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Trump is following through on his frequent threats to punish anyone who crossed him in the past. He recently ordered his compliant Attorney General to investigate two men who were critical of him during his first term. Elie Honig, a former federal prosecutor, wrote about the tyrannical nature of this action and about Pam Bondi’s willingness to do whatever he wants.
Donald Trump’s presidential payback tour rages on, and now it’s personal. It’s one thing to target multi-billion dollar law firms, universities, and media outlets for organizational retribution; those efforts, aimed at stifling and punishing any criticism or dissent, are reprehensible in their own right. But now Trump is going after individual private citizens, using the might of the Executive Branch to potentially throw his detractors in prison.
In a pair of official proclamations – rendered no less unhinged by the use of official fonts and White House letterhead – Trump identifies two targets who worked in the federal government during his first tenure and dared to speak out publicly against him. First: Chris Krebs, who led the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency from 2018 to 2020 and made headlines when he publicly contradicted Trump’s false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. For this act of heretical truth-telling, Trump labels Krebs “a significant bad-faith actor” – whatever the hell that means – who poses grave “risks” to the American public.
And then there’s Miles Taylor, a former Department of Homeland Security official who publicly criticized the President in an anonymous book and various media appearances. Taylor, like Krebs, purportedly poses “risks” to the United States, is a “bad-faith actor” (though apparently not a significant one like Krebs) and “stoked dissension” with his public commentary.
Are you scared? Don’t you fear the “risks” posed by these two monsters?
True to the form he has displayed when going after disfavored law firms, Trump hits below the belt. The President orders security clearances stripped not only from Krebs and Taylor but also from everyone who works with them (Krebs at a private cybersecurity firm, Taylor at the University of Pennsylvania). He’s punishing his targets – plus their employers and colleagues, First Amendment freedom of association be darned.
It gets worse. In a separate set of orders, Trump directed the Attorney General to open criminal investigations of Krebs and Taylor. Notably absent from the orders is any plausible notion that either might have committed a federal crime. This hardly needs to be said, but it’s not a federal crime to be a “bad-faith actor,” to “stoke dissension,” or even to be a “wise guy,” as Trump called Krebs from the Oval Office.
The next move is Pam Bondi’s – and we know how this will go.
Any reasonable, ethical attorney general would follow the bedrock principle that a prosecutor must have “predication” – some kernel of fact on which to believe a crime might have been committed – to open a criminal investigation. The bar is low, but it serves the vital purpose of preventing precisely the baseless retributive inquests that Trump has now ordered up. In observance of this foundational precept, even Bill Barr – the subject of sharp criticism in my first book, Hatchet Man – generally ignored Trump’s public pleas for the arrests of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and others. Like the exhausted parent of an unruly toddler, Barr would mostly sit back and let the tantrum pass.
Don’t count on Bondi taking the same course of passive resistance to the President. She has already shown her true colors, and they’re whatever shade Trump pleases. For example, despite the distinct possibility of criminality by top administration officials around the Signal scandal, the AG refused even to investigate. Instead, she decreed – after zero inquiry, with zero evidence – that information about military attack plans was somehow not classified, and that nobody had acted recklessly. Case closed, no inquiry needed.
Bondi no longer deserves the benefit of the doubt. She’s in the bag for Trump. The question now is whether she’ll cross the line that even Barr, her crooked predecessor, would not, and use the Justice Department’s staggering investigative power as an offensive weapon.
Even if DOJ investigates but concludes it cannot bring a criminal charge, the threat to Krebs and Taylor is real. Any criminal inquiry takes an enormous toll on its subject; subpoenas fly, friends and colleagues get pulled into the grand jury, phones get seized and searched, legal costs mount, professional reputations suffer, personal ties fray. Ask anyone who has been investigated by the Justice Department but not indicted. They’ll tell you it’s a nightmare.
If Bondi does somehow convince a grand jury to indict somebody for something, Trump has unwittingly handed both Krebs and Taylor a potent defense: selective prosecution, which applies where an individual has been singled out for improper purposes. Exhibit A (for the defense): Trump’s own grand proclamations, which openly confess to his personal and political motives for ordering a Justice Department inquiry. Selective prosecution defenses rarely succeed, often because prosecutors typically don’t commit their improper motives to paper. But this would be the rare case where the evidence is so plain – it’s on White House letterhead, signed by the President – that a judge could hardly overlook it.
Trump has long made a habit of threatening his opponents with criminal prosecution through social media posts and by spontaneous outbursts from the lectern. Until now, it was mostly bluster, a public form of scream therapy for the capricious commander-in-chief. But now it’s in writing, from the president to the attorney general, who typically jumps to attention to serve whatever suits the boss, prosecutorial standards be darned. Trump’s dark fantasies are coming to life.
Elie Honig served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York for 8.5 years and as the Director of the Division of Criminal Justice at the Office of Attorney General for the State of New Jersey for 5.5 years. He is currently a legal Analyst for CNN and Executive Director at Rutgers Institute for Secure Communities
Yesterday — like every day last week — I had just 27 minutes to plan my lessons and grade my fourth-grade students’ work. In reality, I spent that time signing in to the office, getting my mail, setting up breakfast for my students, and calling a parent about their child who had been absent four days in a row. I had no time left to prepare for my first lesson of the day.
