education

How to Make the Dream of Education Equity (or Most of It) a Reality — from nataliewexler.substack.com by Natalie Wexler
Studies on the effects of tutoring–by humans or computers–point to ways to improve regular classroom instruction.

One problem, of course, is that it’s prohibitively expensive to hire a tutor for every average or struggling student, or even one for every two or three of them. This was the two-sigma “problem” that Bloom alluded to in the title of his essay: how can the massive benefits of tutoring possibly be scaled up? Both Khan and Zuckerberg have argued that the answer is to have computers, maybe powered by artificial intelligence, serve as tutors instead of humans.

From DSC:
I’m hoping that AI-backed learning platforms WILL help many people of all ages and backgrounds. But I realize — and appreciate what Natalie is saying here as well — that human beings are needed in the learning process (especially at younger ages).

But without the human element, that’s unlikely to be enough. Students are more likely to work hard to please a teacher than to please a computer.

Natalie goes on to talk about training all teachers in cognitive science — a solid idea for sure. That’s what I was trying to get at with this graphic:
.

We need to take more of the research from learning science and apply it in our learning spaces.

.
But I’m not as hopeful in all teachers getting trained in cognitive science…as it should have happened (in the Schools of Education and in the K12 learning ecosystem at large) by now. Perhaps it will happen, given enough time.

And with more homeschooling and blended programs of education occurring, that idea gets stretched even further.

K-12 Hybrid Schooling Is in High Demand — from realcleareducation.com by Keri D. Ingraham (emphasis below from DSC); via GSV

Parents are looking for a different kind of education for their children. A 2024 poll of parents reveals that 72% are considering, 63% are searching for, and 44% have selected a new K-12 school option for their children over the past few years. So, what type of education are they seeking?

Additional polling data reveals that 49% of parents would prefer their child learn from home at least one day a week. While 10% want full-time homeschooling, the remaining 39% of parents desire their child to learn at home one to four days a week, with the remaining days attending school on-campus. Another parent poll released this month indicates that an astonishing 64% of parents indicated that if they were looking for a new school for their child, they would enroll him or her in a hybrid school.

The Edtech Insiders Rundown of SXSW EDU 2024 [Kornell, Sarlin, & Morin] + other K12-related items

On 03/19/2024, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), curriculum, education, education technology, emerging technologies, faith, health, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, music, society, sociology, teachers, trends, United States, youth, by Daniel Christian

The Edtech Insiders Rundown of SXSW EDU 2024 — from edtechinsiders.substack.com by Ben Kornell, Alex Sarlin, and Sarah Morin
And more on our ASU + GSV Happy Hour, GenAI in edtech market valuations, and interviews from The Common Sense Summit.

Theme 1: The Kids Are Not Alright
This year’s SXSW EDU had something for everyone, with over a dozen “Program Tracks.” However, the one theme that truly connected the entire conference was mental health.

36 sessions were specifically tagged with mental health and wellness, but in sessions on topics ranging from literacy to edtech to civic engagement, presenters continued to come back again and again to the mental health crisis amongst teens and young adults.
…
Theme 2: Aye AI, Captain
Consistent with past conferences, this year leaned in on the K12 education world. As expected, one of the hottest topics for K12 was the role of AI (or lack thereof) in schools. Key takeaways included…

AI Literacy: A New Graduation Requirement and Civic Imperative — from gettingsmart.com by Tom Vander Ark and Mason Pashia

Key Points

There is still time to ensure that all of your students graduate with an understanding of how AI works, why it is important and how to best use it.

What would it look like to make a commitment that come graduation every senior will have at least basic AI literacy? This includes an appreciation of AI as a creation engine and learning partner but also an understanding of the risks of deepfakes and biased curation. We’re entering a time where to quote Ethan Mollick “You can’t trust anything you read or see ever again.” Whether formal or informal, it’s time to start building AI literacy.

New Alabama Education Law Represents Small But Significant Advance — from forbes.com by Jeanne Allen

More than 50 years later, across the street from the church and concerned with declining education and the pace of social change, brothers Anthony and Fred Brock founded Valiant Cross Academy, an all-male academy aimed at “helping boys of color become men of valor.”

Valiant Cross embodies King’s hopes, pursuing the dream that its students will be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin, and working to ensure that they are well prepared for productive lives filled with accomplishment and purpose.

