A Principal's Reflections

MARCH 27, 2014

Speaking of journeys, today I traveled to New Jersey with my middle school principal, Luis Pena (@principalpena) and high school principal, Glen Zakian. Under Eric''s stewardship, there are organizational conditions to support a culture of emergent leadership and at the heart of this is a significant level of autonomy.

Library 271

Library Leadership High School Middle School 271

Dangerously Irrelevant

OCTOBER 13, 2015

Two years ago I had the incredible opportunity to work with the entire leadership team of District 59 in Arlington Heights, Illinois for SEVEN days. They labeled it their ‘21st Century Leadership Academy.’ No great answer to this is apparent other than a cultural reframing, one that is already underway.

Leadership 107

Leadership Professional Development Geography Project-Based Learning 107

Digital Promise

MAY 24, 2016

Undertaking this transformation is a challenge, and requires buy-in and commitment from district leadership, school administrators, and teachers in order to be successful. Over the past two years, we’ve witnessed how building a strong school community and culture of support is critical to success.

Cultures 91

Cultures Middle School Leadership Education 91

Digital Promise

MAY 23, 2019

The five Jefferson County Public Schools participating in the initiative—The Academy @ Shawnee Middle School, Frederick Law Olmsted Academy North, Lassiter Middle School, Newburg Middle School, and W.E.B. STEM Culture of Innovation. Rising Star/Trailblazer Award. Model for Sustainability.

Middle School 121

Middle School Leadership Public School Professional Development 121

Digital Promise

SEPTEMBER 30, 2021

Districts are also fostering student leadership and elevating student voices in more meaningful ways. Similarly, during the 2019-2020 school year, San Antonio Union School District (California) created the first-ever student board member position. Potential for impacting student learning and educational leadership.

Advocacy 168

Advocacy Public School Leadership Cultures 168

Digital Promise

APRIL 14, 2021

They support one another in the powerful use of HP and Microsoft tools, such as using Skype and Microsoft Teams to organize virtual field trips, using Minecraft to engage students in design challenges, and using Flipgrid to help students connect with and share their indigenous languages and cultures. ET / 4 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. Register now.

Teaching 149

Teaching K-12 Social Studies Middle School 149

The Hechinger Report

JUNE 13, 2024

But while this would seem to have significant potential implications for society and the economy — since college graduates make more money over their lifetimes than people who haven’t finished college — other obstacles have stubbornly prevented women from closing leadership and earnings gaps. It had such a weed-out culture.

Middle School 142

Middle School Leadership Advocacy Cultures 142

ED Surge

NOVEMBER 4, 2022

After grieving a complete turnover in leadership last spring—waving goodbye to our head of school, our high school director, our middle school director and our school psychologist—our outgoing head of school decided that instead of hiring externally to fill the traditional leadership positions, we should try a new approach.

Leadership 126

Leadership Middle School Humanities Teaching 126

The Hechinger Report

NOVEMBER 11, 2018

. As a middle school teacher, I often see my colleagues taking pains to keep students quiet during class. How can classroom teachers balance their roles in preparing students to meet the interpersonal and leadership demands of the new economy with classroom management? Build interdependency.

Leadership 111

Leadership Classroom Management Middle School Economics 111

The Hechinger Report

JANUARY 22, 2020

Research shows that girls begin to lose interest in STEM subjects in middle school, but that they are more likely to continue exploring STEM activities, inside and outside of school, if they see role models who look like them and who are successful in STEM careers. Related: OPINION: Where are all the women in engineering?

Middle School 131

Middle School Leadership Lesson Plan Cultures 131

Digital Promise

APRIL 21, 2021

Adolescents are ready to move beyond simply stating ideas in writing, and are learning to craft their writing for specific audiences and purposes: to tell stories, build arguments, and make meaningful connections to their own culture, values, and identities. Richland School District Two (Columbia, South Carolina).

Middle School 127

Middle School High School Cultures Leadership 127

ED Surge

OCTOBER 19, 2022

I say a few affirmative words aloud to center myself, then I reach into a drawer and pull out a small bottle of lavender aromatherapy that my leadership team gave me as a “wellness gift.” All I can think about is how frustrated I am about the lavender—and the failed efforts to support teacher well-being at my school. The problem?

