Are K-12 data systems ready for AI?
As educators who love technology, we can barely contain our enthusiasm for the potential applications of artificial intelligence (AI). But AI requires massive amounts of data, so before…
Thought Leadership
Want to be a stronger digital leader?
In a rapidly changing world, educators have been forced to self-examine and come to terms with approaches that are inefficient and irrelevant–from outmoded ways of setting up classrooms…
Taking on teacher attrition
We once believed that teacher effectiveness dramatically increased for the first three to five years on the job and then plateaued. But recent research suggests that substantial growth in…
Why schools need a knowledge base
When I have a problem with my iPad, I look to Google. Google is my worldwide knowledge base for fixing my toilet, unsticking my iPad, and figuring out…
5 big ideas for education innovation in 2018
Last year saw a flurry of activity in support of personalized learning, new school designs, and new approaches to K-12 education policy. Looking ahead, education innovators have their…
This major city knows the secret to improving student performance
A focus on high-quality principals in Chicago Public Schools could serve as a best practice model for districts across the nation after data indicates improved student performance and…
What? Test scores won’t predict academic growth over time
For years, parents and policymakers have looked to test scores to gauge the effectiveness of school districts and teachers. New research from Stanford Graduate School of Education Professor…
25 education trends for 2018
Year after year, educators and those invested in education love to speculate about what will take off in the near future. And as far as riveting news goes,…
IT #1: Greatest lesson: Teacher buy-in is overrated
One of the greatest lessons my 30 years of experience in education has taught me is that teacher buy-in is, sometimes, overrated.
#4: 5 ways teachers can improve student learning based on current brain research
Educators can positively influence students’ learning by understanding how the brain is shaped by their early experiences—and how it can be rewired and reorganized to work more quickly…
Are gifted students now an underserved population?
With all of the focus on helping struggling students achieve grade-level proficiency, students at the very top end of the academic spectrum often aren’t getting the challenges they…
This “open” innovation may indicate the future of learning
My hometown of Gastonia is a quiet place. Scant traffic. Nice neighbors. Folks still offer you a sweet tea when you visit. By most accounts it’s a sleepy…
How to protect school district servers from overseas cybercriminals
Educational institutions must be prepared for cyber attacks. Cyber criminals are increasingly sophisticated and are non-discriminatory in their target selection as long as they believe they can make…
4 exciting trends that will define the 2018 education industry
The education industry saw so many notable, significant changes this past year–from an increased focus on augmented reality and other visual technologies to make learning come alive, to…
Wow! District creates revolutionary computer science program for K-12 students
Through a partnership with nonprofit Nextech and a collaboration with Apple, the Metropolitan School District (MSD) of Decatur Township in ... Read more
Hey educators: Are you trustworthy? Here are 4 vital signs for identifying and assessing trust in schools
Trust is a big word. It may be just one syllable and it’s certainly not a word the Spelling Bee organizers would consider a great challenge (or have…
Textbooks optional: What unbundling and BYOD mean for learning technology
The days of overhead projectors and chalkboards are behind us. Today’s educators are looking to Chromebooks, smartphones and maker spaces to enhance their teaching. Other tools going the…
3 reasons to introduce kindergarteners to robots
The children we teach were born with technology as a part of their lives. They don’t know a world without touchscreen phones and computers in every room. In…
Teachers: How to use your voice for a positive school culture
Moving from the classroom into the role of a teacher leader and a coach was a transition, to say the least. I recognized I was credentialed in teaching…
3 ways Fred Rogers (Mister Rogers) paved the way for edtech
Regardless of whether Mister Rogers’ puppets, trains, and soothing voice touched your childhood personally, he was inarguably a very “good neighbor” to millions of preschool children during his…
How online high school prepared my sons for NASA
You could say my sons are on an education fast track! At 16 and 17 years old, Matthew and William graduated from high school with 60 college credits…
Professor: The 3 innovative skills we’re giving new teachers and why
P-12 schools see a wide variety of technology in use, from overhead projectors and transparencies, to wired computer labs, mobile ... Read more
These SEL strategies address bullying behavior
Positive school culture and strong relationships are the underpinnings of high academic achievement. We know that bullying can impact school culture and climate, and we also know that…
Preventing bullying through…fiction? It works!
When you read, you become another person, if only for a short while. You see how that person lives and how they think. You experience their hopes and…
5 ways to apply Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to edtech for better outcomes
According to American psychologist Abraham Maslow, all humans have the same fundamental needs (food, clothing and shelter), and these needs must be met before an individual is motivated…
Behind the scenes of unclaimed FAFSAs: Why it’s happening and how ed staff can help
According to NerdWallet.com, as much as $2.7 billion in free federal grant money went unclaimed in 2015 due to incomplete or unsubmitted Free Application for Federal Student Aid…
5 ways to enrich communication at the start of the school year-and why it’s essential
Good communication is essential in any relationship, whether it is employer to employee, spouse to spouse, or teacher to student (or student’s parents). In my time as an…
Student: How a virtual education prepared me for higher ed
For home-schooled students like me, the process of earning a high school diploma is a bit more complicated than it is for “traditional” pupils. Those complications extend into…
School leaders reveal the common sense keys to ELL success
English language learners (ELLs) are not a monolithic population. They come from different countries, have different levels of English exposure at home, and have widely different educational needs.…
5 questions to ask when rethinking accountability systems
I have a very interesting job. As an education correspondent, I conduct interviews with many of the leading voices in ... Read more
Do education policy makers believe in science?
John Hattie is an education researcher who changed the way we think about what works in the classroom. His meta-study, Visible Learning (2009), analyzed 50,000 studies of more…
Why we need to change the teacher vs. tech narrative
A recent chart from Bloomberg on the future of artificial intelligence and employment lends evidence to a point I have been making for years: teachers will not be…
3 ways to build community in a multi-cultural school
As more and more ELL students enter the U.S. public school system, teachers are facing the twofold challenge of communicating not only with these students, but with their…
Opening the definition dialog: Personalization, individualization and differentiation
A recent eSchool News contributed article, Differentiation, individualization and personalization: What they mean, and where they’re headed, which helped define personalized learning in relation to both differentiation and…
Confessional survey: This is how teachers really feel about the state of education
More than half of educators in a recent survey (65 percent) said they feel confident about their ability to effectively use ed-tech resources in the classroom--a 7 percent…
3 ways to enhance communication at a multi-cultural school
As more and more ELL students enter the U.S. public school system, teachers are facing the twofold challenge of communicating ... Read more
What education inspiration looks like on a global basis
The Imagine Cup competition, and competitions like it, are so inspiring. This year’s competition, though large and very well done, is only a small representation of the vast…
This is how you build the library of the future
The 4 C’s (collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity) will drive our pioneering approach to developing the libraries of the future.
Differentiation, individualization and personalization: What they mean, and where they’re headed
Throughout the education sector, we hear a lot about “differentiation,” “individualization” and “personalization.” But what do these terms really mean, and how are they different?
District chief: Why school success stops and ends with teachers
After much discussion, deliberation, and thoughtful review of reams of data, the team agreed that investing in the growth of YSCD’s teachers had to be the central pillar…