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  • California educators nervous about federal plan to investigate schools with diversity initiatives

    California educators nervous about federal plan to investigate schools with diversity initiatives


    Flags fly outside of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building in Washington.

    Credit: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via AP Images

    The Trump administration doubled down on its plan to end diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the nation’s schools last week by opening an online portal where parents and other community members can report educators and schools that use the programs.

    The announcement about the EndDEI.Ed.Gov portal came on Feb. 27 — the day before a deadline for schools to end diversity and equity programs or risk losing federal funding. The DEI prohibition was issued in a Valentine’s Day missive from the U.S. Department of Education.

    The online reporting tool has teachers and other school staff nervous.

    “I can say, in general, that there’s a sense of concern (among educators),” said Steven Frazer, president of Associated Chino Teachers, Chino Valley Unified’s teachers union. “… A tool to report teachers, who could just be making sure that their classroom is a safe place for all students, who could potentially be vilified. So, it’s certainly a unique and uncertain, unfortunate climate right now for educators.”

    The San Bernardino County school district, which has a conservative school board, has little diversity, equity and inclusion programming, Frazer said. Despite that, teachers in the district feel susceptible to being reported to federal authorities.

    The district’s board has already been at odds with the teachers union and the state over a board policy that required teachers and school staff to notify parents if they believe a child is transgender.

    Frazer is concerned that the White House effort to end diversity, equity and inclusion will embolden the school district to disregard a California law requiring ethnic studies classes to be offered next school year. There is also concern for the future of clubs that support students of color and LGBTQ youth, among others, he said.

    “Things like that, outlets like that, are what make school a safe place for many students,” Frazer said. “A lot of students don’t get recognized enough at home, and so school is an outlet for them. And really, what keeps their mental state positive, what encourages them to learn and be happy and successful, is being able to meet in groups like this.”

    Definitions of DEI vary

    DEI has become a divisive issue in recent years, with the term’s definition and value dependent on a person’s political ideology. 

    “For me, it means ensuring that the marginalized are included and that equity is served, in that everyone can receive what they need to thrive, especially in a school district,” said Janice Rooths, executive director of the Center Against Racism and Trauma, which serves the state’s Inland Empire region. “And so, when you say that everyone should get what they need to thrive, it applies to every student.”

    Schools with successful DEI programs offer teachers and administrators cultural sensitivity training and ensure students understand that using negative racial epithets or other threatening words is unacceptable, Rooths said. 

    On the other side, critics of DEI see it as dividing students, or making white students feel uncomfortable or bad about themselves. They say DEI focuses on race and ethnicity over merit.

    “For years, parents have been begging schools to focus on teaching their kids practical skills like reading, writing, and math, instead of pushing critical theory, rogue sex education and divisive ideologies, but their concerns have been brushed off, mocked, or shut down entirely,” said Tiffany Justice, a co-founder of Moms for Liberty, in a statement included in a U.S. Department of Education news release announcing the portal. 

    Moms for Liberty is a far-right organization that has advocated against school curricula that include LGBTQ rights and instruction on race and ethnicity.

    Portal opens just before deadline

    The End DEI portal is separate from a webpage that already collects complaints of discrimination on the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights website.

    “The U.S. Department of Education is committed to ensuring all students have access to meaningful learning free of divisive ideologies and indoctrination,” according to a media release announcing the portal.

    In its Feb. 14 letter, the U.S. Department of Education letter claims that white and Asian American students have been discriminated against, and that “educational institutions have toxically indoctrinated students with the false premise that the United States is built upon ‘systemic and structural racism.’ ”

    The letter states that schools must cease using race preferences in their admissions, hiring, promotion, scholarship, prizes, administrative support, sanctions, discipline and other programs and activities, including race-based graduation ceremonies and dorms.

    On Feb. 21, the California Department of Education and State Board of Education issued a joint statement to reassure state residents and school officials that federal laws regarding public education have not changed, and that executive orders from the White House and memos from the U.S. Department of Education cannot modify or override them.