“We’re out to prove that it’s an opportunity gap, not an achievement gap” says head of school Anthony Brock. And they have. In 2022, 100 percent of Valiant seniors graduated from the academy, pursuing post-graduate options, enrolling in either four- or two-year college, or established career-training programs.

This is a scary, messed up situation in K12 — hackers targeting young public school students

On 03/19/2024, in education, education technology, K-12 related, leadership, parents/guardians, privacy, student-related, teachers, the downsides of how people use tech, youth, by Daniel Christian

Hackers are targeting a surprising group of people: young public school students — from npr.org

“This breach was actually really huge,” Gravatt says. “And it wasn’t just school records. It was health records, it was all sorts of things that should be privileged information that are now just out there floating around for anybody to buy.”

It’s an example of a growing nationwide trend in which hackers are targeting a surprising group of people: young public school students.

As school districts depend more on technology, cyberattacks against those systems, and the sensitive data they store, are on the rise. While it’s hard to know exactly how many K-12 school systems have been targeted by hackers, an analysis by the cyber security firm Emsisoft found 45 districts reported they were attacked in 2022. In 2023, that number more than doubled, to 108.

He says stealing a child’s identity may seem counterintuitive because they don’t have resources of their own, but it can cause “a lot of havoc.” Parents don’t necessarily monitor their children’s credit and bad actors can easily open up bank accounts, rack up debt and apply for loans in a child’s name.

“And as a result, cyber criminals can abuse the credit records of minors for many, many years before the victims learn about it,” Levin says.

From DSC:
This is a deeply troubling situation, and yet another example of what occurs when people don’t care about each other. They only want to make money — and they don’t care about how they go about doing that. (LORD, help us!)

As the article suggests, the impacts of these breaches can last for years. When sensitive information is lost in a breach, that information can come back to haunt young people as they try to get jobs, get into colleges, build positive credit reports, and more.

So we need to invest in the hardware, software, and people to protect that data.

A Notre Dame Senior’s Perspective on AI in the Classroom — from learning.nd.edu — by Sarah Ochocki; via Derek Bruff on LinkedIn

At this moment, as a college student trying to navigate the messy, fast-developing, and varied world of generative AI, I feel more confused than ever. I think most of us can share that feeling. There’s no roadmap on how to use AI in education, and there aren’t the typical years of proof to show something works. However, this promising new tool is sitting in front of us, and we would be foolish to not use it or talk about it.
…
I’ve used it to help me understand sample code I was viewing, rather than mindlessly trying to copy what I was trying to learn from. I’ve also used it to help prepare for a debate, practicing making counterarguments to the points it came up with.

AI alone cannot teach something; there needs to be critical interaction with the responses we are given. However, this is something that is true of any form of education. I could sit in a lecture for hours a week, but if I don’t do the homework or critically engage with the material, I don’t expect to learn anything.

A Map of Generative AI for Education — from medium.com by Laurence Holt; via GSV
An update to our map of the current state-of-the-art

Last ones (for now):

Survey: K-12 Students Want More Guidance on Using AI — from govtech.com by Lauraine Langreo
Research from the nonprofit National 4-H Council found that most 9- to 17-year-olds have an idea of what AI is and what it can do, but most would like help from adults in learning how to use different AI tools.

“Preparing young people for the workforce of the future means ensuring that they have a solid understanding of these new technologies that are reshaping our world,” Jill Bramble, the president and CEO of the National 4-H Council, said in a press release.

AI School Guidance Document Toolkit, with Free Comprehensive Review — from tefanbauschard.substack.com by Stefan Bauschard and Dr. Sabba Quidwai

“To Fix U.S. Education, Free Our Teachers” [Busteed] + other items re: the K12 learning ecosystem

On 03/05/2024, in assessment, career development, change, changing business models, collaboration, education, education reform, engagement / engaging students, K-12 related, leadership, learning ecosystem, legislatures / government / legal, new business models, strategy, teachers, telemedicine / telehealth / virtual health, by Daniel Christian

To Fix U.S. Education, Free Our Teachers — from www-forbes-com.cdn.ampproject.org by Brandon Busteed

Teachers are the least empowered, most[-] disrespected, stressed and burned-out of all professions in the U.S. IMAGED CREATED BY DALL-E FOR BRANDON BUSTEED

If your goal was to create a miserable work environment where employees are stressed, burned out, disrespected and given no say in their job just look to U.S. schools for inspiration. They are our ‘best practice of miserable workplaces.’ And if you were looking for one major fix to education in America, you’d do everything in your power to ensure teachers are empowered.

