An alarming undercurrent to current academic declines is a rising tide of maladaptive behaviors across all student populations. We’ve all seen the statistics. Reading and math scores are down in the latest NAEP numberrs. The average scores for 9-year-old students in 2022 declined five points in reading and seven points in mathematics compared to 2020. […]

Baker & Rafal-Baer: 16 professional programs create a diverse candidate pool and give Long Beach education leaders skills & support needed to succeed. Well-prepared, well-supported school and district leaders can make incredible differences in student success. Schools and districts need capable administrators for both the challenges they face today and what lies ahead tomorrow.  High-quality […]

“She’s delightful.” “She knows academics, but can she handle a budget?” “She’s just her old boss in a skirt.” “I wonder about her personal commitment if she won’t move her own kids here mid-school year.” These are just a sampling of the things said to or about women pursuing leadership positions in education. Gender bias manifests in […]

Fewer than 33% of the 500 largest districts have female superintendents, though most teachers are women. Some ways to fix that imbalance.

The pandemic has impacted every facet of American education and the consequences, both academic and beyond, could reverberate for decades to come. But while much of the focus of the pandemic’s effects has been on classroom experiences and learning acceleration among students who need it most, there is another crisis stemming from COVID-19: staggering turnover rates […]

One of the many truths 2020 exposed was the necessity for and widespread lack of connectivity to home broadband service. The coronavirus stimulus package Congress passed late last year includes a $50-per-month “emergency broadband benefit,” (EBB) for low-income households, as well as funding for the expansion of infrastructure in marginalized communities. It marked a historic […]

When the U.S. Education Department provided recent IDEA guidance in light of the continuing challenges districts face due to COVID-19, it hinted at a new normal for extended school year services. ED pointed out that many districts were not able to provide ESY services during summer 2020 due to pandemic restrictions, meaning the old way […]

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on students in many ways, not the least of which have been the loss of services funded by IDEA, Title I, and other federal grants programs. As districts move forward with efforts to provide services amid the continuing pandemic challenges, financial considerations are a real concern with budget […]

America seems more ready than ever for long-overdue conversations about race, gender and opportunity. One setting where those conversations matter a lot is in our schools — the places that explicitly define opportunity in our children’s formative years. When we select people to lead our education systems, we send a loud signal to our children […]

I still vividly recall my first trip to the supermarket when quarantining started in early March. I was freaked out. It was before masks were mandatory and health officials didn’t have a good grip (well, as good as they do now) on how the virus was transmitted. I never saw parking lots that crowded at […]

Education is one of America’s most female-dominated professions, yet the sweeping majority of school systems are led by white men. Often, the reasons are subtle. Sometimes, they’re not. One not-so-subtle moment happened at the July 14 meeting of the Sarasota County School Board, where several members proceeded to explain why they were eliminating the sole […]

Every week at least one leader tells me that their biggest challenge “is a change management issue.” It’s not surprising that Amazon sells more than 2,000 books about organizational change. Use any one of those books to plan your next initiative, then answer these five questions. Who is affected by this initiative and what’s in […]