Teaching Digital Literacy is a 21st Century Imperative & This is Why

Two education leaders at NWEA delve into what it means to be digitally literate and the role that digital resources with an emphasis on digital literacy should play in advancing students’ academic needs in this two-part series.

Five Ways To Prioritize Teachers' Well-Being and Help Overcome the Staffing Crisis

A tech executive shares experience from dealing with staffing shortages in the tech sector: 5 ways schools can support educator well-being and help solve the teacher shortage problem.

The Hustle-and-Grind Tech Entrepreneur Mindset is Not a Good Replacement for the Industrial Model of Education

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.

How to Bring SEL Out of the Silo and Into the Computer Science Classroom

A computer science curriculum expert explains that social-emotional learning and computer science are a natural pair, and how incorporating SEL competencies into STEM lessons often creates a richer learning experience for students.

Not Into Video Games? Here's How to Let Students Lead on Teaching with Minecraft: Education Edition

The Minecraft Student Ambassador Sponsor Program helps educators create a Minecraft Student Ambassador Program at their school or district, and helps prepare those young Minecraft experts to coach and assist students and teachers who are new to the game, so more classrooms can benefit from the game’s 700-plus “worlds” or lesson-based games.

How an Educator’s Persistence Led to a Student Leadership Initiative & the Most Popular Minecraft Edu Game of All Time

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.

Four Simple Steps to Adding SEL to Any Classroom

A social-emotional learning specialist explains how any educator can begin teaching social-emotional learning in their classroom in four simple steps: planning to pause, practicing, tracking it, and finally, by talking about it.

How One District Used Tech to Address Sinking Reading Scores & Overhaul Its Literacy PD

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.

How Better Communication with Parents, Students Boosts School Safety & Improves Incident Responses

An expert in school safety solutions explains that K-12 administrators must communicate openly and often with students, staff, and families as they prepare a thorough crisis-response plan — and better communication will enable schools to effectively execute preparation, response, and recovery — before, during and after an emergency.

How a Poor District in NY Leveled the Playing Field with Better Communications [and Lightened the Load for School Staff]

A district administrator explains how their new school-home communications platform gives them not just two-way communications with families, but also the ability to meet parents where they are — and how implementing the platform has solved numerous challenges for the district staff and teachers, for parents, and for students.

Illuminate Education Booted from Student Privacy Pledge, Referred for Potential FTC and State AG Action

The Future of Privacy Forum on Monday announced it has removed Illuminate Education from the nonprofit’s list of Student Privacy Pledge signatories — the first time a company has been de-listed from the voluntary data protection pledge — and said it sent its decision and supporting facts to federal and state authorities for potential legal action against the ed tech company.

Discovery Education Launches Minecraft: Education Edition Channel

Discovery Education recently unveiled a new Minecraft: Education Edition channel within its learning platform, which means that the wildly popular educational game is now supported within DE’s platform with instructional resources for using M:EE in the classroom, the companies said.

AAUW Opens 2022 Gender Equity Grant Program

AAUW has opened its 2022 Community Action Grant program, which awards $3,000 to $10,000 to individuals and organizations for programs that promote "education and equity" for women and girls.

ED Hosting Webinars This Week for Full-Service Community Schools Grant Applicants

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education will host several webinars this week to provide guidance to local and state education agencies and community-based organizations interested in applying for the Full-Service Community Schools grant program, which will award up to $68 million to approximately 40 applicants later this year.

Google Classroom Add-Ons Officially Launches, Enabling Integrations with 18 Ed Tech Tools

Google today announced that the Classroom Add-Ons feature, in beta since last summer, is rolling out to all Teaching & Learning subscribers and Education Plus subscribers in time for fall semester, enabling access to 18 popular ed tech tools from within Classroom.

Teachers Favor Mastery Learning Methods in Pandemic Recovery Efforts, Survey Shows

As the nation’s public schools grapple with helping students overcome learning losses exacerbated by pandemic closures, a long-simmering movement toward competency-based education — sometimes called “mastery learning” — appears to be gaining ground among teachers, according to a new survey by Khan Academy and market research firm YouGov.

Insurance Provider United Educators Offers Premium Credit To Schools Completing JED Mental Health Support Program

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.

Survey Shows Teachers See Play and Choice in Learning Methods As Key to Student Engagement

A recent survey of teachers by Kahoot reveals that educators see playful learning and student choice in learning methods as vital to helping boost student engagement and outcomes, according to a new report from the ed tech company.

Nonprofit Groups Say ED Must Address Inequitable Harms of Student Online Activity Monitoring

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.

ParentSquare Releases Back-To-School Guide for Better School-Home Communications

As K–12 educators and school leaders prepare for the start of the 2022–23 school year, unified communications provider ParentSquare has released a Back-to-School Checklist for Successful School-Home Communications, a free guide to help administrators and district communication leaders to revisit and improve their parent-home communications, according to a news release.

Tyler Technologies Partners with Infinite Campus for Student Information Solutions

ERP technology provider Tyler Technologies today announced that through a new partnership with Infinite Campus, schools using Tyler’s student information solution will be transitioned to Infinite Campus’ SIS platform, and Infinite Campus clients will have access to Tyler’s ERP and student transportation solutions, according to a news release.

FEV Tutor Acquired by Alpine Investors, Positioning FEV for 'Next Phase of Growth'

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.

PowerSchool Launches Connected Intelligence, First Fully Managed Data-as-a-Service Platform for K–12 Schools

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.

Promise Neighborhoods Program Accepting Applications for $18M in Grant Funds

The U.S. Department of Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education is now accepting applications for the Promise Neighborhoods program, which will award up to $18 million to four or five winning applicants later this year. The deadline to apply for the grants is Sept. 27, 2022.

RedCritter Launches CritterCoin, First K-12 Rewards System to Leverage NFTs

Digital achievements-and-rewards system RedCritter has launched a new platform called CritterCoin where schools can build their own free system to implement Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports with points, rewards in the form of digital coins and non-fungible tokens, and a school-specific rewards store.

Discovery Education Unveils Updated User Experience, Adds CBE Microlearning Channel, Doubles Quiz Library

K–12 learning platform Discovery Education this week unveiled a new layout and look for both teachers and students, doubled the size of its ready-to-use quiz library, improved search filters, added an Explore page with personalized content recommendations, and launched new professional microlearning focused on competency-based education with content partner Marzano Academies.

Upcoming K–12 Grants