This isn’t just an occasional bad day — it’s a constant reality. Survey results from recent years found that teachers nationwide identify “more planning time during the school day” as one of the most critical changes districts could make to support their teaching.
Yet, in my district, Los Angeles Unified, the second-largest school district in the nation, elementary teachers have only 27 minutes of prep time — a staggering 20 minutes less than the national average of 47 minutes, which is still too little. This gap isn’t just a statistic; it’s a crisis that directly impacts our ability to plan, collaborate and provide the essential support our students deserve.
As a 20-year educator and 2017 Teacher of the Year, meeting the needs of every student is my mission. However, a lack of prep time makes it nearly impossible to fulfill that commitment. Many of my students face behavioral challenges that require additional support — particularly those from our highest-needs neighborhoods. But without time to prepare, access resources or collaborate with colleagues, we are failing students before they even begin their day.
Beyond the individual toll of teacher prep time, the schedule also isolates educators. Teacher collaboration is essential for strong schools, and while I value learning from my colleagues and offering guidance to new teachers, my district’s prep time policy leaves no space for additional collaboration, like mentoring, sharing best practices, or building a community. Burned-out, unsupported teachers cannot create thriving classrooms.
The new reading program in LAUSD exemplifies the intense time demands on teachers. Each 90-minute lesson requires 30 to 40 minutes of planning — every day, five days a week — for just one subject I teach. This leaves little time for other critical tasks like grading, providing feedback or planning small group instruction. To keep up, I’m forced to spend hours working from home each week, sacrificing time with my family.
Teachers should not have to choose between their families and students. Yet, a recent survey by Educators for Excellence, “Voices from the Classroom 2024“, found that the second-biggest reason teachers plan to leave the profession is that they take on too many responsibilities outside of paid hours, including lesson planning and grading at home. For teachers in high-need schools, this was the most significant reason — even more important than concerns about low pay.
At the same time, the Nation’s Report Card (NAEP) 2024 scores show little to no improvement in learning since the pandemic, particularly for LAUSD students. Hispanic students — who make up 80% of the district’s student body — continue to lag behind, with an average 31-point gap compared with white students across all grade levels and subjects.
Addressing the root causes — including insufficient prep time — is critical for districts to close these gaps and keep teachers in classrooms.
The future of our students depends on a system that prioritizes educator support and adequate prep time. Without action, schools risk losing more talented teachers and leaving students further behind. By demanding more prep time, we can create a stronger, more collaborative school environment — one where teachers stay, students thrive and outcomes improve. The clock is ticking.
•••
Misti Kemmer is a 20-year LAUSD educator, 2017 Teacher of the Year, and an active member of Educators for Excellence – Los Angeles, a teacher advocacy organization.
The opinions expressed in this commentary represent those of the author. EdSource welcomes commentaries representing diverse points of view. If you would like to submit a commentary, please review our guidelines and contact us.
Since 2016, one of our most exciting projects here at Team TLAC has been our Teaching Fellowship, which has allowed us to learn from champion teachers and share their expertise through our workshops and materials with schools all over the world. We are excited to announce that we are opening applications for our fourth cohort of TLAC Fellows!
The goal of our Fellows program has always been to recognize, support, and develop outstanding classroom teachers. In our initial launch of the program, we described the purpose like this:
We want to create incentives for great teachers to become even better teachers. That is, we want ways for them to be ambitious and remain in the classroom, to be ambitious about being a classroom teacher, rather than having entering administration be the only way to be ambitious.
And we want to encourage very, very good teachers to focus on getting even better- to strive to become classroom artisans who love and are fascinated by the mastery of the craft. We want them to love deep study of teaching and importantly, to influence their peers though the excellence of their daily teaching and their passion for the craft- their growth mindset, if you will. We think great schools need people like that. And being who we are of course we also want to learn not just from but with people like that- study them and their work but also study the craft generally alongside them.
The time is right for a program like this one. Since 2020, teachers have been required to adapt to a constantly changing educational landscape, and students have returned to school with increasingly urgent learning needs. Across the country and around the world, schools are struggling to attract and keep top teachers in classrooms. This is our opportunity to honor the incredibly hard and important work teachers are doing.
Of course, our team benefits tremendously from the Fellows program. Not only have we been inspired and energized by the work that our Fellows have done in their schools, but we’ve gained invaluable video and reflections about the nuances of various TLAC techniques. Many of our former Fellows are featured in TLAC 3.0, including in our new Keystone videos (extended videos, 10 minutes or so, intended to show a longer arc of a teacher’s lesson where they use multiple techniques in combination). We still have strong relationships with former Fellows who continue to contribute to our team and help us learn. Over the next few months on the blog, we’ll be shining a spotlight on Fellows from our recently concluded third cohort to share some of the work and learning they’ve done during their time in the program (see the end of this blog post for their names and independent study areas).
If you are a teacher who is looking to be valued and celebrated for your work while being pushed to grow in your own practice to become even better for your students and colleagues, we invite you to apply and learn alongside us!
Cohort 4 Details:
The program will run from January 2026-January 2028, for which Fellows must remain in the classroom.
