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  • How schools can help students facing homelessness get to class

    How schools can help students facing homelessness get to class


    Coming up with solutions to the transportation problems of homeless students would go a long way toward reducing chronic absenteeism, advocates say.

    Credit: KATE SEQUEIRA/EDSOURCE

    A quiet place to complete homework, free and stable transportation options, and not immediately being penalized for missed work are among the things that Te’yana Brown said could have helped her as she faced homelessness at different points between elementary and high school.

    Instead, Brown spent most mornings trying to figure out how to get to her high school. Sometimes, a family member could drive her the 45 minutes to an hour to school, while on other days she took the bus. She missed so much school at one point that she was deemed chronically absent, meaning she’d missed at least 10% of the school year.

    “I think they knew periodically because I would always have absences or I would always be tardy, but I don’t think they were really concerned because, either way, I usually got my work done,” Brown responded in a recent interview to a question about whether her school knew she was experiencing homelessness. “I guess they didn’t really want to make me feel bad about it, but I wish they would have provided a little bit more resources.”

    Te’yana Brown was awarded a scholarship from SchoolHouse Connection, a national homeless advocacy organization that addresses how schools can increase attendance among students experiencing homelessness.

    Brown was far from the only one finding it difficult to get to school as a student experiencing homelessness: Of the more than 246,000 homeless students in California during the 2022-23 school year, 40% were chronically absent, according to data analysis by SchoolHouse Connection and Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan.

    To prevent experiences like Brown’s is the reason for a new partnership between Attendance Works, a nonprofit aimed at boosting school attendance, and SchoolHouse Connection, a national homeless advocacy organization, to address how schools can increase attendance among students experiencing homelessness.

    A federal law, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, was implemented decades ago to ensure homeless students are identified and supported. If a homeless student falls through the cracks, they miss out on services that could help them stay in school, even if their housing situation remains tenuous.

    The two organizations spent months analyzing data and interviewing districts nationwide to understand how to bring homeless students back to school.

    “There’s a way in which all of McKinney-Vento is about attendance. The entire effort is about increasing attendance, as well as supporting success,” said Barbara Duffield, executive director of SchoolHouse Connection.

    Among the top strategies they gathered are training school staff to identify whether a student might be homeless, working together across school departments to avoid penalizing students for challenges arising from homelessness, and focusing on transportation access.

    Some specific examples of districts taking homeless students’ needs into account include a county in Virginia that coordinated bus routes to motels where homeless students were living. Students admitted to being embarrassed when their classmates would see where they lived, so the bus schedule was changed to make the motels the first stop each morning and the last stop after school.

    In Fresno, a team of school officials at Coalinga-Huron Unified School District meets weekly to review academics, attendance and other factors related to homeless students’ education and then take steps to support those students through that week.

    While identification of homelessness is required under the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, the people doing this work at schools are often understaffed and underfunded. Usually, they have to gather funding from sources unrelated to McKinney-Vento to comply with the law.

    The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act’s Education for Homeless Children and Youth grant is a steady stream of funding targeted at this student population, but at $129 million nationwide, it does not reach all schools that enroll students experiencing homelessness. During the 2022-23 school year, for example, California received $14.6 million to support the educational needs of homeless students, but it reached only 127 of the state’s more than 2,000 districts. The year prior, California received $13.2 million in competitive grants that went to 136 districts.

    A significant amount of federal pandemic recovery funds set aside for homeless students was also available starting in March 2021 — over $98 million that went to 92% of California’s school districts, though that was one-time funding.

    A federal Department of Education study published this year found that local educational agencies that received those pandemic recovery funds saw a decrease of 5 percentage points in homeless students’ chronic absenteeism rate.

    The study attributed this national trend to schools’ access to increased funding. Duffield pointed out that these decreases occurred even as student homelessness rose over the same period.

    Brown was eventually able to get to school consistently and is now in her second year at Pitzer College, a private institution that is part of the Claremont Colleges in Southern California, studying management engineering on a full-ride scholarship.

    Her path there, however, required transferring to a high school that offered her flexibility in managing her schoolwork and provided resources that helped her focus on school even as she looked for stable housing.

    Brown’s story is not uncommon

    Te’yana Brown speaks at her high school graduation.

    Brown was never identified as homeless in high school despite showing signs that her basic needs were not being met, including being chronically absent and missing school assignments despite generally maintaining good grades.

    She struggled academically in the first two years of high school, a time in which she and her family were doubling up with other families, eventually moving between motels. She said she didn’t receive resources outside of what all other students were offered, such as referring families to social services programs like CalWorks.

