Here’s our sweet sixteen of School Leaders News highlights from November 28 – December 4, 2016:
1. Understanding Dyslexia
Here’s a great report from National Public Radio on the wide spectrum of dyslexia and what it actually means for learners and their teachers and schools.
2. The Secret Society of Science Songwriters
From a little paper called The Town Courier out of Gaithersburg, Maryland, we found this story of a high school where students can join a music video production club that writes up to 35 original science-related songs and produces eight music videos per school year. Wow. Wonderful example of a successful student club where students of wildly varying academic success levels come together to make something amazing.
3. Kindness Circles
This heartwarming story of an author who is pushing kindness in schools and prisons may be a roadmap to a kindness revolution in your school.
4. Hero Librarian
We love a good librarian story. Here’s one from The New York Times about a librarian who spreads love for books far and wide.
5. Failing Schools Get Deadline Extension
This is a Washington/national story, but we liked the San Francisco Chronicle’s coverage of new rules that let states have more time and more flexibility to design accountability and assessment of failing schools.
6. Betsy DeVos Profile
She’s a controversial pick to head the Dept. of Ed, for sure. Here’s a New York Times profile of her and what her appointment might mean for public schools in America.
7. What Kids Are Reading Now
Here’s the Renaissance 2017 “What Kids Are Reading” report.
8. Innovative Curriculum Model
The Washington Post profiles a high-poverty school in Colorado where students are succeeding beyond people’s wildest expectations, possibly thanks to constant feedback from students and alumni, classes that are open to any students at the school who want to take them, and an emphasis on real-life projects.
9. Student Fitness in the UK
Should this become a school craze everywhere? We loved this story of kids in the U.K. running a mile a day, every day.
10. The Fight for Recess
How necessary is recess to children’s well-being and to their education? This article from The Atlantic details the arguments.
11. Florida’s Superintendent of the Year
Barbara Jenkins leads one of the largest districts in the US.
12. School Lunch Cautionary Tales
Hideous hamburgers, putrid pizzas … it was not a good week for cafeteria PR, thanks to kids’ smart phones.
13. Can Schools Fight Fake News?
Fake news is a real problem, and it may have helped decide the most recent presidential election. This article from The 74 addresses what schools can do to fight its spread and power.
14. Principal Success Story
We love it when we find in-depth stories about just exactly how school leaders have changed the culture in their schools. This Chalkbeat article on a school in Indiana offers a road map.
15. School Funding, Local Reflections
Two Wisconsin Schools Superintendents reflect on how to, and how not to, get funding via ballot referendums. Good stuff.
16. Bronx Principal Pushed Out
This New York Times article chronicles the removal of a pioneering principal who was trying to save a failing school.