California's commitment to expand transitional kindergarten (TK) to all 4-year-olds in the state by 2025-26 will require the addition of up to 11,000 new lead teachers. In this webinar, experts from across the state discuss how teacher residencies can play an important role in expanding a well-prepared TK workforce to help meet this need.
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A thoughtful planning process following the first few months of distance learning led one San Francisco Bay Area school district to rethink its professional development strategy for elementary math instruction. The result: More collaboration, alignment, and engagement among teachers and minimal disruption to student learning, even when the pandemic necessitated switching of classrooms and teachers.
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Polarizing and inaccurate framing of social and emotional learning (SEL) has caused concern for some parents. The authors examine a Fordham survey that sheds light on why and discuss how to help parents understand that SEL and academics are inextricably connected and not an either/or choice.
With the return to school in the wake of COVID-19, it is critical that educators and families be able to appropriately and equitably assess young students. At this webinar, we connect and dig deeper into the characteristics of high-quality assessment in the early grades. Presenters share examples of high-quality assessment practices from preschool through the early elementary grades and recommendations to support their implementation.
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Many students, families, and teachers looked forward to in-person learning this fall, but now find themselves on a pandemic roller coaster as the school year opens with a surge of COVID-19 cases. It is critical that we follow the available science so that we can protect students and ensure their education.
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Although schools are reopening on the shifting sands of COVID-19 variants and low vaccination rates in some regions, they can resume in-person classes in a safe and supportive manner using science-based mitigation approaches, such as masking and social distancing, and by attending to student and teacher social and emotional needs.
Experts share examples of effective student-centered approaches being used in schools, focusing on the social, emotional, and mental health of students. They also discuss mentoring to develop social and emotional learning skills and ways that districts can utilize federal COVID-19 relief funds to meet short-term needs, accelerate learning, and develop relationship-centered schools.
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Thanks to unprecedented funding from the American Rescue Plan and other federal, state, and local resources, school districts across the country are leveraging several evidence-informed strategies to accelerate learning and support student wellbeing. Local initiatives include conducting formative assessments to measure and support students’ growth and health, providing high-quality tutoring that is connected to classroom instruction, and expanding learning time.
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The convergence of disruption, innovation, empowerment, and new funding offers an unprecedented opportunity to reimagine how we "do school." This includes expanding access and broadening the scope of summer learning and before- and after-school opportunities to be more responsive to students and families and offer creative, project-based learning and enrichment activities that build skills, expand horizons, and lead to a wide range of positive student outcomes.