    But her educational experience and her college aspirations changed when she transferred to a school that offered her more flexibility and support. Brown had started working part time at a Goodwill store at age 15, but she stayed on top of her academics because her new school was a hybrid program that required in-person classes only twice a week.

    “Not all students have the flexibility to go to school eight hours a day,” Brown said. ”That can be really challenging when it comes to students from underserved communities.”

    At her new school in the Pasadena area of Los Angeles, Brown had 24-hour access to tutoring platforms, regular check-ins with her teachers and academic counselor, and a college preparatory program that included university tours.

    “I had a lot of other tasks that I needed to do, whether it be research for my family or working to actually support myself,” she said.

    The research that Brown referred to was the time she spent searching for affordable housing for herself, her mother, and her sister.

    Once Brown got into college and moved to on-campus housing, she turned to figuring out how her mother and sister could remain stable.

    “It was really stressful because I had a lot of worry about how my family was going to survive. It really hurt my heart if I was able to go to college and have a roof over my head but they didn’t have a place of their own,” said Brown.

    Brown’s sense of responsibility has permeated her academic life, her college application process, and her decisions now as a college student. For example, when she got an Amazon scholarship that included a housing stipend and a monthly salary, she saved most of her pay for a down payment on a home for her family.

    Advocates say efforts to increase attendance will continue to fail if homeless students are not the central focus. Just last week, Fresno Unified’s school board voted to provide rental subsidies to 10 unhoused families with kids who were were chronically absent. This is the type of strategy that the partnership between Attendance Works and SchoolHouse Connection aims to highlight and help expand.

    “If we’re devising strategies but we’re not paying attention to the specific circumstances of the youth who have the highest chronic absence rates and some really unique barriers,” Duffield said, “then those overall attendance efforts aren’t going to be successful.”





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  • Student Achievement Through Staff Culture: An Interview with Max Wakeman

    Student Achievement Through Staff Culture: An Interview with Max Wakeman


    School leadership gold in this interview with Max

    Over the past year we’ve been learning from 40 schools in Walsall and Sandwell England. These schools, located outside of Birmingham in areas of unusually high economic deprivation, were chosen to participate in a Priority Education Improvement Areas (PEIA) grant to increase self-regulation and meta-cognition (and therefore academic and social outcomes) in students.   

    Windsor Academy Trust, the visionary and organizer of the program, reached out to us to provide a training and support, and we’re thrilled to have been a part of it and thrilled to share that the initial results have been really encouraging.  

    Together with local education leaders, we’ve had the opportunity to visit all 40 schools, train leadership teams on Engaging Academics and Check for Understanding techniques, and study video of teachers implementing the techniques in their classrooms. From the video study alone, we’ve been lucky enough to cut 17 videos that we’ve been using in training, several of which you’ve read about on this blog here here and here for example.

    In June, we started our second round of visits, to assess growth in meta-cognition and self-regulation, and we were delighted that of the 16 schools we visited, 13 of them were implementing techniques to positive effect.  Obviously the real evidence will be in the form of assessment outcomes, which we are very optimistic about (there are lots of very promising leading indicators, including Goldsmith Primary School, part of Windsor Academy Trust being named an Apple Distinguished School, one of 400 schools chosen internationally) but in the meantime we’ll be writing more about what we’ve learned, and we couldn’t wait to share this interview with Max Wakeman, the Head Teacher at Goldsmith, where we taped two of the outstanding lessons we shared above.

    In this interview, Max reflects on his school’s success in our work together, he talks about the importance of creating a strong Culture of Error for his teachers – and about showing love for students by holding them to the highest of expectations.

    TLAC team-member Hannah Solomon had so much fun talking to Max here – we know you’ll enjoy learning from him as much as we did!

     

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  • Mistake Tolerance Boosts Student Growth Mindset

    Mistake Tolerance Boosts Student Growth Mindset


    Mistake Tolerance Image

    3 Ways Building Mistake Tolerance

    Carl Slater, author of Nurturing Mistake Tolerance in the Classroom article, suggests 3 ways to build mistake tolerance in the classroom by:

    1. Use Jigsaw Activities
    2. Guide students to Get the GIST
    3. Actively Model Critical Thinking

    Slater points out that “Teachers can help students get over the fear of making a mistake by showing them that errors are just a part of the learning process.” Students do not like making mistakes in front of their peers. Same goes for the adults. Slater mentions this dislike leads to an avoidance of failure to preserve self-identity and efficacy. Slater defines it as “fear branding” which is the perception of being outed by one’s community as incompetent.

