The industrial model of education seems worth dismantling; but in the push to increase creativity and individual expression, Silicon Valley has replaced Detroit as the reference point for the workplace we are preparing students for: “move fast and break things,” “hustle and grind,” emphases on hyper-success, hyper-creativity, and hyper-performance. Neither model will suffice if we want to change the world for the better.
In an open letter this week to U.S. Department of Education Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine E. Lhamon, 15 education, technology, and civil rights nonprofits called for the department to put schools and online activity monitoring providers on notice that such monitoring must not result in discrimination or violation of students’ civil rights and liberties.
- By Kristal Kuykendall
- 08/03/22
K–12 cloud-based software provider PowerSchool today launched a new Data-as-a-Service platform called Connected Intelligence that aims to unify, integrate, protect, and analyze school districts’ data from all sources as well as external data that impacts educators' decision-making such as labor market information, according to a news release.
- By Kristal Kuykendall
- 08/01/22
United Educators, a member-owned insurance and risk management provider for K–12 schools and higher ed institutions, has partnered with suicide prevention nonprofit The Jed Foundation to offer a premium credit to schools that successfully complete a JED program that helps schools better support students’ mental health and well-being.
- By Kristal Kuykendall
- 07/21/22
A literacy and intervention director at a California district with a serious literacy issue — only 16% of its 22,000 students in TK–12 were reading at or above grade level districtwide — explains how they used technology to overhaul the district's literacy professional development program and address access and equity problems.
- By Kristen Anderson
- 07/21/22
When Felisa Ford and her instructional tech colleagues in Atlanta had trouble getting the district's teachers on board with using Minecraft: Education Edition, she created a student ambassador program to empower young Minecraft experts to coach other students and teachers, and it was so successful that Microsoft started a learning path for educators to sponsor their own local student ambassador programs. Then came Good Trouble.
- By Kristal Kuykendall
- 07/20/22
K–12 online tutoring platform FEV Tutor has been acquired by San Francisco-based private equity firm Alpine Investors, providing the resources for FEV Tutor to continue growing its product and its reach, according to a news release. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
- By Kristal Kuykendall
- 07/19/22
Aug. 15 is the deadline to apply for the National Society of High School Scholars’ Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Teaching Grant, for educators who serve in rural areas, diverse student populations, or are “actively promoting diversity and inclusion initiatives in their school or greater community.”
- By Kristal Kuykendall
- 07/11/22
An educator and researcher explains how a simple shift in how educators understand and implement the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) pyramid can help close the achievement gap in K-12 classrooms, schools, and districts.
Amid explosive growth over the past two years, two recent top industry awards, and being acquired last month by GoGuardian, TutorMe Chief of Staff Kyle Baker spoke with THE Journal recently about the kind of tutoring that is proven to boost learning outcomes, how TutorMe's platform works, and what questions K–12 leaders should ask when considering a new large-scale tutoring program.
- By Kristal Kuykendall
- 06/22/22