The first 18 months will involve active programming (bi-monthly remote and some in-person meetings with the team, classroom filming, video analysis, etc.) and the final 6 months will be an independent project.
A $10,000 stipend (paid over the course of two years, provided that Fellows remain in the classroom and complete the independent project)
Here’s a list of our most recent cohort of TLAC Fellows, along with their grade band and subject, and their area of study for their independent project.
Ben Katcher, HS History, Implementing Knowledge Organizers in the Classroom
Beth Greenwood, MS Science, TLAC Techniques in the UK
Bob Arnold and Rene Claxton, Medical Education, Engaging Academics in the Medical Education Setting
Casey Clementson, MS Orchestra, What to Do Cycle in Middle School Orchestra
Christina Mercado, MS ELA, Habits of Discussion Implementation and Maintenance
Diana Bentley, HS ELA, Cultivating Facilitator Expertise Across the School
Jamarr McCain, MS Math, Adult PD on Knowledge Organizers
Kathleen Lavelle, HS Science, Supporting Students with IEPs in General Practical Science
Rockyatu Otoo, ES SPED, Increasing Belonging and Collaboration with Colleagues through Culturally Responsive Lesson Prep Checklist
Steve Kuninsky, HS Science, FASE Reading and Accountable Independent Reading in Chemistry
This story has been updated with additional information on visa terminations at UC Riverside.
California campuses are searching for answers after dozens of international students had their visas terminated in recent days, a worrying trend for the state’s public colleges and universities, which enroll tens of thousands of international students and depend on the millions of dollars in tuition revenue they provide.
Concerns are also growing that the visa actions could result in a sizable number of international students choosing not to attend U.S. colleges in the fall.
Across the University of California’s 10 campuses, California State University’s 23 campuses and the state’s 116 community colleges, more than 80 current and former students have had their F-1 visas terminated, a number that could grow. In most cases, campus officials said the federal government, under new Trump administration policies, terminated the visas without explanation.
The cancellations are especially concerning to UC and CSU because the two systems combine to enroll about 50,000 international students, who make up significant enrollments in many graduate programs and pay tuition at much higher rates than California resident students. Including private universities, there are 154,000 international students in California, according to data from the SEVIS Data Mapping Tool, accounting for about 14% of all international college students in the U.S. and the most of any state.
The timing of the terminations is also concerning: Many prospective international students are currently deciding where they will attend in the fall, said Bernie Burrola, the vice president for international, community and economic engagement at the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities (APLU).
Burrola added that he’s worried there could be a chilling effect on international student enrollments.
“Students spend quite a bit of money when they come to university. Do they want to invest that time and money and then get a visa termination? I’m sure that calculus is happening around the world right now, with students weighing their options between a U.S. higher education and that of another country,” he said.
According to experts monitoring the terminations nationally, it’s possible the students had an infraction with law enforcement, even something as minor as a traffic violation. Nationally, there have also been reports that students are being targeted for involvement in pro-Palestinian protests.
The State Department, which handles student visas, did not return a request for comment Monday.
In recent interviews, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the federal government will not cancel the “overwhelming majority of student visas” but is targeting students it believes “are supportive of movements that run counter to the foreign policy of the United States.” He also acknowledged that the government is also pursuing terminations that “are unrelated to any protests and are just having to do with potential criminal activity.”
Visas have been terminated for current or former students from at least seven UC and CSU campuses and one community college:
Six students and six recent graduates at UCLA
Seven students and five recent graduates at UC Davis
Five students at UC San Diego
Four students and two recent graduates at UC Berkeley
Three students at UC Santa Cruz
Two students and four recent graduates at UC Riverside
One student at San Diego State
An undisclosed number of students at San Jose State
Six students at Santa Monica College
In total, a CSU systemwide spokesperson said the visas of 32 students had been revoked as of Monday, but did not disclose which specific campuses were affected.
Four students and two recent graduates at Stanford University have also had their visas terminated,showing the actions are also occurring at private institutions.
“We reiterate our strong support for all international students and scholars,” UC Santa Cruz Chancellor Cynthia Larive said in a message to her campus. “UC Santa Cruz is enriched by the contributions of our international community members, and we are fortunate to research, teach, and learn with and from such outstanding students and scholars.”
In fall 2024, the UC system enrolled about 35,000 international students, or about 11.5% of all students. About 20,000 were undergraduates and 15,000 were graduate students. CSU, in fall 2024, enrolled 13,718 international students, or about 3% of that semester’s enrollment. Of those students, 5,765 were graduate students.
Across California’s 116-campus community college system, 14,533 students had a student visa in fall 2024, or about 1% of the student body.
UC and CSU receive significant tuition revenue from international students, who are charged a nonresident supplemental tuition fee on top of the base tuition that is also charged to in-state students. During the 2022-23 academic year, UC received $1.1 billion in revenue from nonresident supplemental tuition charged to nonresidents, which includes both out-of-state and international students. CSU likely receives tens of millions of dollars annually in tuition from out-of-state students.
Concerns about that tuition revenue come as the universities also worry about federal threats to withhold funds for research and other purposes and a possible reduction in state dollars for UC and CSU because of budget constraints.