    Slater emphasizes this fear can lead down trauma spiral of internalized inadequacies, classroom disruptions, and other barriers undermining their confidence as learners. As a result outlook can last a lifetime, limiting individuals’ horizons and opportunities. Students who already faced stereotypes about their educational capacity may face more pronounced effects.

    One of the goals of educators is to teach students what to do when they don’t know what to do. Slater explains that practitioners see real value in putting knowledge into action. Practitioners believe to get past the problems brought up in knowledge, teachers need to use practice-based lessons that help students learn how to solve problems.

    Slater refers to learning is messy. The trial and error doesn’t always go in the right direction (for example, starting and stopping, pausing, being confused, writing and revising), requires a mistake tolerance must be nurtured in the classroom. Students need to learn how to accept mistakes in the classroom. As a student’s patience grows, they not only accept that making mistakes is a normal part of learning, but they also see the value in them. This helps them become expert learners.

    Slater suggests 3 ways to grow mistake tolerance in students:

    1. Use jigsaw activities. These activities break up complex text into smaller, disjointed chunks that students work collaboratively to piece together, creating coherence and meaning. Arranging ideas and/or events chronologically, logically, or sequentially requires a grit for trial and error that expert learners sometimes take for granted. Jigsaw activities create opportunities for students to gain confidence by justifying their ordering by experimentation, negotiating text meaning, and identifying target language.

    First, I introduce this activity to students using comic strips. Students practice shuffling comic strip panels in the correct order by identifying key story elements (e.g. plot, setting, characters, point of view, theme). I then increase the rigor by tasking students to correctly sequence reading passage sections, using the same story-element identification.

    This tactile approach to text engagement mirrors that of puzzling. Like puzzles, the comic strip panels or text sections within the jigsaw activity are in pieces that must be assembled properly. Manipulating the puzzle parts and figuring out where they fit within the larger picture requires problem-solving perseverance as students develop their abilities to plan and test ideas. From a social and emotional standpoint, completing jigsaw activities also helps students learn how to accept challenges, overcome problems, and deal with the frustrations of failure.

    2. Guide students to get the GIST. These activities are summarizing exercises that help students focus on main ideas. Developed by James Cunningham, PhD, in 1982, GIST (Generating Interactions between Schemata and Texts) helps students improve reading comprehension and increase recall of complex texts. As the name suggests, GIST scaffolds the removal of extraneous detail as students evaluate and create information to convey the crux of what they read. It’s an adaptable strategy that can be used with many informational and literary texts and is an effective tool to use in content areas.

    Students read a text and respond to the six common journalists’ questions on the GIST template (who, what, when, where, why, and how). Using their responses, students identify the most important information by paring down the text into summaries of 20 words or less (the teacher predefines the GIST word count).

    As students work to comply with the word constraint, you will notice the messiness of trial and error as students change their summaries to fit the predefined parameter. Students build mistake tolerance in low-stakes routines using various combinations of elaborative rehearsal, reorganization, and contextualized language.

    3. Actively model critical thinking. To create a classroom culture open to mistakes, teachers must not only embrace them among students, but also actively model their own tolerance for mistakes. We should want our students to see that we, too, wrestle with getting ideas down on paper. Follow a plan to ensure you’re modeling the thinking you intended. Stay in character as a learner, not a teacher.

    For example, imagine that you’re working through a text or a task for the first time. Model the thinking you expect from the students. Like a good learner, ask yourself questions, and verbalize inner dialogue.

    What is the author trying to tell me? Is that a clue about what’s going to happen next? What happens next if I do this? Is this getting me closer to my goal?

    Narrate actions you’re about to do, such as “I’d better write that down” or “That didn’t work. I’d better erase that step and start over.” Let students see and hear you struggle with your thinking. Students also need to see the strategies that good learners use to overcome challenges. It’s important for them to see that all learners encounter challenges and that it’s OK. So not only verbalize struggle but model the metacognitive and critical-thinking strategies that good learners use for overcoming challenges. Try modeling perseverance by building in some unsuccessful attempts and giving yourself a little pep talk after each one.

    Conclusion

    Slater describes learning is an ongoing process that includes practicing, making changes, and improving. The process of trial and error can be fun to learn if students are given the right tools and knowledge at the start. Experience, which usually means learning the right way to do something by making mistakes along the way, is what makes us learn. It’s also one of the main reasons experienced learners are motivated.



