Jessica Holloway’s journey in education began long before she became an instructional coach. Her first job, coaching tumbling and cheerleading, planted the seeds of her lifelong commitment to helping others grow. “Teaching felt like a natural transition from coaching,” Holloway explains. “The goal is similar: know where someone is starting and support them in reaching […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Maryland makes toilet training a teacher’s job as ‘Pre-K for All’ expands
Maryland’s four largest school systems now require teachers and other staff to help young children with toileting, a duty that has accompanied the state’s rapid expansion of publicly funded pre-kindergarten and that, according to education experts, makes Maryland the only state to assign the task directly to teachers rather than aides or nurses. The shift […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
National Survey: Most Educators Say ICE Enforcement Is Making Schools Feel Less Safe — and 82% Want Schools Designated as Safe Havens
A survey of more than 700 K–12 educators finds widespread concern that immigration enforcement near schools is driving fear, absenteeism, and disengagement — and that many districts have given staff no clear guidance on how to respond. A new national survey of more than 700 K–12 educators finds that a clear majority believe recent federal […]
Posted inDo The Work
South Carolina bans grade floors, requires teachers to report actual student performance
Gov. Henry McMaster has signed a new law eliminating so-called “grade floors” in South Carolina schools, a practice that allowed teachers to assign students a minimum grade higher than what they actually earned. The change takes effect next school year, and districts that continue the practice risk losing 10% of their state funding. Grade floors […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
House Republicans advance two bills to restrict LGBTQ+ content and civil rights history in schools
House Republicans advanced two pieces of legislation this week that critics say would dramatically restrict what students can learn in federally funded schools, targeting references to transgender people, discussions of structural racism, and the use of chosen names and pronouns for trans students. The CHARLIE Act Clears Committee On Tuesday, the Republican-controlled House Committee on […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Gratitude Tour: Rob Murphy
It was Rob Murphy’s daughter I met first. She was a student at Free Union School, where I was filling in for the final three months of the 1997/1998 school year. Without knowing who I was other than this guy who had suddenly begun appearing each day on campus in March, she’d greet me every […]
Posted inSchool Improvement
Psychological Safety Is School Safety
Leigh Reagan Alley, Ed.D. is Coordinator of Teacher Education at the University of Maine at Augusta, where she designed and leads the first dedicated Master of Arts in Teaching Whole Child Education. She is an architect of the xSELeratED Schools Framework, serves on the Advisory Board of the Institute for Humane Education, and is the […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
AFT President calls for screen bans, AI guardrails in schools with 10-Point education plan
American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten delivered a sweeping address at the National Press Club, outlining a 10-point plan to limit student screen time and student-facing artificial intelligence in schools, arguing that the rapid expansion of classroom technology has caused measurable harm to children’s learning, attention, and well-being. The speech, titled “Devices Down, Eyes […]