    “We advise continued compliance with state and federal laws, and recommend that administrators and governing boards consult legal counsel regarding the impact of any potential federal actions,” the statement read. “If federal laws or regulations do change, we will provide guidance and take action as needed in continued support of California’s students and local educational agencies.”

    In his own letter to school district leaders, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said the California Department of Education and other state agencies will consider legal action if the federal government attempts to freeze or cut funding because districts have diversity, equity and inclusion programs in place.

    Teachers unions file lawsuits

    The U.S. Department of Education letter and its demands have already resulted in at least two lawsuits. Both include the nation’s largest teachers’ unions. The American Federation of Teachers and American Sociological Association filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education on Feb. 25, and the National Education Association and the American Civil Liberties Union did the same on Wednesday. 

    The lawsuits urge the court to block the Department of Education from enforcing a directive that they say undermines civil rights, stifles free speech and dictates what educators can teach.

    “Across the country, educators do everything in their power to support every student, no matter where they live, how much their family earns, or the color of their skin — ensuring each feels safe, seen, and is prepared for the future,” said Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association. 

    “Now, the Trump administration is threatening to punish students, parents and educators in public schools for doing just that: fostering inclusive classrooms where diversity is valued, history is taught honestly, and every child can grow into their full brilliance.”





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  • Renewed push to reshape ethnic studies with oversight and new standards

    Renewed push to reshape ethnic studies with oversight and new standards


    A student shares her research results during a class presentation.

    Credit: Photo by Allison Shelley/The Verbatim Agency for EDUimages

    Este artículo está disponible en Español. Léelo en español.

    TOP TAKEAWAYS
    • A new Assembly bill aims to swap a voluntary curriculum with academic standards that would direct what should be taught.
    • The focus would remain teaching the triumphs, struggles and perspectives of Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans and Black Americans.
    • The bill would restrict an alternative Liberated Ethnic Studies curriculum, which focuses on the power of white supremacy and condemns Israel as an oppressive colonial state.

    Thirty-one legislators, led by the Legislative Jewish Caucus, are calling for a do-over on teaching ethnic studies after a half-dozen years of strife.

    The authors are convinced that flaws in a voluntary model curriculum have led to complaints and lawsuits alleging that some districts are using biased and antisemitic course content and instruction. Therefore, they propose starting again by creating academic standards that would direct what is taught in the course and how.

    Assembly Bill 1468 would require the State Board of Education to restart a curriculum process that was highly contested six years ago. It resulted in multiple drafts and an uneasy compromise of language and goals reflected in a nearly 700-page California Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum. Since its adoption in 2021, school districts have had the responsibility to create their own curriculum based largely on interpretations of ambiguities of what constitutes an ethnic studies course.

    “When California believes in something, we write standards for it,” said Assemblymember Dawn Addis, D-Morro Bay, a former teacher. “Whether it’s English language arts, English language development, history, social science — there are different sets of standards. It creates a common understanding of what kids are supposed to be able to learn and do, and what teachers are supposed to teach.”

    “What’s happened in our schools is, one, antisemitism. But two, it’s tearing a lot of communities apart over something that is supposed to be really beneficial to children when done right.”

    In addition to creating academic standards, the bill would create new disclosure and oversight measures that don’t apply to the current model framework or academic standards for other subjects. They would require:

    • school districts to submit ethnic studies curricula to the California Department of Education for review
    • the Instructional Quality Commission, which advises the State Board of Education, to recommend a framework and instructional materials aligned to the new standards;
    • the California Department of Education to report annually on compliance with state laws;
    • providers of content and standards trainers to submit their materials to the state to ensure compliance with the standards.

    Opposition will likely be intense.

    “The bill’s push for increased oversight and censorship is deeply concerning, restricting students’ ability to engage in critical discussions on human rights, globalism, and social justice,” said Tricia Gallagher-Geursten, a lecturer in ethnic studies at the University of California, San Diego. “Furthermore, it diminishes the intellectual integrity of ethnic studies by dismissing the foundational theories and pedagogies that define all academic disciplines, violating the principle of academic freedom.”

