Education Support Professionals On the Front Lines in Fight for School Modernization

By John Rosales After a particularly snowy night in January, paraeducator Lynn Witts found herself zigzagging around water buckets the next morning as she walked the hallways at Polson High School in Montana. “The snow melted and we had buckets everywhere,” she says. While winter brings it share of snow and ice to challenge the [...]

President Obama on College Affordability

Obama’s college affordability plan includes a $1 billion federal grant program that would shift federal support to states and colleges that lower costs for students and raise the rate of students earning degrees. The President also specifically called on Congress to keep interest rates low for 7.4 million students with federal student loans, and also [...]

Don’t Say Goodbye to Traditional Textbooks Just Yet

Until e-textbooks’ benefits outweigh the downfalls for a school district, which doesn’t appear to be the case yet for the vast majority of districts, old-fashioned hardcover textbooks will remain a fixture in classrooms, lockers and backpacks. Source: Crookston Times

States Struggling With Common Core Transition

By Cindy Long Chuck Pack, an Oklahoma geometry teacher, is eager to fully implement the Common Core State Standards into the curriculum. The new standards focus on depth, rather than breadth, which Pack says will expand his students’ understanding of math concepts. “I usually teach 12 chapters in one year of Geometry,” he says. “In [...]

As Some Schools Plunge into Technology, Poor Schools are Left Behind

The term “digital divide” used to refer to whether classrooms had computers connected to the Internet. Now, the bar has been raised, as newer software programs require high-speed connections and as WiFi-dependent devices such as iPads make their way into classrooms. Technology spending in schools varies widely across the country, as some districts reap the benefits [...]

National School Counseling Week – February 6-10

The American School Counselor Association supports school counselors’ efforts to help students focus on academic, personal, social, and career development so they achieve success in school and are prepared to lead fulfilling lives as responsible members of society. For more information, visit the American School Counselor Association website.

Schools to Require Parents Volunteer?

A group of parent leaders in Charleston, South Carolina asked the school board this week to require parents or guardians to give eight hours of their time annually to their children’s schools. The so-called Family Partnership Agreement would let parents know how they could get more involved, and that would help schools achieve their goals. Not [...]

Healthier Lunches Coming to Schools

By John Rosales New standards for school meals released on Wednesday  by the U.S. Department of Agriculture will help ensure healthy nutritious food served to every public school student in an effort to bolster their health and academic success. This effort was kicked-off with an appearance by First Lady Michelle Obama at Parklawn Elementary School [...]

Finland Schools’ Success Story: Lessons Shared at Forum

Finland has become the icon of classroom success, the repeat winner of top results in a global ranking of national school systems. That’s why academics, teachers and government officials gathered at Stanford University last week to talk about what makes the Scandinavian country’s schools so good. Source: The Huffington Post

Obama: An Economy ‘Built to Last’ Must Work for All Americans

By Miguel Gonzalez President Barack Obama delivered his third State of the Union Address to the nation before a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, laying out a blueprint for an economy that’s “built to last” – an economy built on American manufacturing, American energy, skills for American workers, and a renewal of American [...]

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