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  • Seize the opportunity to select more effective math curriculum for California students

    Seize the opportunity to select more effective math curriculum for California students


    Credit: English Learners Success Forum

    I am a daughter of Mexican immigrants, born in the United States. Spanish is my first language. When I entered school, the language barrier was overwhelming. I see my story in the recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) numbers. The report unveiled troubling trends in math performance, especially among English learners, underscoring the urgency of addressing this critical area.

    As a young Spanish speaker still learning English, I sat in the back of the classroom, feeling lost while my classmates actively participated. Contrary to what my parents taught my siblings and me, in school our linguistic background was considered a disadvantage, rather than an asset. I was a bright student with a father who was great with numbers without a calculator. Though my parents had only a second-grade education, they ensured my siblings and I could do math well. Yet, at school the perception was that because I didn’t know English, I couldn’t comprehend the content in other subjects either.

    Though my parents encouraged us to embrace learning, education and our cultural roots through our language, I struggled with my identity and found it challenging to express myself in English. The class instruction did not support my need to learn English while also helping me grasp rigorous content.

    As California confronts its educational challenges, a critical concern has emerged: the need for math instruction and a math curriculum that is accessible and meets the needs of all students, especially English learners.

    The National NAEP data indicates a concerning trend in math scores for both native English speakers and English learners showing a national decline in math scores for 4th and 8th graders, with 40% of 4th graders and only 28% of 8th graders achieving proficiency. Among Grade 8 math scores, English learners in the lowest percentile group experienced a six-point drop, widening the achievement gap with non-English learners, who only decreased by two points. In California, where nearly one out of every five students is learning English as a second language, it’s even more urgent that we address this crisis.

    Teacher voices and research consistently show that effective instructional materials are crucial. The California Math Framework adopted in 2023 specifically underscored that sense-making in mathematics is intricately linked to language development. It is critical for any math curriculum we choose to support all students in developing the skills needed to excel in mathematics.

    This is a critical moment for California as it is currently in the process of adopting math materials for 2026, which could significantly influence students’ achievement for years to come. The curriculum materials needed to change future outcomes are being selected now, and educators can demand high-quality instructional materials that are designed to support the needs of English learners.

    Education leaders play a pivotal role in this adoption process. We must advocate fiercely for the best interests of our students, especially English learners, to ensure they receive the education they deserve. Collaboration with educators, parents, and the community is crucial to ensure that we make informed decisions that cater to the diverse needs of our students.

    As California’s education leaders, we play a pivotal role, and there are specific actions that we can take to drive change.

    • Learn what high-quality materials for English learners look like. It’s vital to recognize what makes instructional materials effective. They should be culturally responsive, linguistically suitable and engaging, helping students access content while promoting language development.
    • Include representation of interest in committees. Ensuring voices are present in decision-making, like curriculum committees, fosters inclusivity. Engaging families and communities provides insights that create a more equitable educational environment.
    • Get involved now in curriculum adoption. Participating in the curriculum selection process enables educators to advocate for materials that support English learners. District leaders, school board members, educators and parents all have a role to play here.
    • Shift mindsets about materials together with professional learning. Changing educator perceptions and recognizing that traditional materials may not meet the diverse needs of English learners encourages innovative teaching strategies.

    If we fail to address the specific needs of the 1.1 million English learners in California’s K-12 schools, we risk perpetuating systemic inequalities, which broadens the achievement gap. The California Math Framework explicitly calls for the integration of language and content. California has an opportunity to make better curriculum choices that benefit all students and significantly improve the educational experience for English learners.

    By implementing these strategies, education leaders can foster change and a sustainable education process for English learners. Our children deserve nothing less.

    •••

    Alma Castro is the president of the Los Angeles County Schools Trustee Association, a member of the Lynwood Unified School Board, and director of California initiatives at the English Learners Success Forum, a collaboration of researchers, teachers, district leaders, and funders working to improve the quality and accessibility of instructional materials for English learners.

    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.