    “AB 1468 is driven by those seeking to regulate educational content by silencing perspectives they oppose,” she said. “At this crucial moment, the UC Ethnic Studies Faculty Council stands with California students and our diverse communities in urging legislators to oppose AB 1468 and protect the integrity of ethnic studies.”

    Last year, the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) ethnic studies faculty and the California Teachers Association led the opposition to a less sweeping bill that would have required more disclosure of a proposed ethnic studies course and a review by a committee of teachers and parents. The California Teachers Association and UC and CSU ethnic studies faculty members criticized it as unwarranted and unprecedented interference with instruction.

    Addis and Assemblymember Rick Zbur, D-Los Angeles, introduced the bill late in the session and withdrew it because of a lack of support. This year’s 32 co-authors include legislators outside the 18-member Jewish Legislative Caucus, including Assemblymembers David Alvarez, D-San Diego, and Sharon Quirk-Silva, D-Fullerton.

    “Jewish students are facing a very difficult environment in the community at large, certainly on college campuses,” said Alvarez. “It’s important that we acknowledge that and that we have curriculum that’s standards-based, as we do with other curriculums, reflects California’s values and steers away from antisemitism.”

    Targeting Liberated Ethnic Studies

    The legislation would curtail districts that have adopted Liberated Ethnic Studies, although it doesn’t name the curriculum or the consortium identified with promoting it. UC and CSU ethnic studies professors and instructors developed the Liberated version as an alternative after the State Board largely rejected the first draft of the model curriculum, which they had written, as ideological and biased against Jews.

    The state’s final version of the model curriculum presents a multiperspective exploration of the culture, achievements and struggles, past and ongoing, of the four primary racial and ethnic groups in California. They are Native Americans, Black Americans, Asian Americans, and Hispanic Americans.

    The Liberated version takes a perspective that stresses the ongoing oppression of people of color through white supremacy and capitalism. It directs students to examine their own self-identities as to how their race, ethnicity, sexuality, and wealth and privilege intersect with others. Ethnic studies teachers say students find the courses uplifting, not pessimistic.

    To date, the state has kept no records on curricula that districts have adopted, but more than two dozen districts have contracted with groups affiliated with Liberated trainers and leaders.

    Charges of antisemitism

    Legislators made an explicit reference to that first draft when they passed Assembly Bill 101, which established the as-yet unfunded mandate for districts to offer a one-semester ethnic studies course in high school starting in fall 2025 and to require taking it for a high school diploma starting in 2029-30.

    They wrote, “it is the intent of the Legislature that (districts) not use the portions of the draft model curriculum that were not adopted by the Instructional Quality Commission due to concerns related to bias, bigotry, and discrimination.”

    Both Attorney General Rob Bonta and Brooks Allen, executive director of the State Board of Education and an adviser to Gov. Gavin Newsom, have sent separate memos reminding districts to follow that prohibition. Nonetheless, proponents of the Liberated curriculum point to references to oppression and “intersectionality” included in the final framework to argue that their approach is consistent with the state framework.

    The Liberated curriculum also emphasizes solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle against domination by Israel, a modern “settler colonial state” oppressing people of color.

    The slaughter of 1,200 Israelis by Hamas fighters in communities bordering Gaza in October 2023, followed by more than a year of fighting and bombings that have displaced hundreds of thousands of Gazans and caused the deaths of an estimated 40,000,  have heightened tensions in the classroom. Jewish organizations and parents have complained that one-sided lessons against Zionism and the Israeli government have blended into overt antisemitism.

    The federal Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights is investigating discrimination allegations against Berkeley Unified. The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law has filed complaints against Fremont High School, Santa Clara Unified, and, in its latest filing, against Etiwanda School District in Rancho Cucamonga.  It alleges that a seventh grade girl’s middle school failed to intervene to stop physical abuse and repeated antisemitic slurs, including a Hitler “joke,” by other students. Last month, Santa Ana Unified agreed to discontinue three Liberated-affiliated ethnic studies courses after a lawsuit over public meetings violations revealed antisemitic bias and slurs by staff members.

