“There Are No Shortcuts to Improving Student Achievement”

By John Rosales West Seattle Elementary School in Washington is changing. While the irksome perception persists that this school in a high-poverty neighborhood is too ill-equipped, mismanaged, or even incapable of high student achievement, the school’s students, staff, and parents work quietly and effectively to change its course. “We have a vision of becoming a [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Innovative Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners

By Rebeca Logan When Maricela Rincón first started school she was sent to the back of the room because she didn’t speak English. Even though she was born in Chicago, Maricela felt isolated and rejected because she spoke only Spanish. “At that time language wasn’t valued… And so I was usually placed in the back [...]

NEA President: Leaving Chester Upland Students in Limbo a “Dereliction of Duty”

By Kevin Hart The students of the Chester Upland School District, one of the poorest districts in Pennsylvania, deserve the security of knowing that their schools will have the funding to remain open for the entire school year. That was the message delivered by National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel after a $3.2 million [...]

How Effective Family Engagement Makes a Difference

By Cindy Long If it hadn’t been for parental involvement at Glendale Middle School, a large group of girls would be failing gym class for one simple reason – they couldn’t wear the uniform. Nearly a quarter of the student population at Glendale is Muslim, and for religious reasons, Muslim girls are unable to wear short-sleeved [...]

Biden and Duncan Talk College Affordability at Ohio High School

By Mary Ellen Flannery In Ohio, where Vice President Joe Biden visited a high school on Thursday to promote the issue of college affordability, more than two-thirds of college students borrow money to pay for their education. Last year, thanks to rapidly rising tuition costs, each owed an average $27,000-plus upon graduation—a record-setting, dream-shattering level [...]

Reforming Teacher Evaluation Through Collaboration

By Brenda Alvarez Some critics of America’s public schools say teachers don’t want to be held accountable for the challenges of struggling schools. Not true. In fact, teachers demand to be held accountable and they’re the first to say, “The status quo must go,” in education. But they want it done, fairly, realistically, and with [...]

Educators Will Work Without Paychecks to Keep Broke District From Failing

By Kevin Hart When Bonita Davis’ husband passed away in August, she faced the same fears and anxieties that would grip any new single parent. The bills didn’t stop coming. She wondered how she would continue supporting her two children in college. And Davis, a sixth-grade teacher in the Chester Upland School District in Chester, [...]

NCLB’s 10th Anniversary No Cause For Celebration

By Sara Robertson No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was signed into law by former President George W. Bush 10 years ago this Sunday. NCLB changed the focus of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), from emphasizing equal access and closing achievement gaps in education, to focusing on high stakes testing, labeling, and sanctions. NEA [...]

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