One of Washington’s fastest-growing school districts, Yelm Community Schools (YCS) serves the communities of Yelm, McKenna, the Bald Hills, the Nisqually Indian Reservation, and parts of the Lacey suburbs. YCS offers a welcoming, safe, student-centered, and collaborative learning environment and is expected to reach 6,300 students by 2023. Under the district’s current strategic plan, YCS is … Continue reading How This Rural District is Making the Most of Classroom Data
Since 2001, IDEA Public Schools has grown from a single school with 150 students to a network that currently serves 36,000 students and plans to grow to 100,000 students by 2022. IDEA has schools in the Rio Grande Valley, Austin, and San Antonio, and will open schools in Southern Louisiana and El Paso for the … Continue reading How IDEA Public Schools is Getting Data into the Right Hands
As the mental health of America’s students is weighing heavily on all of our minds, the “We Care” campaign launched in Santa Ana Unified this winter is a bright example of one district’s effort to take a proactive stance on the subject. “We Care” is SAUSD’s response to AB 2246, the California legislation passed in … Continue reading Viewing Mental Health Through the “We Care” Campaign
Ascension Public Schools is a large public school district in southeastern Louisiana, between the cities of Baton Rouge and New Orleans. With more than 22,000 students, the district serves the diverse communities of Donaldsonville, Dutchtown, Gonzales, and Prairieville. In 2017, the district was awarded its sixth consecutive “A” rating from the Louisiana Department of Education, … Continue reading How a Large & Diverse District is Making Data-Driven Decisions
The Clarke County School District is a mid-sized public school district in Athens, Georgia with just under 14,000 students. It serves all of Clarke County, which includes the communities of Athens, Winterville, and part of Bogart. Recognized by the Georgia Department of Education as the “number one school district for closing the achievement gap”—the disparity … Continue reading How a Medium-Sized District is Closing the Achievement Gap
Located fifty miles from Savannah, Georgia, Statesboro High School (SHS) serves a diverse student body of approximately 1,500 in Bulloch County. Founded in 1901, SHS strives to be a model of excellence in public education, and to ensure that each of its students is uniquely prepared to enter the workforce. Most educators recognize the fundamental … Continue reading How Statesboro High Increased Math Proficiency by 84 Percent
Santee Education Complex is a high school in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), located in South Central Los Angeles. It was built in 2005 with the special distinction of being the first new four-year high school to open in LAUSD in over 35 years. Immediately after its opening, Santee dealt with issues around … Continue reading How a Low-Achieving School Uses Data to Drive Success
The freshly-polished hallways and classrooms across the country are filling up once again as another school year begins. Many students are showing up with a renewed enthusiasm for learning, with many teachers eager to help them become lifelong learners. But for educators, every school year also comes with new challenges. With several mandates, new legislation and ways … Continue reading 7 Can’t Miss Blogs to Jumpstart the School Year
Traditionally, test scores have been used to place students into an accelerated or advanced math pathway. Whether they’re in middle school or high school, students had to achieve certain scores on a series of common benchmarks or one one-off placements and readiness exams to be placed in the proper programs. The exams, created and administered by … Continue reading Gatekeeping in Math: Dispelling the Myth of Placement & Advancement Exams
Most educators are keenly aware that change comes with the territory. But when a perpetual state of change seems to be the only constant, it’s easy for skepticism to arise. The impetus for positive change in education is ever-present, as school districts continually strive for improvements aimed at benefiting students. Yet the fact is substantial … Continue reading Switching Student Information Systems: Does It Have to Hurt So Much? Five Components for a Successful Implementation