    The proposed bill does not prohibit discussions of the Israel-Palestine issue, avoiding a trespass on free speech. However, it calls for ethnic studies to “focus on the domestic experience and stories of historically marginalized peoples in American society.”

    Like Assembly Bill 101 before it, the bill would ensure that ethnic studies “remains true to its original intent — promoting inclusivity, respect, and historical accuracy for all communities with a domestic focus,” said Sen. Josh Becker, D-Menlo Park.

    The 2016 law that authorized the creation of a model curriculum framework called for a committee consisting of faculty members of university ethnic studies departments, K-12 teachers, and administrators experienced in teaching the subject. The committee members whom the State Board appointed ended up writing the disputed first draft. AB 1468 also calls for a similar advisory committee, the majority of whom would be experts in ethnic studies.

    Wouldn’t that possibly lead to standards similar to those in the model curriculum’s first draft — and a repeat of the animosities of the first process?

    Bill author Zbur disagrees. The governor, not the State Board of Education, would name the members, and the language of the bill’s intent would make clear that the experts would be more “traditional” and not proponents of the Liberated curriculum. The advisory committee would also include representatives of communities most frequently targeted by hate crimes, thus assuring a voice from the Jewish community.

    Newsom would appear sympathetic to the effort. In April 2024, he pledged in his Golden State Plan to Counter Antisemitism that he “will work with the Jewish Caucus and Legislature to pursue legislation strengthening the guardrails established by AB 101.”

    His administration has not commented on the new bill.





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  • Three Steps to Get Started with eLearning

    Three Steps to Get Started with eLearning


    When schools close, students don’t have to stop learning. In recent years, eLearning has made huge advancements that make it more accessible, personalized, and engaging than traditional learning. Plus, with digital reporting tools built into the program, teachers can instantly see how students are progressing. However, before choosing or implementing a new eLearning program, first, follow these three key steps:

    1. Prepare teachers with professional development

    Although eLearning often involves students working individually at home, teachers are still vital to the process. Teachers are involved in monitoring students’ progress, reacting when they struggle with particular concepts, and adjusting their learning path as necessary. Teachers should also plan to communicate regularly with their students’ parents. To properly prepare teachers for these new responsibilities, put a professional development plan in place. This professional development doesn’t need to take place in person. Just as students are able to learn through digital methods, so can teachers. As part of the professional development, teachers should learn:

    • What does the curriculum look like?
    • How is the curriculum personalized for each student? 
    • How can teachers monitor their students and navigate the available reports?
    • Which alerts indicate that students need additional help and what should be done that happens?
    • How can teachers adjust what students work on?

    2. Get parents on board

    Because eLearning typically happens at home, parents need to be involved and on board with the program. To do so, schools should send home information to the parents in advance. This communication should include:

    • Why the school is choosing to implement eLearning
    • What this program will look like for students and what technology is needed
    • How students access the program
    • Any expectations on how frequently students should use the program or how much progress they should make
    • How often the teacher will send reports or communicate with parents on their child’s progress
    • Supporting research and proven effectiveness of the program or of eLearning in general
    • How to contact the teacher or school with additional questions, concerns, or issues

    3. Keep students accountable

    Get students excited and invested in eLearning! Show off the program’s engaging features, such as:

    • Digital rewards to keep them motivated
    • Variety of content to prevent boredom
    • Personalization of the curriculum
    • Student choice to encourage personal responsibility

    If possible, introduce students to the program and help them log in for the first time in the classroom. If not, consider holding a livestream or creating a video tutorial. Students should also understand how often they’re expected to use the curriculum or how much progress they’re expected to make, and who they can contact if they get stuck or have any questions.

    How does Wowzers Learning fit in?

