Many efforts at school improvement have been stymied despite the best intentions of those involved. Once schools are in the thick of things, and the change efforts schools are engaged in begin to inevitably face challenges and the initial excitement begins to wane, schools will be faced with a decision. Do we continue to push …
This week’s legal updates include a Supreme Court’s relationship with school law, the attack on teacher pensions, cheating cases thrown out, and policy guides for undocumented students. For One Supreme Court Justice, a Personal Connection to School Law In a rare interview, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer reminisces about his father’s four decades …
Pensions, Cheating, and Undocumented Students (Legal Brief) Read More »
Listen to this post as a podcast: Sponsored by Screencast-O-Matic and Microsoft Inclusive Classroom My daughter was recently given an assignment to create a model of a volcano. It was a group project, meant to be done entirely at home, and the main criteria was that it had to look like a volcano, with extra …
You’re feeling good – you have created demand for modeling your school as a PLC and have structures in place to answer the key questions. You are making progress along the PLC journey… Well, you think you are. Or perhaps your PLC is stagnant; you are not seeing progress or you are not sure about …
How Hundred Day Plans Sustain a Culture of Continuous Improvement Read More »
Instructional coaching is a balancing act of working with teams to help ensure the fidelity of the three big ideas of a PLC and also provide the time and support to individual teachers who need it. If members of a collaborative team become worried about individual teacher performance, then they can get derailed from …
The Case for Coaches in Professional Learning Communities Read More »
A federal appeals court has rejected a challenge under the Voting Rights Act to Chicago’s mayorally appointed school board, holding that nothing in the text of the 1965 federal law requires any public office to be elective. Court rules, mayors can appoint school boards. Legal – The Voting Rights Act of 1965 aimed to overcome legal and policy barriers at …
Appointed School Boards Pass Muster Under Voting Rights Act, Court Rules Read More »
Massachusetts’ supreme court ruled last week that a school district cannot be held financially liable for bullying that left a child paralyzed. What is Bullying? The dictionary defines it as the use of superior strength or influence to intimidate (someone), typically to force him or her to do what one wants. More recent legislation defines …
Massachusetts High Court Rules Schools Not Liable for Bullying Read More »
So many times teachers struggle to make meaningful real-life connections to their lessons. Students often become disengaged because the lessons is meaningless to them and their lives. But it’s not just the teacher’s fault. Sometimes it’s the course itself that needs to be meaningful. What an innovative school this is! Inspiring to hear the stories …
What does it mean to turn up the heat? What does it mean to promote growth on campus? In this article, Kyle McClure discusses six ways to be a catalyst for growth: Relationships Come First Visibility Matters How to Raise the Heat Leading with Questions Positive Peer Pressure Observation Leadership is inherently about change. CEOs …