Teacher engagement and empowerment may be the single most important national objective for improving education. Yet years of failed education policy combined with maligned attitudes about teaching have rendered teachers as among the least empowered and most disrespected professions in the country. This is a tragedy of unimaginable proportions. After all, teachers are the gateways to every profession because they are the ones we have tasked with teaching and motivating every young person in the country.

We need to free our teachers to do what they do best – to teach and inspire. Well-intentioned yet failed education policies that have overemphasized standardized testing and driven national and state-level ‘standardized’ curriculum have led to teacher disempowerment.

Transforming Communities Into K-12 Classrooms — from forbes.com by Kate Cassada

Putting The Public Back In Education
CommunityShare is an interesting nonprofit organization that has found a way to promote vibrant educational experiences by connecting students and educators to the skills, knowledge, and life experiences of community members.
…
Founded in 2015 in Tucson, Arizona, CommunityShare aims to reimagine the relationship between schools and communities. The organization’s vision is “a world where everyone sees themselves as a learner and educator working together to develop their community’s potential.”

Through CommunityShare, teachers and community partners, from artists to astronauts, co-design enriched learning projects that tap into students’ creativity, cultivate real-world skills, and expose students to available community assets.

An unexpected way to fight chronic absenteeism — from hechingerreport.org by Javeria Salman
School districts are having some success with using telemedicine and teletherapy to ensure more kids stay in school

The telemedicine clinic is also a way to relieve the burden on working parents, Oakley said: Many parents in the district’s Title I schools work hourly wage jobs and rely on public transportation, making it difficult to pick up a sick child at school quickly.

How HBCUs are building a stronger Black teacher pipeline — from k12.dive.com by Anna Merod
As HBCUs produce 50% of all Black educators nationwide, a UNCF report illustrates best practices for recruitment efforts.

Dive Brief:

Amid ongoing efforts to diversify the K-12 teacher workforce, a United Negro College Fund report finds some historically Black colleges and universities are working to get Black students in the teacher pipeline by tapping into faculty networks, establishing relationships with school districts and using financial aid as a recruitment tool.
Additionally, HBCUs leveraged long-standing connections with their local Black church communities to promote teacher prep programs and financial aid offerings during religious services.
UNCF suggested higher ed institutions develop pipelines for Black educators beginning in high school by offering students opportunities to work with children and then maintaining relationships with them through their matriculation into college and eventual completion of a teacher certification.

From DSC:
Given this need…

We need to take more of the research from learning science and apply it in our learning spaces.
…I’m highlighting the following resources:

How Learning Happens — from edutopia.org
In this series, we explore how educators can guide all students, regardless of their developmental starting points, to become productive and engaged learners.

These techniques have resonated with educators everywhere: They are focused on taking advantage of the incredible opportunity to help children reach their full potential by creating positive relationships, experiences, and environments in which every student can thrive. In fact, the science is beginning to hint at even more dramatic outcomes. Practices explicitly designed to integrate social, emotional, and cognitive skills in the classroom, the research suggests, can reverse the damages wrought by childhood trauma and stress—while serving the needs of all students and moving them onto a positive developmental and academic path.

Also from edutopia.org recently, see:

How to Introduce Journaling to Young Children — from edutopia.org by Connie Morris
Students in preschool through second grade can benefit from drawing or writing to explore their thoughts and feelings.

The symbiotic relationship between reading and writing can help our youngest students grow their emergent literacy skills. The idea of teaching writing at an early age can seem daunting. However, meeting children where they are developmentally can make a journaling activity become a magical experience—and they don’t have to write words but can convey thoughts in pictures.

7 Digital Tools That Help Bring History to Life — from edutopia.org by Daniel Leonard
Challenging games, fun projects, and a healthy dose of AI tools round out our top picks for breathing new life into history lessons.

We’ve compiled a list of seven teacher-tested tools, and we lay out how educators are using them both to enhance their lessons and to bring history closer to the present than ever.