Higher education experts emphasized, though, that universities stand to lose more than just tuition revenue if international students choose not to attend. Burrola, the APLU vice president, noted that many graduate programs are “heavily dependent on international students” and that certain departments would be in jeopardy without those students, who often add value by working as teaching assistants leading discussion sections and being deeply involved in research.
Ted Mitchell, the president of the American Council on Education,an important lobby group for higher education, said it is “important for a host of reasons” that the United States remain a top destination for international students, “from the positive impact they make on our economy and cultural vibrancy to the way so many become ambassadors for the value of a U.S. education and our way of life.”
“It is important for international students to be treated fairly and afforded due process. It would be detrimental to the United States, both from an economic and academic standpoint, to chill the willingness of prospective international students to come here,” he said.
In most cases, students at UC and CSU who had their visas terminated were not given explanations. Officials at UC Davis, UC San Diego, UC Santa Cruz, and CSU officials at San Diego State said the federal government didn’t explain the rationale behind the terminations. UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk offered some clarity, saying the termination notices at that campus “indicate that all terminations were due to violations of the terms of the individuals’ visa programs.”
The Associated Press reported that some students across the country have been targeted over pro-Palestinian activism, criminal infractions or even things as minor as a traffic violation.
Burrola said an emerging theme nationally is that students who received terminations might have “some kind of infraction” with law enforcement, sometimes minor ones. He added, though, that his understanding is based only on anecdotal reports and that APLU is seeking further clarification from the federal government. He said the group sent a letter to Secretary of State Rubio asking for a meeting “to better understand why this is happening.”
Mitchell of the American Council on Education penned a similar letter to Rubio and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, requesting a briefing on the terminations.
“Recent actions have contributed to uncertainty and impedes the ability of our institutions to best advise international students and scholars,” Mitchell wrote. “It is important institutions are in a position to reassure international students so they can continue to make exceptional contributions to their campuses, communities, and the nation.”
In education, being clear is important. When learners know what is expected and how to succeed, they feel more motivated and confident. This is why creating success criteria together matters. By getting learners involved in deciding what success looks like, teachers can help them feel responsible. This approach also brings openness and a common understanding into the learning space.
Key Highlights
1. Co-constructing success criteria involves learners in defining what quality work looks like.
2. This practice promotes a shared understanding of learning targets and empowers students to take ownership.
3. By actively participating in this process, learners can better self-assess and monitor their progress.
4. Co-constructing success criteria leads to clearer expectations, reduces anxiety, and fosters a more collaborative learning environment.
5. It’s an ongoing process that requires flexibility, reflection, and continuous refinement.
Co-Creating Success Criteria Understanding Its Importance
A key part of good learning is knowing what success means. That’s why it’s important to build success criteria together. This teamwork ensures teachers and students see quality work in the same way and understand what it takes to achieve it. Rather than just telling students what the criteria are, teachers involve them in real conversations. They help students look at examples, point out important traits, and explain what success means to them. This teamwork approach, supported by groups like the Core Collaborative Learning Lab, focuses on the student’s voice. It helps students take charge of their learning journey.
What Is Co-Construction in Educational Settings?
Co-construction in education is a process where teachers and students work together. They join forces to understand the learning target and how to achieve it. This method is different from the old way, where teachers only decide what success looks like. Instead of just giving out a rubric, co-construction helps students look at models. They learn to spot the key parts of quality work and express their ideas. This active role helps learners understand the learning goals better. It also gives them a chance to take charge of their learning. When teachers use co-construction, they create a friendly and focused space for learning. Here, students are actively involved in their own education journey.
The Impact of Shared Success Criteria on Learning Outcomes
Imagine a classroom in an elementary school where students know what is expected of them. They can easily explain what makes a good presentation, a well-written paragraph, or a math problem solved correctly. This clear understanding helps improve their learning. When students decide what success looks like, they feel more involved, excited, and interested in their own learning. This leads to a better grasp of ideas, higher scores on tests, and a bigger desire to try new things. Sharing success criteria helps give helpful feedback and self-assess. Learners can use these criteria to keep track of their progress, find things they can work on, and celebrate what they have achieved.
Co-Constructing Kick-Starts a Metacognitive Process
Kara Vandas, author of the article “How to Co-Construct Success Criteria in Education“, believes that co-constructing success criteria not only enhances student engagement, but also ignites a powerful meta-cognitive process. When learners define what success looks like, they begin to reflect on their own understanding, learning strategies, and areas for growth. This active participation cultivates a mindset of self-awareness and critical thinking, allowing students to evaluate their progress in relation to the established criteria. For instance, as students discuss and refine the criteria, they are encouraged to consider questions like, “How does my work align with our agreed standards?” or “What strategies can I employ to improve?” This self-reflective practice not only deepens their comprehension of the subject matter, but also fosters accountability and ownership over their learning journey. Through this meta-cognitive lens, students become more adept at monitoring their performance and making informed decisions about their learning, ultimately leading to more meaningful improvement and achievement.
