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In a US first, Chicago charter school workers strike
Michelle R. Matisons EducationPublic education reform in the past few decades has included a massive shift of funding and resources toward the charter school model. This model allows publicly funded schools to be managed by nonprofits or for-profit companies. Charter schools do not have to honor employee collective bargaining rights, making it difficult to organize charter teachers’ unions. However, Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), merged with the city’s charter educators’ union, United Educators for Justice (UEJ), is conducting the first U.S. charter teachers’ strike against the Acero charter network, which began Dec. 4.
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Collegiate athletes encounter new career possibilities
Sheilamary Koch Sports & FitnessWhile over 480,000 students in the United States participate in college sports per NCAA estimates, the odds of a collegiate athlete attaining professional or Olympic status are extremely low. Baseball players have the best chance to make a career of their sport with a 9.1 percent conversion rate between college and professional levels. The percentage is closer to 1.5 for college football players and even lower for those who play basketball, volleyball and soccer. Still, college students have plenty to gain from the time and effort they invest in playing on a college team.
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Put me in, coach!
Debra Josephson Abrams EducationAre you an educator or administrator yearning for anonymous, authentic, non-evaluative, non-threatening professional development opportunities that encourage you to take risks and fail without facing pernicious repercussions? Are you a passionate educator or administrator who knows what best practices are and is committed to infusing your teaching or management with them? Are you an administrator who can admit that your program needs help and that the best way to help your program is to inspire and embolden the faculty who work in your program? If you are, then peer coaching is for you.
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Understanding the impact of chronic absenteeism for students
Brian Stack EducationChronic absenteeism data for schools is about to become much more public. By the end of this month, the Every Student Succeeds Act has required that schools list chronic absenteeism rates on their state report cards. Many schools across the country have already started to do this, and the work started with states defining at what point absences would be considered a chronic issue. By whichever standard you use, there is no debate that chronic absenteeism among students is a growing problem that plagues all schools.
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6 ways to start music class
Aileen Miracle EducationPondering the best way to begin music class? In today's post, I'll write with my favorite ways to start a lesson. Please note that there is no right or wrong answer for how to welcome your class. It's totally up to you and what you think is best for your students. You might try changing it up a bit to see which way you like the best!
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Cryptomining is a new threat to K-12 schools
Bambi Majumdar EducationThe FBI has issued a warning for the nation’s K-12 schools amid the increasing threats to student data privacy. As we rapidly move to all-digital education platforms, cybersecurity attacks on education technology companies have risen. Ed-tech companies and schools must take extra precautions to protect student data. Along with these attacks, increasing instances of cryptomining are posing another new threat to K-12 schools.
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Culture and L2 learning
Douglas Magrath EducationA positive view of the target culture makes learning the language easier. It helps if the learners identify with the people whose language is under study. Culture and language go together. Cultural understanding is essential for both learners and teachers. Language learning is easier if one has a positive attitude. The instructor cannot be an expert on every culture but should be aware of some of the more common areas of potential conflict. In this article, I will look at some aspects of the cultures of individual countries.
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How can micro-credentials be used to support teacher training?
Brian Stack EducationEarlier this year, the organization iNACOL released its latest map, charting the rise of policies that support K-12 competency-based education systems in states from coast to coast. By last count, 17 states have earned the status of "advanced," another 13 have reached the "developing" status. Another 18 have entered the "emerging" status. This leaves just two states (Wyoming and California) that have not yet begun their journeys. Competency education operates under the notion that curriculum, instruction, assessment, grading, and reporting are focused on the transfer of skills in and across content areas.
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Confronting religious bias with education
Sheilamary Koch EducationHate-spurred tragedies like the recent Pittsburgh synagogue massacre make religion-related aggression in the U.S. difficult to deny. However, the increase in the subtler harassment children face at school based on the religion their families practice can more easily slip below the radar. Anti-Semitic incidents in schools jumped a staggering 94 percent in 2017 — with 457 incidents reported by the Anti-Defamation League — making K-12 schools the place where the most such incidents occurred last year.
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Active reading strategies for English learners
Erick Herrmann EducationTeachers often use the practice of popcorn, or "round-robin," reading strategies in a number of ways. These include cold calling or randomly calling on students to read using sticks with student names on them or by teacher choice, calling on volunteers to read, or having one reader call on another student to begin reading where they left off. However, multiple studies prove that this practice does not work. In fact, round-robin reading likely does more harm than good, especially when utilized with English learners or students who are not proficient readers yet.
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