Integrating Technology Into Collaborative Professional Learning — from edutopia.org by Roxi Thompson
Incorporating digital collaboration into PD gives teachers a model to replicate when setting up tech activities for students.

[For student teachers out there] This Teaching Routine Takes Just 5 Minutes. Its Impact Lasts Much Longer [Heubeck]

On 02/29/2024, in digital learning, education, Emotion, hearts -- matters of the heart, history, K-12 related, Learning Experience Design, pedagogy, relationships, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, writing, by Daniel Christian

This Teaching Routine Takes Just 5 Minutes. Its Impact Lasts Much Longer — from edweek.org by Elizabeth Heubeck

Second grade teacher Kaylee Hutcheson greets her students as they enter their classroom to start their day at Hawthorne Elementary School in Mexico, Mo., on Feb. 14, 2024. |Lisa Krantz for Education Week

Teachers, what if someone told you that engaging in a daily classroom ritual with your students that takes less than five minutes and requires little to no training could improve your students’ mood and behavior immediately, make them more likely to engage in learning, and maybe even elevate your own teaching skills?

Yes, it sounds like a gimmick. But it’s not.

It’s a simple practice that involves greeting each student individually as they walk through the classroom door.

Ecosystems for the future of learning — from thebigidea.education-reimagined.org by Education Reimagined and the History Co:Lab

The intent of this report is to help communities build their capacity for transformation of education, advancing toward what our society needs most—a system that works for young people. It draws on the experiences and insights of innovators across the United States who are already answering this challenge—creating learner-centered, community-based ecosystems.
…
This report includes:

a landscape analysis of select communities creating learning ecosystems;
a framework that emerged from the analysis and can be used by communities to consider their readiness and appetite for this transformation;
an invitation to communities to explore and discover their own path for reimagining education; and
a call for national and regional institutions to listen, learn from, and create the conditions for communities to pursue their visions.

From DSC:
The above items was accessed via the article below:

Where Does Work to Imagine a Learner-Centered Ecosystem Begin? — from gettingsmart.com by Alin Bennett

Key Points

The Norris School District in Wisconsin exemplifies how learner profiles and community connections can enhance authentic learning experiences for young people, fostering a culture of belonging and responsibility.
Purdue Polytechnic High School demonstrates the importance of enabling conditions, such as creating microschools with access to shared services, to support a learner-centered approach while ensuring scalability and access to a variety of resources.

Career-Connected Learning: Preparing Students for a Dynamic Future [Vander Ark & Andrews]

On 02/28/2024, in apprenticeships, career development, collaboration, education, education reform, engagement / engaging students, K-12 related, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, project-based learning, real-world assignments, skills, student-related, teachers, workplace, youth, by Daniel Christian

Career-Connected Learning: Preparing Students for a Dynamic Future — from gettingsmart.com by Tom Vander Ark and Victoria Andrews

Key Points

Connecting young people with career awareness needs to start at an early age to provide them with the necessary landscape view of opportunity and skills.
Whether young people engage client-focused opportunities, internships, or endure academically challenging coursework, career-connected learning is an environment to cultivate a sense of self-awareness, determination, and direction, essential for their success in both education and life.

Also from Getting Smart, see:

CHILD: A Microschool Unlocking the Potential for Unique Learners — by Maureen O’Shaughnessy

Key Points

The success of adaptive learning is not solely based on the program, but rather on the people behind it.
Clarity on “who you serve” is critical to success.

Announcing the 2024 GSV 150: The Top Growth Companies in Digital Learning & Workforce Skills — from prnewswire.com with information provided by ASU+GSV Summit

“The world is adapting to seismic shifts from generative AI,” says Luben Pampoulov, Partner at GSV Ventures. “AI co-pilots, AI tutors, AI content generators—AI is ubiquitous, and differentiation is increasingly critical. This is an impressive group of EdTech companies that are leveraging AI and driving positive outcomes for learners and society.”

Workforce Learning comprises 34% of the list, K-12 29%, Higher Education 24%, Adult Consumer Learning 10%, and Early Childhood 3%. Additionally, 21% of the companies stretch across two or more “Pre-K to Gray” categories. A broader move towards profitability is also evident: the collective gross and EBITDA margin score of the 2024 cohort increased 5% compared to 2023.