Leadership 110

Leadership Professional Development Cultures Middle School 110

Dangerously Irrelevant

JUNE 11, 2020

I especially appreciated hearing about Butler Tech’s emphasis on distributed leadership and how your resilience over the past few months was a result of earlier decisions and structures around trust, empowerment, organizational values, and creation of a culture of risk-taking. Coronavirus Chronicles 023 – Dhahran Middle School.

Leadership 96

Leadership Elementary School Middle School Cultures 96

The Hechinger Report

JULY 3, 2023

At the start of my teaching career, I was the only full-time, Black, male classroom teacher for a predominately Black student population in a southwest Philadelphia middle school. I think of my former students who brought their own children to the middle/high school I would later lead as a principal.

Social Justice 144

Social Justice Leadership Elementary School Professional Development 144

Digital Promise

FEBRUARY 27, 2020

These experiences provide a framework for learning that uses surroundings, communities, and cultures to invite inquiry, investigate biases, and deepen understanding. What happens when this same approach is applied to school districts? Chief George Dan Public School provides culturally responsive, literacy-based invitations to learning.

Middle School 110

Middle School Social Justice Professional Development Cultures 110

ED Surge

APRIL 19, 2023

My middle school choir teacher recorded and released an acclaimed gospel album. My high school English teacher starred in commercials and made a name for herself as a voice actor. Despite my hesitance, I recently took on a leadership role at my school for a few reasons. I wanted to grow. I wanted to grow.

Teaching 145

Teaching Humanities Lesson Plan Middle School 145

The Hechinger Report

JANUARY 15, 2020

She also found a bright side: freedom from the constraints of public-school systems as she designed her innovative school. Pyne Arts Magnet School in Lowell. But despite their vastly different student populations, the two schools share similar educational philosophies.

Public School 119

Public School Project-Based Learning Pedagogy Leadership 119

The Hechinger Report

NOVEMBER 28, 2018

The first schools to implement what Public Impact calls an “Opportunity Culture,” did so during the 2013-14 school year, and Edgecombe County Public Schools is set to become the first district to bring the model systemwide. Swanson said that Opportunity Culture could be transformational. “We

Elementary School 111

Elementary School Advocacy Cultures Public School 111

The Hechinger Report

SEPTEMBER 30, 2024

TNTP researchers plunged into a giant pool of data housed at Stanford University that tracked hundreds of millions of students’ scores on state tests at more than half the elementary and middle schools in the nation from 2009 to 2018.

Charter School 144

Charter School K-12 Middle School Archiving 144

ED Surge

OCTOBER 7, 2022

Disaster-prone communities invest in their resiliency, recovery and future-proofing, and it’s time for schools to do the same. If schools do not get the time and resources needed to recover, they may be unable to endure the next viral variant, culture war or economic disaster. We are a family. We are Liberty.”

Middle School 104

Middle School Cultures Leadership Economics 104

The Hechinger Report

FEBRUARY 20, 2019

The view from the entrance of Ridgeview Charter Middle School in Sandy Springs, Georgia. Standing in front of Ridgeview Charter Middle School in this Atlanta suburb, you can’t help but notice the opulence of the homes that surround it. Inside the doors of the middle school, there’s a different American story playing out.

Middle School 111

Middle School Leadership Charter School High School 111

Teaching American History

JANUARY 28, 2025

So far, so good; but the third political problem facing the integration plan seemed irresolvable: what would happen to the well-loved Reid School, which had provided both elementary and secondary education for all black students in town since visionary educator Charles Reid became principal in 1914? [2]

Education 59

Education American History Junior High History 59

The Hechinger Report

MARCH 1, 2019

A panel commissioned by the mayor recently released a report calling for schools to mirror the demographics of their surrounding neighborhoods and to implement principles of culturally responsive education as a way to combat the city’s persistent achievement gap. These schools are also among the most diverse in the city.

Cultures 111

Cultures Leadership Economics Tradition 111

The Hechinger Report

MARCH 16, 2021

Until middle school, when a U-46 administrator — Wells’ friend’s mother, also Black — noticed that April’s grasp exceeded her classes’ reach. She coached Wells on how to talk with her middle school counselor. Wells spoke up for herself and got into honors classes, where she remained through high school.

Middle School 131

Middle School High School Elementary School Public School 131

ED Surge

MARCH 28, 2023

My elementary school career was pretty positive, and my mom was always there. But when I went to middle school and was on my own, that's where more of the negative aspects came into play. Coming into middle school, I was in reading honors, and I remember the teacher there didn't really like me.