    Wowzers Learning is the perfect fit for eLearning. With its complete K-8 math curriculum, extensive professional development program, experience working with schools around the world that are using eLearning, focus on student engagement, and built-in reports and tools for teachers, it makes the move to eLearning easy. Wowzers doesn’t require access to a VPN, which makes it available worldwide. Recently, international schools in China are using Wowzers while students work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have experience working with both virtual schools and traditional schools that are looking to put eLearning to more widespread use.

    For more information on how Wowzers works, and what makes it a great choice for eLearning, check out the video below or sign-up to get started:



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  • Using Wowzers with Google Classroom

    Using Wowzers with Google Classroom


    We’ve been receiving a lot of questions lately about how Wowzers can be used with Google Classroom. Google Classroom is a fantastic tool that helps students and teachers organize assignments, boost collaboration, and foster better communication, particularly for virtual learning. By assigning work from one central platform, teachers and students can easily find all their assignments, grades, and feedback in one location. We’ve put together some suggestions and tips on how to best incorporate Wowzers into this tool.

    Assign work through Google Classroom

    The first step is to assign specific content to students through Google Classroom. This can be a particular activity, section, or amount of time. For example, one of our teachers who currently uses Google Classroom often assigns, “Complete at least one lesson, game, and assessment in Wowzers.” This allows students to follow their own personalized curriculum path, but keeps all students moving at the same pace so no one gets left behind. When a student completes that assignment, they can mark it off as complete so you know it’s time to check their report. At that point, you can immediately review math concepts together using a digital whiteboard, if needed.

    Open a line of feedback

    Google Classroom allows students and teachers to communicate about particular assignments. Encourage students to provide feedback about each lesson. Was it too hard, too easy? Did they understand the content? Use this feedback to adjust the student’s curriculum path as needed, such as assigning an extra remediation video to reinforce a concept, or even moving them back to review a previous concept. Similarly, be sure to communicate back to your students. Congratulate them when they’re thriving or completing extra work, and provide support when they struggle. Let them know when you’re rewarding them with extra Wowzers coins.

    To keep a record of this communication, you can open up a private Google doc with each student and attach it directly to the assignment in Google Classroom. You could also consider using a digital whiteboard to review concepts and collaborate. To review a student’s progress, share your screen with the student, and go over their recent reports. It’s even possible to use tools such as Google Docs to group students into a collaborative discussion. This allows all students can participate and contribute.

    Provide supplemental activities

    Did you know Wowzers includes offline activities, worksheets, discussion questions, and projects as well? These supplemental materials are available as PDFs, which can be attached to an assignment in Google Classroom. You could even use Google Docs or Google Slides to have students work together as a group and prepare a write-up or presentation of their project to share with the rest of the class. Using the rubrics available in Wowzers, you can grade these supplemental activities directly in Google Classroom.

    Do you use Google Classroom alongside Wowzers? We’d love to hear your tips and tricks as well!



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  • Preparing for the 2020-21 School Year with Wowzers

    Preparing for the 2020-21 School Year with Wowzers


    Mother and Daughter home learning online math

    The upcoming school year brings a lot of unknowns, but whether you’re looking at remote learning, in-person learning, or a combination of the two, Wowzers is designed to make learning both effective and engaging. In this blog post, we’ll go over the different ways Wowzers can be set up to meet the needs of students in a hybrid teaching model.

    Using the default scope and sequence

    Each grade in Wowzers contains a default curriculum path built around the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). All CCSS and state standards are addressed, and each 3-8 grade level is designed to take a school year to complete. The online curriculum can also be supplemented with related offline activities, worksheets, discussion questions, and games. With the default curriculum path, you don’t need to worry about whether students have the required prerequisite knowledge; the curriculum follows a natural progression and each section builds upon the previous ones. We particularly recommend the default scope and sequence for parents using Wowzers with their children, since there’s no need to understand all the pedagogy and math concepts; Wowzers does the work for you.