See the list at https://www.asugsvsummit.com/gsv-150

Selected from 2,000+ companies around the world based on revenue scale, revenue growth, user reach, geographic diversification, and margin profile, this impressive group is reaching an estimated 3 billion people and generating an estimated $23 billion in revenue.

“Why Doesn’t Every Office Building Have A Microschool?” [McDonald] + other items from the PreK-12 learning ecosystem

On 02/13/2024, in assessment, education, K-12 related, parents/guardians, student-related, teachers, United States, youth, by Daniel Christian

K-12 students learned a lot last year, but they’re still missing too much school — from npr.org by Cory Turner and Sequoia Carrillo

1. Students are starting to make up for missed learning
From spring 2022 to spring 2023, students made important learning gains, making up for about one-third of the learning they had missed in math and a quarter of the learning they had missed in reading during the pandemic.

2. Despite that progress, very few states are back to pre-pandemic learning levels

The Results Are In: Parents Favor School Choice — from realcleareducation.com by Hanna Skandera; via GSV

Parents want a choice when it comes to their children’s education.

A new report published by The National School Choice Awareness Foundation reveals that 72% of parents considered new schools for their children in 2023 — a massive 35% increase from 2022. Additionally, more than 70% of parents in nearly every state support the implementation of school choice policies.

This momentum has caught the attention of state legislatures across the country.

Why Doesn’t Every Office Building Have A Microschool? — from fee.org by Kerry McDonald; via GSV
“We are breaking down walls between communities and classrooms,” said Revolution School founder, Gina Moore.

Today, intrepid educators continue to try to make change within the traditional schooling system, but increasingly entrepreneurial teachers and parents are working outside the system to create innovative, accessible K-12 learning models that push beyond the four walls of a conventional classroom—literally and figuratively.

One such program is Revolution School, a private, accredited high school located in a downtown office building in Philadelphia that draws students from more than 25 zip codes across the city.

Revolution School focuses on meaningful internships where students, known as “Rev-terns,” partner with local businesses to learn workplace skills and gain valuable experience. Students also take advantage of dual enrollment opportunities at the nearby Community College of Philadelphia, accumulating college credits while being mentored by Revolution School teachers.

PROOF POINTS: Tracking student data falls short in combating absenteeism at school — from hechingerreport.org by Jill Barshay
A post-pandemic study of an early warning system indicated that family income makes a difference

Chronic absenteeism has surged across the country since the pandemic, with more than one out of four students missing at least 18 days of school a year. That’s more than three lost weeks of instruction a year for more than 10 million school children. An even higher percentage of poor students, more than one out of three, are chronically absent.

Nat Malkus, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, calls chronic absenteeism – not learning loss – “the greatest challenge for public schools.” At a Feb. 8, 2024 panel discussion, Malkus said, “It’s the primary problem because until we do something about that, academic recovery from the pandemic, which is significant, is a pipe dream.”

Top 6 Use Cases of Generative AI in Education in 2024 — from research.aimultiple.com by Cem Dilmegani

Use cases included:

Personalized Lessons
Course Design
Content Creation for Courses
Data Privacy Protection for Analytical Models
Restoring Old Learning Materials
Tutoring

The Next Phase of AI in Education at the U.S. Department of Education — from medium.com by Office of Ed Tech

Why are we doing this work?
Over the past two years, the U.S. Department of Education has been committed to maintaining an ongoing conversation with educators, students, researchers, developers — and the educational community at large — related to the continuous progress of Artificial Intelligence (AI) development and its implications for teaching and learning.

Many educators are seeking resources clarifying what AI is and how it will impact their work and their students. Similarly, developers of educational technology (“edtech”) products seek guidance on what guardrails exist that can support their efforts. After the release of our May 2023 report Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Teaching and Learning, we heard the desire for more.

2024 EDUCAUSE AI Landscape Study — from library.educause.edu by Jenay Robert

Moving from reaction to action, higher education stakeholders are currently exploring the opportunities afforded by AI for teaching, learning, and work while maintaining a sense of caution for the vast array of risks AI-powered technologies pose. To aid in these efforts, we present this inaugural EDUCAUSE AI Landscape Study, in which we summarize the higher education community’s current sentiments and experiences related to strategic planning and readiness, policies and procedures, workforce, and the future of AI in higher education.

