Blog

By Anna J. Egalite, Education Next, February 23, 2021 On the weekend before the Fourth of July 1966, the U.S. Office of Education quietly released a 737-page report that summarized one of the most comprehensive studies of American education ever conducted. Encompassing some 3,000 schools, nearly 600,000 students, and thousands of teachers, and produced by a team led by Johns Hopkins University sociologist James S. Coleman, “Equality of Educational Opportunity” was met with a palpable...

Download and share this free resource! https://sounddiscipline.org/sel-at-home We hope this brochure will be helpful for parents and those who work with parents - it contains SEL resources and tools drawing from Positive Discipline and the latest brain and child development science. Please share and let us know if it is helpful! Parents and all those who work with children are also invited to our next online workshop - Reimagining Resilience 1: Using a Trauma Lens which begins this Thurs,...

Hi education disrupters! We will be meeting every 2nd and 4th Thursday at a NEW TIME, 4pm PST. We are going to try this new time through April in the hopes of allowing more teachers and administrators to attend so please share! Each week our discussion will explore the following: How do we create physical and psychological safety, especially in the face of so much uncertainty? What strategies can we use to create a culture of collective care? How do we implement peer support structures for...

California The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in partnership with ASCD, developed the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) framework to highlight the need for schools to address all aspects of children’s physical, mental, and social well-being to help them learn and thrive . In 2019, Child Trends, the Institute for Health Research and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and EMT Associates, Inc. released the first comprehensive analysis of state statutes...

By Jerry Almendarez, EdSource, February 17, 2021 When we began classes in Santa Ana Unified School District in the fall, we knew that in addition to varying degrees of learning loss, students would be returning to class having experienced isolation and a high potential for emotional trauma. We also knew that the information that we educators and administrators typically rely on, like the Smarter Balanced tests, would be unavailable this year because the state suspended administering them...

I am delighted to share that, with three other educators (Ed Wang, Sakina McGruder and Pat Neal), we are launching a pilot Virtual Teachers Lounge. The first of four facilitated conversations with educators will begin on March 13. If you are an educator or know an educator in the K -- 12 pipeline anywhere in the US who wants to join in this effort to connect with other educators, compile strategies to ameliorate classroom hurdles and vent, please complete or share the link below. The...

“Even with all the challenges, what I see is the opportunity for transformation, what schools can potentially be in the lives of kids and families.” Listen Now Education is among the highest stated priorities right out of the gate for the new administration. Besides the obvious—getting students and teachers back to school safely and quickly—major challenges remain, including around what some call “unfinished learning” and others call “learning loss" due to the pandemic. Further, the pandemic...

From American Civil Liberties Union Northern California, January 20, 2021 Students have organized and led a remarkable number of movements for social change. In fact, many of the protests following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police were student-led. During the Civil Rights movement, Black students like the “Little Rock Nine,” put their lives on the line for equal justice at school. Schools in California and across the country continue to limit student expression and the...

Over 80% of students feel disconnected from schools (official) and 100% of support staff are overwhelmed and exhausted (unofficial). Emote is launching a free app aimed at facilitating closer connections between schools and students - making it easier for staff and teachers to understand and support students' emotional needs. [Learn More] We worked with a team of high schoolers and interventionists to build the only check-in tool that actively supports students and you. Emote Connect works...

OKLAHOMA CITY (Feb. 16, 2021) – While many schools across the state were close d Monday due to winter weather, thousands of Oklahoma educators spent their snow y President’s Day learning how to recognize trauma in students and create teaching strategies to overcome stress and fear that can obstruct learning. The Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) estimated up to 4,500 teachers, counselors and other school leaders attended its fourth statewide summit for trauma-informed instruction...

By Neal Morton, The Hechinger Report, February 1, 2021 Shyra Adams vividly remembers the days after the death of Tony Robinson, an unarmed Black teenager killed in 2015 by police in her hometown of Madison, Wisconsin. Angry and distraught over the injustice, Adams, then a high school sophomore, staged a walkout with hundreds of other students, who filled the state Capitol to protest Robinson’s death. She joined weekly protests and helped organize sit-ins at her school. Then, she cried...

Hi education disrupters! Beginning today we will be meeting every 2nd and 4th Thursday at a NEW TIME, 4pm PST. We are going to try this new time through April in the hopes of allowing more teachers and administrators to attend so please share! Each week our discussion will explore the following: How do we create physical and psychological safety, especially in the face of so much uncertainty? What strategies can we use to create a culture of collective care? How do we implement peer support...