A deeper look into instructional practices driving high academic growth has revealed 10 instructional strategies that use small changes to teaching practices leading toward growth outcomes for students.

The findings come from a new study from K-12 assessment and research organization NWEA. Led by Dr. Chase Nordengren, principal research lead for Effective Instructional Strategies at NWEA, the study zoomed into two schools that have historically shown high growth for diverse populations of students, including through the pandemic. The findings …Read More

3 things Abbott Elementary gets right about new teacher engagement

Key points:

  • New teachers look at engagement differently–and Abbot Elementary is spot-on in its depictions of new and seasoned educators
  • The show also highlights student engagement and teacher support as critical parts of a new teacher’s journey
  • See related article: 5 strategies for first-year special education teachers

Abbott Elementary has been widely beloved since its conception, and for good reason. Like many current and former educators, I’ve loved watching the sitcom for the smart humor and great characters, but also for how accurately it represents so much of what I experienced during my time as a teacher, academic coach, and principal. 

There has never been a show that so successfully captures the joy of teaching while simultaneously depicting the challenges, heartaches, and relationships that come with it. One really important thing Abbott does well is highlight the major differences between how newer and more experienced teachers approach engagement, and how new teachers grow as they learn new strategies and practice their skills to increase student engagement. …Read More

With Critical Race Theory spurring debate, is there hope for diversity in schools?

Key points:

The greatest social justice movements teach us that progress isn’t linear, but is rather dynamic. This means that progress doesn’t transpire overnight. It doesn’t transpire instantaneously with one motion or action, but is the product of concerted efforts compounding to create change. This also means that in the midst of fighting for what is right, resistance sometimes hidden in the form of defeat and regression can take place.

In the case of fighting for educational equity, this means that creating schools that honor and celebrate diversity, affirm students’ identity, develop a sense of social and critical consciousness within students, cultivate inclusivity, and provide equitable access and outcomes for all students can often feel nearly impossible. With bans on teaching Black history; book bans that prohibit certain texts that center the histories, perspectives, and lived experiences of marginalized communities; and other unjust and discriminatory practices, educators, parents, and education advocates may wonder if there is any hope for diversity, equity, and inclusion within schools.…Read More

Outsourcing student assessments can revitalize teaching

Key points:

As a restaurant manager, how would you feel if you were suddenly tasked with inspecting the food in your own kitchen? Or as a gymnastics coach, how would you react if you were asked to score your own team’s performances in a competition? It’s clear that when one person is both a manager or coach and an evaluator, conflicts of interest can arise. Yet, in the field of education, it’s common for teachers to both instruct their students and grade their academic achievements.

In conventional K-12 education, teachers are expected to wear many hats. They must design and deliver effective lessons, assess student learning, manage classroom behavior, and build relationships with students and families. But what if we could unbundle the role of the teacher and distribute these responsibilities across a team of experts?…Read More

Survey highlights troubling teacher morale issues

Key points:

  • Most teachers would not choose a teaching career again
  • Nearly half of teachers say poor mental health is impacting their work

Only 46 percent of current public K-12 educators would be “fairly” or “very likely” to advise their younger selves to choose teaching again, according to a new survey that shines a spotlight on a pressing crisis facing U.S. education.

More than one-third (35 percent) of educators are considering leaving the profession altogether. This is according to the 2023 Merrimack College Teacher Survey, which was conducted by the Winston School of Education and Social Policy at Merrimack College.…Read More

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 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