AI Update for K-16 Administrators: More People Need to Step-Up and Take the AI Bull By the Horns — from stefanbauschard.substack.com by Stefan Bauschard
AI capabilities are way beyond what most schools are aware of, and they will transform education and society over the next few years.

Educational administrators should not worry about every AI development, but should, instead focus on the big picture, as those big picture changes will change the entire world and the educational system.

AI and related technologies (robotics, synthetic biology, and brain-computer interfaces) will continue to impact society and the entire educational system over the next 10 years. This impact on the system will be greater than anything that has happened over the last 100 years, including COVID-19, as COVID-19 eventually ended and the disruptive force of these technologies will only continue to develop.

AI is the bull in the China Shop, redefining the world and the educational system. Students writing a paper with AI is barely a poke in the educational world relative to what is starting to happen (active AI teachers and tutors; AI assessment; AI glasses; immersive learning environments; young students able to start their own business with AI tools; AIs replacing and changing jobs; deep voice and video fakes; intelligence leveling; individualized instruction; interactive and highly intelligent computers; computers that can act autonomously; and more).

Re: integrating AI into our Learning Ecosystems, we need to have realistic expectations here. [Christian]

On 02/09/2024, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, adjunct faculty, adult learning, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, colleges, community colleges, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, education, education reform, education technology, emerging technologies, expectations, experimentation, face-to-face, faculty/staff, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, online learning, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, training / L&D, United States, universities, by Daniel Christian

Digital Learning Pulse Survey Reveals Higher-Ed Unprepared for Expected Impact of AI — from prnewswire.com by Cengage
Research illustrates that while GenAI could ease ongoing challenges in education, just 1 in 5 say their school is ready

WASHINGTON, Feb. 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — While three-quarters of higher-education trustees (83%), faculty (81%) and administrators (76%) agree that generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) will noticeably change their institutions in the next five years, community college trustees are more optimistic than their community college counterparts, with (37%) saying their organization is prepared for the change coming compared to just 16% of faculty and 11% of administrator respondents.

Those findings are from the 2023-2024 Digital Learning Pulse Survey conducted by Cengage and Bay View Analytics with support from the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT), the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE), College Pulse and the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) to understand the attitudes and concerns of higher education instructors and leadership.

From DSC:
It takes time to understand what a given technology brings to the table…let alone a slew of emerging technologies under the artificial intelligence (AI) umbrella. It’s hard enough when the technology is fairly well established and not changing all the time. But its extremely difficult when significant change occurs almost daily.

The limited staff within the teaching & learning centers out there need time to research and learn about the relevant technologies and how to apply those techs to instructional design. The already stretched thin faculty members need time to learn about those techs as well — and if and how they want to apply them. It takes time and research and effort.

Provosts, deans, presidents, and such need time to learn things as well.

Bottom line: We need to have realistic expectations here.

AI Adoption in Corporate L&D — from drphilippahardman.substack.com by Dr. Philippa Hardman
Where we are, and the importance of use cases in enabling change

At the end of last year, O’Reilly Media published a comprehensive report on the adoption and impact of generative AI within enterprises.

The headline of the report is that we’ve never seen a technology adopted in enterprise as fast as generative AI. As of November 2023, two-thirds (67%) of survey respondents reported that their companies are using generative AI.

However, the vast majority of AI adopters in enterprise are still in the early stages; they’re experimenting at the edges, rather than making larger-scale, strategic decisions on how to leverage AI to accelerate our progress towards org goals and visions.

The single biggest hurdle to AI adoption in large corporates is a lack of appropriate use cases.

It’s Time to Launch a National Initiative to Create the New American High School — from the74million.org by Robin Lake; via GSV
Robin Lake: We must start thinking, talking and acting bigger when it comes to preparing teens for both college and career.

One State Rolled Out a Promising Child Care Model. Now Others Are Replicating It. — from edsurge.com by Emily Tate Sullivan

Excerpt (emphasis DSC):

Last month, business leaders and child care advocates from a handful of states convened on Zoom. Representing Michigan, Kentucky, North Carolina and Virginia, they had come together to discuss a new child care model, called “Tri-Share,” that has gained traction across the country, including in their respective regions.