Enhancing Student Engagement and Ownership Through Co-Construction
Vandas explains that enhancing student engagement and ownership through co-construction is a transformative process that allows learners to play an active role in their education. When students are involved in creating success criteria, they feel greater belonging and responsibility toward their learning. This participatory approach fosters intrinsic motivation, as students recognize that their input directly impacts their educational journey. By engaging in discussions and collaborating with their peers, learners develop essential skills, such as critical thinking, communication, and teamwork. Moreover, when students see their ideas reflected in the success criteria, they become more invested in achieving those goals. As a result, classrooms become vibrant communities where learners are not just recipients of knowledge, but active contributors to their own success. Such an environment not only enhances engagement, but also cultivates lifelong learning habits, empowering students to take ownership of their achievements and prepare them for future challenges.
Preparing to Co-Creating Success Criteria
Transitioning to a co-constructed model requires some preparation. In their book Clarity for learning, Almarode & Vandas suggest you start by thinking about your own teaching methods and belief systems related to learning. How can you change from telling students what to do to letting them take charge of their own learning?
Think about ways to create a safe and supportive learning space. In this space, students should feel easy about sharing their thoughts and viewpoints. Co-construction is a journey. It requires a focus on students and a readiness to work together.
The What, Why, and How of Sharing Clarity With Learners
Sharing clarity with learners about success criteria is essential for their understanding and progress. By involving learners in co-creating success criteria, you empower them to take ownership of their learning journey. This collaborative approach not only enhances student engagement, but also fosters deeper comprehension of the learning objectives. When learners actively define what success looks like, they develop a sense of purpose and direction, leading to more meaningful learning outcomes. The process of co-creating success criteria ultimately nurtures a positive learning environment where learners feel valued and motivated to achieve their goals.
Essential Resources and Tools for Effective Collaboration
Effective teamwork works best when you have the right resources and tools. To help your classroom get the most from working together, think about adding these:
Exemplars: Collect examples of student work. This should include both good samples and those that need some help. Use these for discussion.
Anchor Charts: Create visual guides for the shared criteria. Make sure to place them where everyone can see them, and use them often.
Digital Tools: Use online platforms to brainstorm together. You can try shared documents, virtual whiteboards, or mind-mapping software. This is great for getting ideas from students who are remote or not in sync.
By offering different tools, we ensure that all learners can find resources that fit their needs and ways of learning. This helps create a more inclusive environment during the teamwork process.
Identifying Stakeholders in the Co-Creating Success Criteria Process
Effective co-construction happens not just in the classroom. Teachers and students are key players, but it’s essential to see other people who can help with this teamwork.
Parents, for example, can be important. They can encourage the learning intention at home, give support, and talk about the co-constructed criteria.
Bringing in other educators, like special education teachers, instructional coaches, or librarians, can improve this process. They can share different views and help include all learners.
Practical Strategies for Co-Constructing Success Criteria
Co-constructing success criteria in the classroom can be a transformative experience, but it requires practical strategies to ensure effectiveness and inclusivity. In her article, Sharing Clarity with Students: 15 Ways to Co=Construct Success Criteria, Kara Vandas suggests starting by implementing regular check-ins, where students can voice their thoughts and experiences regarding the criteria. This approach can involve quick surveys or informal discussions, which will help you gauge the students’ understanding and comfort levels. Additionally, consider utilizing peer feedback sessions where students share their work, providing constructive feedback based on the established success criteria. This not only reinforces the criteria, but also fosters a collaborative learning environment. Incorporating visual aids, such as graphic organizers or anchor charts, can further support students in recognizing the components of quality work. Finally, continuously revisiting and refining the criteria based on student input ensures the standards remain relevant and resonate with their learning experiences. By consistently applying these practical strategies, educators can effectively co-construct success criteria that empower students and enhance their educational journey.
Utilizing Success Criteria Templates for Effective Co-Construction
How to Co-Construct Success Criteria in Education article suggests that utilizing success criteria templates for effective co-construction not only streamlines the process, but also supports a multi-faceted understanding of expectations among students. These templates serve as a structured outline, allowing learners and educators to collaboratively define and visualize what success looks like in different contexts. By providing pre-formed categories and descriptors, templates can guide discussions and help focus on key attributes of quality work. As students fill in the templates together, they engage in meaningful dialogue about what each criterion entails, promoting a deeper understanding of the subject matter. Moreover, these templates can be adapted to cater to various learning styles and levels, making the co-construction process more inclusive. Ultimately, leveraging success criteria templates fosters clarity, consistency, and empowerment, ensuring that all students have the tools they need to take ownership of their learning and strive towards excellence.
Co-Creating Success Criteria: A Step-by-Step Guide
Embracing this team-focused way of working can feel tough, but it doesn’t have to be. To make it easier, think about these simple steps. Keep in mind that setting success criteria should be a conversation that keeps going, rather than just something you do once.
If you use this easy guide and include examples, talks, and thoughts, you can build a lively learning space. In this space, everyone will feel sure and strong.
Step 1: Establishing Clear Learning Goals with Students
The key to successful teamwork in learning starts with setting clear goals with your learners. First, share the learning aims using simple language. This way, students can understand why what they are learning matters.
Next, invite questions and spark a discussion. Ask students what they already know about the topic and what they want to learn. This helps them connect their earlier knowledge and prepare them for a deeper learning journey.
Keep in mind that setting clear goals is not about giving orders. It’s about clearly showing what you want to achieve and making sure students engage from the start.