    To use the default curriculum path, assign students to the Classroom Path without editing it. Remember that you can always edit the Classroom Path to put the sections back in numerical order if you already edited it.

    Using the Wowzers pre-assessment to assign a personalized path

    Brand new for the 2020-21 school year, all students have access to their own personalized curriculum. After completing our comprehensive pre-assessment, students are assigned a curriculum path that meets them at their individual needs. As students work seamlessly across grade levels, they receive exactly the right content to accelerate their learning and engagement. This new feature is in addition to our integration with NWEA, which gives each student a personalized learning path based on their MAP Growth assessment results. Now, even schools that don’t use NWEA assessments will be able to automatically generate a personalized curriculum for all their students. Like the default path, the personalized path is designed to take an entire school year to complete.

    To use this feature, have your students take the Wowzers pre-assessment to generate their personalized curriculum path. There’s no need to edit it or re-assign them to another path unless you determine they’re struggling or need more advanced work.

    Using the NWEA MAP Growth Assessment to assign a personalized curriculum

    For schools that use the NWEA MAP Growth Assessment, Wowzers is able to directly import each student’s RIT score. Because both the MAP Growth assessment and Wowzers’ curriculum are aligned to Common Core State Standards, we look at how the student performed on each standard in the assessment and then match that with the corresponding Wowzers curriculum. With this data, Wowzers automatically creates a personalized math curriculum to meet students where they are and help them master the content they’re ready to learn. Since each path is individualized, it can include content from multiple grade levels to perfectly suit the student.

    To use this feature, follow our video tutorial.

    Align Wowzers to match your classroom’s math textbook

    If you’re using Wowzers alongside a textbook, you may want to adjust the Wowzers curriculum to match the scope and sequence of the textbook. If you’d like assistance, we have documents that outline how to rearrange the Wowzers curriculum to match most major textbooks, including:

    • Bridges
    • My Math
    • Glencoe
    • Eureka
    • Go Math

    To request a correlation guide, feel free to reach out to our team at math@wowzerslearning.com. To edit the curriculum path to match a textbook’s scope and sequence, use our path editing feature to rearrange the curriculum as needed. For more information, see our video tutorial.

    Whichever way you choose to use Wowzers, our goal is to get students up and running with minimal setup time. By eliminating much of the busywork involved in setting up a new program, teachers have more time to spend working 1:1 with students and focusing on the more important aspects of teaching. With our built-in Learning Management System (Teacher Dashboard) at their fingertips, teachers can easily track their students’ progress at a glance and quickly determine which students need additional intervention. For more information about our LMS, see our video tutorial.



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  • 4 Ways K12 Districts Use Tech To Connect with Families


    May 25
    2023

    4 Ways K12 Districts Use Tech To Connect with Families

    Profile photo of Lindsey Canny
    Lindsey Canny

    By Lindsey Canny, copywriter, Skyward.

    If your students, families, and employees had more options, would they still choose you? Take a lesson from the districts who already know the answer to that question because of their powerful online identities.

    By building your district’s online presence through technology, you encourage ongoing engagement from students, employees, and parents. You stand out to your community and communicate a strong culture. Dive in to a trove of examples in four core platforms.

    1. District website

    Your website is the first place the community turns to for finding information about the district. Make sure they like what they see by taking the following into account:

    • Clean, elegant designs: Using modular design, easily accessible information, and minimal color palettes makes navigation easy for every visitor, bumping up view time.
    • A lasting first impression: Your website is a reflection of your district. Attract prospective students and staff by keeping community culture front and center.
    • Information central: Add the district calendar, news updates, lunch menu, and all other need-to-know info to your front page to keep families in-the-know.
    1. Social media

    Building a social media presence keeps brand messaging in your own hands. Keep the focus on school culture with these in mind:

    • Consistent posting: News, shoutouts, and updates should be posted nearly every single day to boost engagement.
    • Community-driven content: Posts that regularly feature the successes and highlights of staff, students, and the surrounding community get more views.
    • Diverse points of interest: Parents, students, and teachers in the district want to see their unique clubs, cultures, and interests celebrated on social media.
    1. Videos