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  • 4 Strategies to Help Compassion Fatigue Teachers

    4 Strategies to Help Compassion Fatigue Teachers


    Before even attending this training, I was looking for a new coffee mug for school that was big enough to hold my morning coffee. I came across the perfect one that read “Life does not have to be perfect to be wonderful.” Every morning as I am making my coffee, I take a second to reflect on this. My life is far from perfect. I’ve have had so many ups and downs and many times I questioned “can I have a break yet?” I have cried while making dinner, taking a shower, and into my pillow at night. Between the 20 kids that call me mom at school along with my own two boys, there is always someone to worry about. I worry about being enough for my kids, how their day is going while I am away, and if I am making the best choice going to work each day. I need to keep reminding myself to keep the balance of school and family. When I am at school, I worry about the kids being happy, if I am teaching them all they need to know, and if they are safe and happy when they leave my classroom. Then comes the struggles with a teaching job: classroom behaviors, changing curriculum, administration, standardized testing, and a school system that is constantly changing and expected more from teachers. But my life is wonderful! I have a wonderful husband and two happy and healthy kids. I love my job and I am excited for all that is to come. Life isn’t perfect but it is wonderful. Take time to focus on yourself and getting back to being positive and not fatigued. Compassion fatigue sneaks up on you quickly, having these strategies ready to go will help you combat it and make you feel more in control of your life and classroom and overall a happier and more positive person.



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  • What Did You Do to Stop Fascism?

    What Did You Do to Stop Fascism?


    ECE Professional says:

    What did I do? I have health problems and can’t get out much, so at a distance, I’ve tried to help others understand what the concerns and issues are, and I’ve contacted representatives in Congress many times and urged them to take action.

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  • The Power of Laura Brettle’s “Active Observation” + Hope to See You in Miami

    The Power of Laura Brettle’s “Active Observation” + Hope to See You in Miami


    “Shea, you mentioned the word “equal”…

     

    In a few weeks I’ll be in Miami with my colleague Hannah Solomon talking about techniques to Check for Understanding (There’s still room to join us: info and registration here). 

    One of the things we’ll talk about is the power of Active Observation–the idea that building systems to harvest data and observations about student thinking during independent work is one of a teacher’s most powerful tools.

    Here’s a great example of what that looks like and one reason why it can be so powerful, courtesy of Laura Brettle, a Year 6 (5th grade) teacher at Manor Way Primary in Halesowen, England.

     

    Laura starts by giving her students the task of describing the relationship between two fractions, which are equivalent.

    They’ve got two minutes to answer in a “silent solo stop and jot.” Here Laura is cue-ing a familiar routine. Whenever students think in writing it’s called a stop and jot. Having a name for it reminds them that it’s a familiar routine and familiarity is important- when a procedure is familiar to the point of routine, students can complete the task with no additional load on working memory. All their thinking is on the math, rather than the logistics of what Laura has asked them to do.

    But Laura has some great routines here too! As her students write she circulates and takes careful notes on her clipboard.  She’s able to spot students who need a bit of prompting and to take note of students whose work is exemplary. Because she has notes on what many of her students think, she’ll be able to start the discussion intentionally.

    “During the active observation,” my colleague Alonte Johnson-James noted when we watched the video with our team, “Laura monitors student thinking/writing in her first lap. As she launches into the second lap she begins to drop in feedback. First, to push a student to make their answer better and more precise. Additionally, she challenges students who might have finished early to push their thinking to identify additional equivalent fractions. She also recognizes where students struggle and uses intentional, appreciative Cold Calls of Shea and Joanna to explain how and why 5/6 and 10/12 are equivalent.”

    And of course she does that in the most appreciative of ways.

    First she asks students to track Shea: “Shea, you mentioned the word equal.”  In doing so she’s let Shea know that the Cold Call is a result of her good work– she’s done well and this is her reward. And she also tells Shea what part of her answer she wants her to talk about.  It’s a great way to honor students and make them feel seen for their hard work and to make Cold Call fell like an honor.

    But you can see that Laura’s notes were really comprehensive. She also credits Finn for using the word double in his answer too.

    Side note for one of my favorite moves–she magnifies the positive peer to peer symbol of the hand gestures students give to show they agree–“I can see people appreciating…” this helps Shea to see how much her peers approve of her good work!

    Next Laura goes to Joanna. “What I liked about your answer is that you showed the calculation…. we know it’s double but what calculation did you use?”

    Another super-positive Cold Call that makes a student feel honored for her work. And a very efficient discussion of the problem in which Jen has let students discuss the key points but avoided wasting any time.

    We often refer to this as “hunting not fishing”: while students work, Laura “hunts” for useful answers and tracks them. When she calls on students she can be ultra-strategic and efficient, rather than calling on students and “fishing” for a good answer: that is, merely hoping that they’ll have something on-point to say.

    Her simple but beautifully implemented systems for gathering data during independent work allow her to work efficiently and honor the best of student thinking.