Step 2: Facilitating Discussions Around Success Criteria
Start by showing students exemplars. These are examples of student work at different quality levels. Ask questions like, “What makes this work successful?” or “What could we improve?”
Encourage learners to think carefully. They should find important parts and explain their thoughts. These discussions help learners understand better what high-quality work looks like.
Step 3: Documenting and Refining Success Criteria Together
As discussions unfold, capture the emerging understandings in a clear and accessible format. Co-create an anchor chart, a shared document, or a simple table that outlines the co-constructed success criteria.
Criteria
What it Looks Like
Clear and Focused Writing
Sentences are easy to understand. The main idea is evident.
Strong Evidence
Supporting details are relevant and convincing.
Effective Organization
Ideas flow logically. There’s a clear beginning, middle, and end.
Regularly revisit and refine these criteria as learners gain experience and deepen their understanding. Encourage learners to reflect on their work, provide feedback on the criteria, and suggest revisions. This iterative process ensures that the criteria remain relevant, student-centered, and reflective of the evolving learning journey.
Conclusion
In conclusion, working together to create success criteria in schools encourages students to get involved and take responsibility for their learning. This approach improves their learning results. By engaging everyone, setting clear goals, and working on the criteria as a team, we build a shared feeling of success. It’s important to empower students through good teamwork and ensure everyone’s voice counts. Together, we can create a more inclusive and enriching learning environment. If you’re ready to start this journey of making success criteria together, get the right tools and embrace the amazing power of teamwork. Let’s work together for a brighter future!
How do kids learn to read? Kids learn by explicit, systematic, and cumulative instruction. Structured literacy and the five pillars of literacy help provide students with the best instruction for learning how to read and comprehend.
Previously we taught kids to read by memorizing numerous sight words and using guessing to read leveled readers. I remember my beanie baby collection of “reading strategies” such as Eagle Eye, Stretchy the snake, and Lips the Fish. While we tried to provide some phonics instruction and word walls for memorization, research has proven these strategies have not effective in helping kids learn to read. Science of Reading research shows how students truly learn to read through a structured literacy approach.
New Research
Research over the past five decades have discovered the scientific proof on how students learn to read. Instruction needs to be explicit, systematic, and cumulative. National Reading Panel also identified five pillars of early reading which include, phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Simple View of Reading and the Reading Rope came about to better help teachers understand the interconnected strands that effect reading.
Simple View of Reading
According to the Simple View of Reading graphic, reading has two basic components: word recognition (decoding) and language comprehension. If students are lacking in either of these areas they will not be successful readers. The Simple View of Reading formula was developed by Gough & Tunmer in 1986. This image and formula helps to clarify that phonics is not the only component of reading. Both components are important to become a fluent reader. Therefore, teachers need to provide explicit instruction to support both components.
The Simple View of Reading helps teachers and interventionist identify patterns in reading difficulties in both word recognition and language comprehension. Knowing our learners and their reading patterns helps us identify reading difficulties and where to focus our instruction. The continuum below from The Reading League (2021) depicts three patterns in which there is a weak area that will result in diminished reading comprehension. To identify student strengths and needs, universal screening and diagnostic assessment data must used to inform instruction and intervention.
Scarborough’s Reading Rope
We can turn to Hollis Scarborough’s Reading Rope as another way to explain Science of Reading and the components of a skilled reader. This rope is a great visual aid to show that each component of reading needs to be explicitly taught and practiced and eventually be woven together to be a fluent reader. Scarborough describes ‘skilled reading” as happening when students are able to read fluently while comprehending it. All components of the rope need to come together to produce a skilled reader. The Reading Rope has two main strands: word recognition and language comprehension. Language comprehension consider of background information, vocabulary, language structures, verbal reasoning, and literacy knowledge. Word Recognition includes phonological awareness, decoding, and sight recognition.
How does this change our current teaching practices?
These models and SOR research might affect how you teach the components. In younger grades, it is important to teach many of these components of the two strands in isolation. For example, in primary grades teachers might spend some time teaching phonological awareness, some time teaching decoding (phonics) skills, and some time teaching background knowledge & vocabulary. In later elementary these strands are more woven together as students become more fluent readers. Some ELA programs have separate sections to teach the two different strands while others break the sections into different elements.
We should be explicating teaching all these components to students and not focusing on one or the other. Science of Reading is not just phonics instruction as many people believe. As the Simple View of Reading equation shows us, if our students are lacking decoding (phonics) skills, they cannot have reading comprehension. If students are amazing at decoding and phonics skills but struggle with language comprehension, background knowledge, vocabulary, etc, they will not be skilled readers either.
Engaged, attentive students learning to read productively
In our forthcoming book The Teach Like a Champion Guide to the Science of Reading, Colleen Driggs, Erica Woolway and I discuss the overlooked importance of shared oral reading of rich and complex literature in book form.
This is a critical part of reading instruction for several reasons.
1) It builds student fluency, which is critically overlooked. If students can’t read fluently, their working memory will be engaged in the task of figuring out the words and will not be available for meaning making. Oral reading practice is critical, especially when it builds prosody, the ability to imbue text with meaning as students read it. Students learn what text sounds like from hearing models and this then influences the way they read silently.