Elementary School 109

Elementary School Middle School Leadership High School 109

The Hechinger Report

APRIL 29, 2019

As first period gets underway at Cambridge Street Upper School, veteran math teacher Stephen Abreu leads a small-group discussion. But the conversation isn’t about middle school algebra, and Abreu isn’t talking to students. They’re known as cultural proficiency seminars and attendance is mandatory. CAMBRIDGE, Mass. —

K-12 111

K-12 Cultures Library Middle School 111

The Hechinger Report

SEPTEMBER 5, 2024

Hedges oversees all things math for the Milwaukee district’s elementary and middle schools. Huinker led a math education revolution in the district when, between 2004 and 2014, almost every teacher in Milwaukee Public Schools received this type of training. We had such a strong leadership base,” she said.

Professional Development 128

Professional Development Public School Leadership High School 128

Digital Promise

AUGUST 11, 2017

This panel brings together the leaders of the Verizon Innovative Learning School (VILS) program to discuss how they have successfully leveraged the 1:1 model in conjunction with student data plans for low-income middle schools. Leadership Competencies for Engaged Learners. Maker Learning and School Leadership.

EdTech 100

EdTech K-12 Middle School Leadership 100

The Hechinger Report

DECEMBER 22, 2018

A Crew of seventh graders at King Middle School in Portland, Maine, plays a conflict-resolution game called “Is This Seat Taken?” According to Berger, Crew fosters a schoolwide “culture and spirit of being on a team and looking out for each other.” Chris Berdik/The Hechinger Report. And how to listen to each other.”.

Middle School 111

Middle School Library Elementary School Tradition 111

The Hechinger Report

DECEMBER 23, 2018

This is the story of what happened when teachers and administrators in Aurora, Colorado, worked side by side to redesign a middle school. Together, we were able to innovate, plan and produce a flexible school model aimed at improving student performance, engagement and equity. STEM subjects also figured prominently in the plan.

Professional Development 73

Professional Development Middle School Project-Based Learning Leadership 73

Education Elements

AUGUST 2, 2021

Early in my career, when I was a middle school science teacher in Charlotte, North Carolina, I didn’t think that the ritual of shaking my students’ hands, fist bumping, or hugging my students as they entered our classroom meant anything. But now, I realize it’s the opposite.

Middle School 141

Middle School Cultures Leadership 141

ED Surge

FEBRUARY 15, 2023

This begs an important question: When schools know that they’re on the receiving end of that supply, what need is there for meaningful, lasting change to the school’s culture or approach? As TFA cuts a quarter of its staff after reporting its lowest recruitment numbers in 15 years , I feel angry.

Teaching 106

Teaching Social Justice Pedagogy Lesson Plan 106

ED Surge

MARCH 8, 2023

Our recent analysis of teacher representation in edtech leadership revealed that former educators held a variety of top roles in the companies we sampled, heading teams that handled pedagogy, curriculum, product, marketing and sales. They will need to shape up — or create from scratch — their LinkedIn presence. “The

EdTech 115

EdTech Pedagogy Professional Development Educational Technology 115

The Hechinger Report

JUNE 1, 2020

When it was time for Kelly Ragas to choose a middle school for her son three years ago, John Q. Adams was certainly the most convenient option: She worked as its school secretary and already had a child there. Kelly Ragas, school secretary and parent, John Q. Adams Middle School. Adams Middle School.

Middle School 91

Middle School Tutoring High School Cultures 91

ED Surge

MARCH 31, 2023

His words remind me that embracing the intrinsic value of the arts is indeed possible and there is potential for great momentum when leadership understands the impact of the arts on society. In middle school, that number drops to 78 hours.

Education 145

Education Humanities K-12 High School 145

ED Surge

FEBRUARY 8, 2023

In middle school, I participated in Future City , a STEM competition for middle schoolers. I figured that what gave me joy in elementary school would do the same for my students. Influenced by my own experiences and the philosophy of my school, competition became a staple in our classroom culture.

Middle School 109

Middle School Elementary School Psychology Teaching 109

The Hechinger Report

MAY 13, 2018

Ninth-graders at the Science Leadership Academy work on a group project in science class. Philadelphia’s move toward the project-based model is part of a broader push to open alternatives to neighborhood comprehensive schools, which have struggled in the face of chronic underfunding. Photo: Amadou Diallo for The Hechinger Report.

Project-Based Learning 106

Project-Based Learning Leadership High School Tradition 106