    If you’re as inspired by Laura’s work as we are (Thank you, Laura!!) please come join us in Miami to study this and other techniques for getting the most out of your classroom!



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  • Slow down and take a closer look at the issue of trans athletes

    Slow down and take a closer look at the issue of trans athletes


    Credit: Philip Strong / Unsplash

    As a San Francisco liberal, I was surprised to find myself agreeing with some MAGA arguments. It reflects a common way of thinking these days: You are either with us or against us. You are either a flaming woke liberal or an ignorant nutcase conservative.

    Not so.

    There are two basic ways people make decisions. Thinking fast and thinking slow. That’s the analysis of Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman.

    Thinking fast is how we make emotional, stereotypic, unconscious decisions. Knee-jerk reactions. Thinking slow, on the other hand, takes more effort and analysis.

    Unfortunately, we sometimes come up with quick, simple answers to questions that require more complicated analysis.

    Let’s take the controversy of whether trans athletes should play on girls sports teams.

    President Donald Trump successfully used this issue to fuel culture wars between Democrats and Republicans during the 2024 presidential campaign.

    The first reaction is emotional, on both sides of the political divide.

    • Conservative response: It’s not fair to give one team a competitive advantage and risk injury to students.
    • Liberal response: Of course they should play on girls teams. We should never discriminate against trans athletes. Banning the athlete treats her as an outsider or misfit. This further traumatizes the trans athlete, who is already struggling with acceptance.

    These “my way or the highway” approaches are playing out at both the federal and state levels.

    One of Trump’s first acts as president was an executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.”

     “In recent years, many educational institutions and athletic associations have allowed men to compete in women’s sports. This is demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls, and denies women and girls the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports.”

    Democrats later blocked an effort in Congress to turn Trump’s executive order into law.

    Since 2014, California students have had the right to play on a sports team that aligns with their gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the student’s records.

    However, two bills were recently introduced in the Legislature to ban this.

    • Assembly Bill 89 (Sanchez), would have required the California Interscholastic Federation to amend its constitution, bylaws and policies to prohibit a pupil whose sex was assigned male at birth from participating on a girls interscholastic sports team.
    • Assembly Bill 844 (Essayli) would have required that a pupil’s participation in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use of facilities, be based upon the pupil’s sex at birth, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records.

    Both bills were blocked in committee on Tuesday, but Republicans have promised to continue their efforts.

    Gov. Gavin Newsom has angered Democrats and human rights advocates by breaking from the party line. He believes that allowing transgender girls and women to participate in female sports leagues is “deeply unfair.”

    Let’s now take the “think slow” approach: Analyze the issue. Don’t jump to conclusions.

    This issue is not hypothetical for me. My son has played on a girls team, and my daughter has played on a boys team. I have played on women’s soccer teams against trans athletes. For years, I played on co-ed teams.

    But there is one undisputed fact: On average, adolescent boys and men are stronger, taller and faster than girls.

    I absolutely support trans athletes playing on girls’ teams … unless they are bigger and stronger than the girls.

    The table below shows you the physical differences.

    There are no simple answers.

    Conservative response: Ban all trans athletes from playing on a girls team. To heck with equity.

    Liberal response: Allow all trans athletes to play on a girls team. To heck with competitive advantage and safety.

    Neither approach makes sense.  We need a middle ground.

    Let’s try an approach that puts students first.

    • Recognize this is an issue of fairness and equity for both the trans athlete and the members of the girls team.
    • For high school interscholastic sports, base the solution on the particular situation in junior and senior year of high school. That’s when the dramatic differences in strength, weight and height can influence the outcome of the game and impact the safety of the students.
    • For college sports, assess whether there will be a competitive advantage or risk of injury.
    • Understand that whatever the decision, people will be angry.
    • Forget the political divide and rest your decision on what you think is best for students.

    •••

    Carol Kocivar is a child advocate, writer for Ed100.org, retired attorney and past president of the California State PTA.

    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.





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  • First PBL Project Modest in Scope Achieve Best Results

    First PBL Project Modest in Scope Achieve Best Results


    PBL Project Scope Image

    Scope

    First PBL Project needs to be modest in scope to achieve the best result. Andrew Miller stresses that if you are just getting started with Project Based Learning, “Don’t Go Crazy”. Miller’s article “Getting Started with Project-Based Learning (Hint: Don’t Go Crazy)” suggests a few things to consider if you are just started with PBL:

    Limited Scope:

    Try to focus on two or three priority standards for your first project. Concentrate the learning on one subject rather than multiple disciplines. Aim for a two-to-three-week project, or approximately 10 to 15 contact hours.

