A school's schedule can be as important to education outcomes as its budget or strategic plan. The secret to making the schedule a tool for school improvement is to approach schedule design not as a technical task, centered on making everything fit like Tetris blocks, but as a strategic one. In this book, informed by research and their work with…

A challenge at the heart of personalized competency-based education (PCBE) is grouping and scheduling students according to their learning needs rather than their age. With this guidebook, you'll take a deep dive into the why and how of these foundational PCBE components. Gain clear guidance for gathering standards-based data and then using the…

Schools need their writing instruction "simplified." Most classrooms share writing time with another subject, making it difficult for students to receive the direct writing instruction they need. Between the lack of time, increased gaps in writing skills, and inconsistent writing curriculum, teachers are struggling to bring their…

Since the COVID-19 pandemic intensified in March 2020, districts nationwide have faced the difficult task of reopening schools safely and keeping them open. Now, districts must accelerate student learning and attend to the trauma and loss experienced by students and families. This brief describes reopening efforts in Tulsa Public Schools, which…

Schools across Pennsylvania and around the country are beginning the 2020-2021 school year while COVID-19 remains a threat in widely varying degrees, in different communities, and at different times. Every school that is opening its building to students--part-time or full-time, starting now or later in the school year--needs to contemplate the…

In this guide, the authors provide 5 key practices for teachers and families to support all students, including students with disabilities, at school and home. The authors identified a small number of practices that have a big impact on student learning and social-emotional-behavioral growth. These five key practices include: (1) Develop, teach,…

COVID-19 exacerbated and brought attention to inequities long present in public education. Facing inconsistent access to learning over distance, students will leave this period with months of what's been called "lost learning." Short of repeating a full year, addressing these gaps presents a grave challenge for traditionally structured…

This document from the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) provides guidance on initial steps for how educators can plan and prepare for addressing knowledge gaps due to extended remote learning as a result of the COVID-19 emergency. The purpose of Stage One is for grade-level or course content teams to: (1) Analyze their 2019-2020 curriculum…

School readiness occurs within a broad context that includes the four components of community, educational environment, family and the individual child. These four components function as interdependent systems of support that have multidirectional influences. Early childhood experiences, from birth through age 8, are necessary for school success…

This Stage Two Academic Re-entry guidance builds upon the Stage One guidance that was issued by the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE). Stage Two focuses on support on meeting the academic needs of learners through the formative assessment process. Formative assessment is a critical component of a balanced assessment system that can greatly…

The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "Student Voice." Contents include: (1) Maybe One Day, the Pain Won't Feel the…

The Continuous Learning Task Force's primary goal was to develop guidance for Kansas educators to meet the immediate need of supporting learning outside of the normal practices. The team intentionally adopted the word "Continuous" as a means to bring clarity and focus to the experience of teachers, students and families as the 2019-2020…

This document is designed to assist districts, administrators, and educators with all phases of the West Virginia COVID-19 2020 reentry planning process. This is a living, iterative, document that will be updated regularly to best benefit those associated with the grade six through grade twelve education community in West Virginia. This document…

The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "Education Policy." Contents include: (1) Texas Legislature Concentrates on…

With the introduction of "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS"), teachers have been called to find meaningful and engaging ways to teach science content while incorporating engineering practices and, to a lesser extent, computing and computational thinking. The task becomes even more complex when they also have to…