2) It brings the story to life in a group setting. Students connect with the book via that shared experience of reading it aloud together. THis makes reading class more meaningful and increases their motivation to read.
3) They learn to sustain focus and attention while reading longer segments of text without break or distraction.
4) They are exposed to books and read them cover to cover, a topic I have discussed frequently here and elsewhere. Books are long-form complex arguments in which ideas are developed through deep reflection. A protagonist never thinks and believes at the end of the book what he or she thought and believed at the beginning. In an age when social media has normalized the “hot take”–one can understand a complex issue in a few seconds–the book is the antidote.
With that in mind here’s a beautiful example of what the activity of reading aloud as a class can look like.
In this video Christine Torres reads aloud from Lois Lowry’s Number the Stars with her fifth grade students.
Notice how much fluency practice there is for students, but also how Christine combines this with her own beautiful (and carefully prepared) oral reading. Students develop a clear mental model of what the text should sound like. And it comes to life so powerfully, with students experiencing it together. Notice also how student attention is focus and maintained via the shared experience of reading together. Students sustain their attentional focus in part because everyone around them is also doing so.
It’s a beautiful and joyful thing and, happily, much more valuable to young readers than a 45 minute discussion of the main idea of a text excerpt students have no connection to and little background knowledge about.
Collaboration between districts and community organizations, including to mentor teachers, is the key to expanding the pool of educators to teach computer science.
Educational leaders must prioritize including computer science classes in course offerings.
Parents can play an important role in getting their children to take computer science classes and in pressuring administrators to offer the classes at their schools.
In spite of statewide initiatives to increase access to and participation in computer science classes, California lags behind the national average of 60% and trails about three dozen other states in the percentage of high schools offering at least one computer science course.
52% of high schools across California offered computer science in the 2023-24 school year.
Students who are female, belong to a racial or ethnic minority group, live in rural areas and small towns or attend schools serving predominantly low-income students are less likely to attend schools offering computer science classes.
Policies in other states have expanded student access to computing skills and closed racial, gender, geographic and socioeconomic gaps.
What is computer science?
Computer science, as described in the computer science academic content standards adopted by the State Board of Education, is “the study of computers and algorithmic processes, including their principles … implementation and impact on society.” The course teaches and prepares students to “meaningfully engage” in a digitally driven world, according to Computer Science for California (CSforCA), a group of educators, nonprofit organizations and industry leaders that has worked to improve equity in computer science access.
Advocates say that in addition to legislative action, districts and communities can and should take the following steps to increase access to and enrollment in computer science.
Start with teachers
Julie Flapan, co-director for Computer Science for California (CSforCA), said proper teacher preparation is the first step in computer science education.
“Part of that means sending a teacher to professional learning. Not only do they learn the curriculum and pedagogy, but they’re part of an ongoing community of practice to feel supported in teaching computer science,” Flapan said.
Local, regional or statewide collaborative spaces where educators can learn from and support one another are crucial for teachers who are the only computer science instructors in their schools.
Teacher collaboration is key in small, rural districts or schools, where there may only be one educator trying to integrate computer science, said Tracey Allen, who has worked with rural districts across Northern California for Seasons of CS, California’s year-round computer science professional learning and training program.
“They might be the only science teacher that’s trying to integrate computer science, or they’re the only math teacher on site,” Allen said. “It’s kind of hard to have a robust conversation with yourself if you’re the only one in that content area.”
How do schools or districts find interested teachers?
Karen Mix, co-director for the federal CS4NorCal grant under the Small School Districts’ Association, said recruiting teachers requires developing relationships.
“I pop into schools and meet teachers,” she said. “Answer questions that they may have, show them the benefits and the values of computer science and how they can use it and encourage them to go to the training. One of our teachers — I had to pop into their school and talk to him and their principal maybe four or five times before we got them on board.”
Do teachers need to have a background in computer science?
In 2016, the state passed legislation allowing educators in other disciplines to pursue computer science certification with required coursework.
Though a leader in computer science advocacy, Allen in Northern California was a multiple-subject credentialed teacher with no background in the subject.
“You don’t need a background in computer science to begin learning about computer science and find easy entry points to start implementing or integrating it into your classroom for the benefit of your students,” she said.
Beyond professional development, how can schools and districts support teachers?
State and federal grant funding for computer science initiatives created ongoing professional learning. For that to continue after grant funding expires, Allen said, districts and schools can connect with county offices or other districts that are already doing the work.
“We are strapped for time,” she said. “Don’t feel like you have to create the wheel or that you have to be the one to put a resource bank together for your teachers. Reach out to other colleagues and tap into professional learning that’s already happening.
“I think sharing resources, sharing professional learning opportunities, will be key.”
CS4NorCal has even created and regularly updates an implementation dashboard — an interactive online tool — that will allow educators and school leaders to explore ways to implement computer science through the different approaches being used elsewhere.
And advocates emphasize the importance of connecting with local community partners.
Collaboration with community groups is vital, too
In the 2018-19 school year, Modoc County high schoolers had no access to any computer science courses, but nonprofits and community organizations participated in training opportunities to better collaborate in the development of computer science. The nonprofit Advancing Modoc, which eventually began leading course implementation, recruited staff to support the initiative.