    In addition to limiting the time, you might consider narrowing choice. Instead of many product options, offer a short menu. Allow students to choose how they want to work but choose the teams for the project yourself. There are many ways to build voice and choice into a project, but these aspects can be limited.

    By narrowing the scope of a project, teachers and their students can have short-term success that builds stamina for more complex projects later.

    Plan Early:

    One of the challenges of PBL, but also one of the joys, is the planning process. In PBL, you plan up front, and it does take a significant amount of time. You need to plan assessments and scaffolds and gather resources to support project learning.

    While you might be able to do some of this during scheduled planning time, ask your leadership for creative structures to carve out time for planning. Perhaps staff meetings can be used for this time, or release days can be offered.

    It is important to get ahead and feel prepared for and confident about a project. By using the backward design process, you can effectively map out a project that is ready to go in the classroom.

    Once you plan, you can differentiate instruction and meet the needs of your students, rather than being in permanent crisis mode trying to figure out what will happen tomorrow.

    Gather Feedback:

    When you have a great project planned, contact colleagues both digitally and in person to get feedback. This can be done through posting an idea on X or having a gallery walk of ideas, where teachers walk your project gallery and leave feedback on Post-its. If you can, have a 30-minute conversation with a teacher colleague or instructional coach.

    Main Course, Not Dessert:

    It is easy in a short-term project to fall into the trap of a “dessert” project that isn’t necessarily inquiry based. With PBL, the project itself is the learning- it’s the “main course.” In fact, many teachers who think they are doing PBL are actually doing project. In PBL you are teaching through the project-not teaching and then doing the project.

    Use an effective PBL project checklist to ensure a high-quality experience, while still keeping a narrow focus and timeline. It helps ensure that you focus on aspects such as inquiry, voice and choice, and significant content.

    Commit to Reflection:

    We are all learners, and when we start something new, we start small, limiting our focus to help us master the bigger thing step by step. A key aspect of this is that when you finish a project, you should take time to reflect on it.

    Consider journaling, having a dialogue with an instructional coach, or following a structured reflection protocol with a team of teachers.

    Through reflection, projects become better and may live on for many years, so that reflection time pays off with time saved on subsequent runs through the project.

    Tips From the Classroom

    From PBL in the Elementary Grades Step-by-Step Guidance book provides the following tips:

    First Project? Modest is Best

    A project ambitious in scope might last a month or more. It would involve multiple subjects and complex products, community outreach, presentations to a large public audience, advanced technology…but if this is your first project, you don’t need to go there yet. You might want to get comfortable with the basics of PBL first. Here’s what we advise for a modest first project:

    • 2 weeks in duration
    • 1 curricular area of focus (with integrated literacy standards)
    • limited complexity and number of student products
    • takes place completely in the classroom, does not include trips into the community

    Hallermann, Sara; Larmer, John; Mergendoller PhD, John. PBL in the Elementary Grades: Step-by-Step Guidance, Tools and Tips for Standards-Focused K-5 Projects (p. 28). Buck Institute for Education. Kindle Edition.

    Reminder:

    If you have no idea for your first Project Based Learning, you can read my post Explore Project Idea with 5 Tips for Authentic Learning.

    You can read my next post PBL Project Design Focus on Content Knowledge & 3Cs Students Need



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  • Unlocking the Potential of Live Streaming to Support Your School Community


    Jeffrey D. Bradbury
    Latest posts by Jeffrey D. Bradbury (see all)

    In today’s digital landscape, live streaming has emerged as a powerful tool for schools and educators to enhance communication, foster transparency, and build stronger connections with their communities. From board meetings to student performances, the ability to broadcast events in real-time is transforming how educational institutions engage with stakeholders.

    The question isn’t whether schools should embrace live streaming, but rather how quickly they can implement this transformative technology. Let’s explore why live streaming has become essential for modern educational institutions and how it can benefit your school community.

    In this blog post, we will cover not only the most popular live streaming platforms for education but also share our top 10 reasons why your school district should have a live streaming solution to support your community.

    Popular Live Streaming Platforms

    There are several powerful platforms available for educational live streaming, each offering unique features to support teaching and learning.

