b.y.o.t bring your own thoughts
the latest on all student-centered models, leadership development, strategic planning, teacher retention, and all things innovation in k-12 education. we answer questions before you think to ask them.
and just like that, summer has ended, and pumpkin spice lattes are back. it’s that time of year: the winter holidays are among us! like other times during the year, this is a great moment to pause and be intentional about centering educational equity in your school and district. consider these 5 tips as we head into the holiday season.
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curriculum strategy & adoption | district leadership | school leadership
the most successful school leaders we work with understand that high-quality instructional materials (hqim) improve student engagement and are a key resource in addressing schooling loss. they also know that materials, while a critical lever, are only one piece of the necessary elements for shifting teacher practice and improving student outcomes. in this blog post, we provide a brief list of things principals should know about high-quality instructional materials as they get started with adopting or implementing new materials.
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gaps. learning loss. interventions. all of those words represent important topics that existed pre-pandemic yet were magnified when students returned to in-person instruction. but in true educator fashion, resilience prevailed. many districts and campuses found innovative ways to meet students where they were. we saw organizations revisiting their missions and visions to determine if what students now needed matched their organization’s statements. we saw tweets and posts of teachers sharing or seeking help in creating voice and choice in instruction. one key trend - an increase in the commitment to personalize learning. we saw districts investing more time and resources into developing their teams and aligning them on how to personalize learning for their students.
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school leadership | teacher retention
the teacher attrition crisis in us education has been in the headlines a lot in recent months. many districts and schools started the 22-23 school year woefully understaffed, leading districts to implement drastic stop gap measures just to open their doors. some districts opened this fall with armies of substitute teachers, shortened school days, and were forced to implement confusing and sub-optimal alternative schedules.
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feedback has the ability to strengthen your new initiative or culture. but give a lousy survey, and you can set your school or district back in terms of trust, and you may lose the ability to gather important input in the future. don’t turn a positive opportunity into a negative.
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curriculum strategy & adoption | district leadership
as more and more high-quality instructional materials (hqim) become available, we have noticed a tension with districts across the country between being excited about the opportunities for new, rigorous materials, and the concern about when and how to get started. while some district-level decisions are guided by state policy and timelines, there are five components that we have found that will help to shape any district’s academic strategy, regardless of where it is during a curriculum adoption window. these components include:
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