The cost-sharing model, in which the state government, the employer and the employee each pay for one-third of the cost of child care, first launched in 2021 in Michigan, where it is furthest along. But it has become so popular that other states, including New York, North Carolina and Kentucky, have already secured funding for their own adaptations of the program.

Also relevant/see:

Emerging Solutions for America’s Broken Early Education System — from edsurge.com by Emily Tate Sullivan

Road Scholars: When These Families Travel, School Comes Along for the Ride — from the74million.org by Linda Jacobson; via Matthew Tower
‘It’s not just a pandemic thing,’ one industry expert said about the growing number of families ‘roadschooling’ across the country.

Using Technology for Students in Special Education: What the Feds Want Schools to Know — from edweek.org by Alyson Klein

But this is the first time the department has released guidance on how assistive technology relates to the special education law. That’s partly because schools have come to rely so much more on technology for teaching and learning, Wright-Gallo said.

The guidance, released last month, is aimed at parents, specialists who provide services to babies and toddlers at risk of developmental delays, special educators, general educators, school and district leaders, technology specialists and directors, and state education officials, Wright-Gallo said.

Guiding and Connecting the Homeschooling Community — from michaelbhorn.substack.com by Michael B. Horn
How ‘Teach Your Kids’ is Empowering Parents to Take Charge of their Students’ Educations

More and more parents are taking charge of their children’s education through homeschooling. Manisha Snoyer’s podcast and online homeschooling community, Teach Your Kids, is seeking to empower parents with the guidance, tools, and network they need to thrive as educators for their children. She joined the Future of Education to discuss her work, dispel misconceptions about homeschooling, and consider the future of this growing trend. I was intrigued to explore her observations that, through modularity, families can pull apart socialization, childcare, and the learning itself to make the benefits of homeschooling much more accessible. As always, subscribers can listen to the audio, watch the video, or read the transcript.

Can Career Learning Bring America’s Young People Back to School? — from realcleareducation.com by Taylor Maag

School absenteeism sky-rocketed post-pandemic: 6.5 million more students missed at least 10% or more of the 2021-22 school year than in 2017-18. This means 14.7 million students were chronically absent even after schools reopened from the pandemic. While preliminary data shows that absentee rates slightly decreased in the 2022-23 school year, truancy remains a serious concern for our nation’s K-12 system.
…
If we want to get students back in the classroom and avoid poor outcomes for our nation’s young people, U.S. leaders must rethink how we operate K-12 education. One potential solution is reinventing high school to ensure every young person is exposed to the world of work through career-oriented education and learning. An analysis of international cross-section data found that nations enrolling a large proportion of students in vocational or career-focused programs have significantly higher school attendance rates and higher completion rates than those that don’t.

My child with ADHD is being disciplined at school for things they can’t control. What can I do? — from understood.org by Julian Saavedra, MA
Is your child with ADHD being disciplined at school more and more? Get expert advice on how to manage school discipline. Learn the steps to better advocate for your child.

Also relevant/see:

What can I do if my child’s teacher takes recess away? — from understood.org By Kristin J. Carothers, PhD
School can be extra hard for kids with ADHD when teachers take recess away. An expert weighs in on how you can work with teachers to find a solution.
For teachers: What to expect in an IEP meeting — from understood.org by Amanda Morin
You’re not alone in having questions about IEP meetings. If you’re not a special education teacher, you may not have a lot of training around the IEP process. Here are some of the basics:

Educational practices to identify and support students experiencing homelessness [Pavlakis, Kessa Roberts, Richards, Hill & Mirakhur]

On 02/05/2024, in education, education reform, instructional design, K-12 related, leadership, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, neurodivergent/special needs, parents/guardians, society, sociology, student-related, surviving, teachers, youth, by Daniel Christian

Educational practices to identify and support students experiencing homelessness — from edresearchforaction.org by Alexandra Pavlakis, J. Kessa Roberts, Meredith Richards, Kathryn Hill. & Zitsi Mirakhur

The EdResearch for Action Overview Series summarizes the research on key topics to provide K-12 education decision makers and advocates with an evidence base to ground discussions about how to best serve students. Authors – leading experts from across the field of education research – are charged with highlighting key findings from research that provide concrete, strategic insight on persistent challenges sourced from district and state leaders.

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