    StreamYard

    StreamYard is a professional-grade browser-based streaming studio that offers powerful features for educational broadcasters:

    • Multi-Platform Broadcasting
      • Stream simultaneously to Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and custom RTMP destinations
      • Manage comments from all platforms in one unified dashboard
    • Production Features
      • Custom overlays, backgrounds, and branded elements
      • Screen sharing with multiple display options
      • Up to 10 on-screen participants with individual audio controls
    • Advanced Capabilities
      • ISO recording of individual video tracks
      • Studio sound mode for high-quality audio output
      • Green screen virtual backgrounds with chroma key
    • Video Production Tools
      • Scene transitions and layouts
      • Lower thirds and custom call-to-action banners
      • Background music and sound effect integration

    Its cloud-based architecture eliminates the need for powerful hardware, making it an ideal choice for educational institutions looking for professional streaming capabilities without complex technical requirements.

    Microsoft Teams

    Microsoft Teams offers robust live streaming capabilities within its unified communication platform. It provides dedicated spaces for different subjects and seamless integration with other Microsoft apps, making it ideal for educational settings.

    Google Meet

    As part of Google Workspace for Education, Google Meet provides reliable video conferencing and live streaming features, enabling real-time discussions and virtual classrooms with easy document sharing capabilities.

    Riverside.fm is a professional-grade platform offering comprehensive features for educational content creation:

    • Core Features
      • Professional-grade broadcasting and recording capabilities
      • Video clip exports for content repurposing
      • Multi-camera support for dynamic presentations
    • Content Creation Tools
      • Short-form content creation from longer recordings
      • Professional development content production
      • Educational podcast recording capabilities
    • User Experience
      • Streamlined studio link system
      • Easy guest access management
      • Reliable recording quality

    Wirecast

    Wirecast is a software-based application available for both Mac and Windows platforms that offers advanced features like multi-camera support, scoreboards for sports events, and the ability to stream to multiple platforms simultaneously.

    When choosing a platform, consider factors such as:

    • Your budget and available equipment
    • The size of your intended audience
    • Technical requirements and ease of use
    • Integration with existing school systems
    • Privacy and security features

    10 Reasons Why School Districts Should Embrace Live Streaming

    Live streaming school board meetings, district events, and important announcements creates an inclusive environment where all community members can participate, regardless of their schedule or location.

    #2: Cost-Effective Communication

    With minimal investment in basic equipment, districts can reach their entire community without the expense of printing newsletters or hosting multiple in-person sessions.

    #3: Accessibility for All Stakeholders

    Parents like Sarah, caregivers with limited mobility, and other stakeholders who cannot attend in-person meetings can still stay informed and engaged with district activities.

    #4: Enhanced Emergency Communications

    During weather events, health emergencies, or other critical situations, live streaming provides an immediate, direct channel to communicate important updates to the entire school community.

    #5: Digital Documentation

    Live streams can be archived for future reference, creating a valuable record of district meetings, events, and decisions that can be accessed by stakeholders at any time.

    #6: Showcase District Achievements

    From student performances to athletic events, live streaming allows districts to broadcast their successes and achievements to a wider audience, building community pride and support.

    #7: Professional Development Opportunities

    Districts can use live streaming to conduct staff training sessions, reaching teachers and staff across multiple buildings simultaneously while reducing travel time and costs.

    #8: Multilingual Communication

    Live streaming platforms often include features for closed captioning and translation services, making district communications more accessible to diverse communities.

    #9: Student Learning Opportunities

    By incorporating live streaming technology, districts can provide students with hands-on experience in digital media production, broadcasting, and communications.

    #10: Future-Ready Leadership

    Embracing live streaming demonstrates a district’s commitment to modern communication methods and prepares the organization for future technological advances in educational communication.

    Getting Started with District Live Streaming

    Implementation doesn’t have to be complicated. Start with basic equipment like a good quality camera and microphone, reliable internet connection, and a streaming platform that meets your district’s needs.

    Best Practices for District Live Streaming

    • Establish clear policies for what events will be streamed
    • Train staff members on equipment use and streaming procedures
    • Ensure compliance with student privacy laws and district policies
    • Create a consistent schedule for regular streams
    • Develop protocols for archiving and accessing recorded content

    Take Your District’s Communication to the Next Level

    Are you ready to transform how your district connects with its community? I invite you to join our growing community of educational leaders who are embracing digital communication strategies to better serve their stakeholders.

    Sign up for my weekly newsletter to receive:

    • Expert tips on educational technology implementation
    • Case studies of successful district communication strategies
    • Early access to webinars and training resources
    • Exclusive community member discounts on consulting services

    Visit www.BuildYourEDUBrand.com today to join our community and sign up for the newsletter. Together, we can build stronger, more connected school communities through effective digital communication.

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