Partnerships can broaden access and participation not just in computer science concepts but in basic digital and technological skills.
“Partnerships where you actually bring in subject matter experts like ourselves into classrooms can augment and help,” said Damon Thomas, co-founder of Quiq Labs, a tech education company that teaches students science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM) through enrichment programs.
‘Be creative with your master schedule’
“You have to really have that administrator in your building or in your district being a support for you,” Mix, the co-director for the CS4NorCal grant, said.
It’s school and district leaders who determine what classes are offered on a school’s master schedule.
So, no matter how much professional development teachers receive, it goes nowhere if computer science isn’t prioritized in schools, said Rudy Escobar who has provided professional development and offered family engagement in his roles in Stanislaus County, the Central Valley and statewide.
School and district leaders must balance the availability of courses required to graduate with non-mandatory but needed classes that can, undoubtedly, prepare students for life after high school. But many administrators are reluctant or unable to prioritize a subject that isn’t explicitly a part of the state’s dashboard, the requirements that are used to measure and hold districts accountable for student progress toward college and career readiness.
“We have to really change the mindsets of site and district administrators, and even superintendents, to be able to see this as a priority,” Escobar said.
To increase access, Turlock Unified in Stanislaus County will start by offering an Advanced Placement (AP) computer science course in its high schools, Escobar said.
The College Board, which administers the AP program, offers resources to California educators teaching or planning to teach AP. According to Holly Stepp, a spokesperson with College Board, those include:
Free professional learning for educators planning to teach AP Computer Science in the 2025-26 school year
A grant is available for the four-day online or in-person training in June, July or August that will provide teaching strategies, instructional materials and a supportive teacher community
Online workshops led by veteran AP instructors
Mentoring
A teacher collaborative
Innovative curriculum with pre-approved syllabi, lesson plans and other instructional materials
Professional learning is also available to prepare teachers to use the curriculum
Free, online resources that can be tailored to meet the needs of students
Computer science advocates urge leaders to be creative with their master schedules and balance what courses they offer.
For example, in rural Siskiyou county in far Northern California, a kindergarten teacher on a half-day schedule teaches computer science as an afternoon elective in other elementary grades, Mix said.
Likewise, the small, rural Modoc County created a middle school coding class in the 40 minutes between 2:40 p.m. (when classes end) and 3:30 p.m. (when buses arrive).
“Just be creative with your master schedule,” Mix said.
How can administrators justify adding a class?
Kathy Hamilton with the Small School Districts’ Association acknowledged that small, rural schools and districts lack resources and credentialed teachers to offer computer science courses, and students may have no interest or awareness of the value of such classes.
“It’s a long-term strategy, but you have to build up the interest, build up the pressure, in grades K-8 so that by the time the kids get to high school, there’s a demand for the course, and then the principal can justify providing the assignment in the master schedule to offer a course,” Hamilton said.
Escobar recommends that administrators open up opportunities for teachers to integrate, or merge computer science into another subject area, to expose students to computer science in middle and elementary grades.
“Start early,” he said. “Make it a consistent thing that the students are seeing every year, so that way, when they get to high school, students are seeking to take those courses.”
What resources are available to school and district administrators?
Administrators remain concerned about how to implement computer science courses, especially if it becomes a requirement.
According to Flapan, the co-director for CSforCA, several organizations, many of which have received grant funding, have provided resources, including learning guides on how to implement computer science.
“There’s a lot of statewide resources and a lot of momentum and expertise in computer science in the state of California,” she said. “All of these folks are interested in helping to guide and support other administrators that are looking for ways to implement computer science in their schools.”
Resources for administrators and others
Some of those include:
How parents can help
“Parents want computer science when they hear what we talk to them about,” Escobar said, and they can advocate for computer science to be a priority in their school district.
“Statewide, we’re seeing that even though there are more computer science classes being offered, that the classes themselves aren’t always representative of the student body in the schools they serve,” Flapan said.
“How do we make sure that students of color and girls are taking advantage of those opportunities? We think that parents can play a strong role in encouraging their students to take it if they have a better understanding of why it’s important and how it could help them in their post-high school plans — whether it’s college or careers or just engaging in their communities.”
Trump administration officials have described the men deported to El Salvador prisons last month as “the worst of the worst,” suggesting they were gang members involved in murder, rape and kidnapping.
The reality is that of 238 migrants — mostly Venezuelan — that officials accused of belonging to the Tren de Aragua gang and expelled to the Central American country in mid-March, just a small fraction had ever been charged with serious crimes in the US.
Hundreds of pages of US legal records and American government statements reviewed by Bloomberg News found five men charged with or convicted of felony assault or firearms violations. Three men were charged with misdemeanors including harassment and petty theft. Two others were charged with human smuggling.
For the rest of the men, there was no available information showing they committed any crime other than traffic or immigration violations in the US.
The findings raise questions about how the Trump administration determined that the migrants sent to El Salvador were violent criminals. The US maintains that all of the Venezuelans on the flights had committed a crime because they were in the country illegally, a senior official with the Department of Homeland Security said in an interview.
There is more to the story. When I read it, it was not behind a paywall. No guarantees.
