5 Things You Can Do to Support English Language Learners

A limited proficiency in English still remains a major barrier to educational success for millions in public schools, and many schools are under-resourced and teachers are under-prepared to support English language learners (ELL). A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recommends that schools need to devote more resources to help English learners. Most importantly, the report dispels the idea that English learners need to discard their native language to learn English. So what aren’t teachers doing now, and what will be able to help these students overcome the language barrier? We look at a few…
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Technology and the At-Risk Student: 3 Ways to Change Their Learning Outcomes

Students who are labeled “at risk” face a unique set of learning challenges than their peers. They run a wide variety: ones who belong to ethnic minorities, those who are academically disadvantaged, those who are disabled, those with a probationary status, and those from low-income or poverty-stricken households. For example, for the 16 million students who live below the poverty line in the U.S., many do not own computers or have Internet access. In high-poverty schools, only 3 percent of teachers agreed that students had the digital tools they needed to complete assignments at home. For students coming from a single-parent…
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4 Important Things Educators Can Learn from Other Industries

Many of the struggles for school leaders are nothing new outside of the education world. They’re the most universal questions faced by other industries – banking, healthcare, retailers, law enforcement, and business – how can you meet the rapidly-changing demands of the people you serve? How do you create a balance of quality and efficiency? What role can technology serve to improve how you work? There are a few important lessons that education could borrow from other industries that have faced similar barriers to change. In this post, we take a look at some of the ideas and practices that…
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A Surge in Diversity Puts More Pressure on Educators

Educators have been lamenting about the problem for decades: What more can they do to help every student succeed? And more to the point: What can be done to close the achievement gap for minority students? Ten years ago, it was estimated that more than 1.2 million students – most of them minorities – wouldn’t graduate from high school after four years (EPE Research Center). Now diversity has grown at such a rapid pace, requiring a serious reexamination of teaching strategies in order to meet the very different needs of their students. Understand and Embrace Diversity Trends in immigration and…
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Why Our Gifted Children Need More Support

The desire for fulfilment. The urge for a challenge. The yearning for more out of life. These are common emotions, familiar to most professionals who, at one stage or another, found themselves trapped in an unsatisfying job that failed to feed their appetite. Now imagine this feeling as a child: Day in, day out, at the same desk, begrudgingly carrying out the same mundane tasks that dramatically neglect to pose a challenge. As others around you struggle, you sit patiently waiting for the class to catch up, desperately scanning the four walls of the room for some form of stimulation,…
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