    Videos offer viewers a way to peek into your community’s day-to-day life and culture. Here’s how to put your district’s best image on display:

    • Organize for accessibility: Videos that are grouped into playlists for effortless access makes it easy to garner return viewership and audience captivation.
    • Quality content = quality district: Attention to detail and planning in content reflects positively on a district’s image of capability and expertise.
    • Student and staff engagement: Students and staff should be featured in videos, and their participation in the creation process increases buy-in.
    1. Student Information System (SIS)

    The district SIS provides a direct line between your staff, students, and families it serves. Here’s how an innovative SIS can support the entire community:

    • Family access, everywhere: SIS accessibility through both desktop and mobile can keep parents invested and open to communication.
    • Workloads, streamlined: When families use the SIS to communicate with teachers, pay fees, and register online, there is less work on the shoulders of your staff.
    • Involvement inspires improvement: Getting the entire district involved in the SIS improves overall culture and communication, which can lead to district growth.

    While no two districts are alike, every district can improve their visibility, engagement, and community standing with a strong online presence without a major overhaul. Small improvements to your website, social media pages, and video library can energize interest in your district, making it the place to be for employees and families.



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  • Transact Campus Partners with Luxer One for Secure, Frictionless On-Campus Package Delivery

    Transact Campus Partners with Luxer One for Secure, Frictionless On-Campus Package Delivery


    Jun 28
    2023

    Transact Campus Partners with Luxer One for Secure, Frictionless On-Campus Package Delivery

    Transact Campus, “Transact,” the award-winning leader in innovative mobile credential and payment solutions, today announced a partnership with Luxer One, a premium manufacturer of package management systems and smart contactless lockers, owned by ASSA ABLOY, the global leader in access solutions. This partnership will deliver a turnkey solution for on-campus package delivery, including hardware, software, installation, service, support, and package delivery company facilitation.

    The Luxer One partnership addresses campuses’ desire for a versatile and secure package delivery system, enhancing the student experience by providing a reliable, around-the-clock package pick-up service. Use cases beyond package management include laptop and lab equipment exchange, library holds, bag and personal item storage, and pickups from the student bookstore. In addition, the partnership includes configurable integration with Transact Campus ID solutions, enabling students to access lockers using their Transact Mobile Credential or physical credential.

    “At Transact, we are committed to transforming the campus environment into a place where innovation thrives and the campus experience is seamlessly connected,” said Rasheed Behrooznia, SVP and General Manager, Campus ID Solutions, Transact. “Our partnership with Luxer One not only provides a superior, frictionless student experience, but also strengthens the security and connectivity between students and client facilities.”

    Prior to the partnership with Luxer One, students were constrained by limited package pick-up hours and had to endure long lines, or risk their packages being left unattended. Luxer One significantly reduces costs associated with staffing a mail room for extended hours.

    “This collaboration represents a significant milestone for Luxer One as we continue to innovate and enhance our offerings for valued customers. By joining forces with Transact, we are combining our expertise and resources to revolutionize the way universities manage packages, item exchange, library orders, and even temporary bag storage. Together, we will deliver unparalleled convenience, efficiency, and security as a full campus solution. We are excited about the endless possibilities this collaboration brings and look forward to the incredible advancements we will achieve together,” said Josh Middlebrook, President, Luxer One.

    The partnership will provide a secure, convenient, package delivery solution on Transact-enabled campuses which reduces the burden on administrative staff and enables efficient management of daily operations. In addition to the primary benefit of a frictionless student experience, this union also provides secure package delivery assurance, and reduces costs for campuses.



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  • From Chaos to Control, Tackling Device Tracking with IT Asset Management In K-12 Schools

    From Chaos to Control, Tackling Device Tracking with IT Asset Management In K-12 Schools


    Aug 25
    2023

    From Chaos to Control, Tackling Device Tracking with IT Asset Management In K-12 Schools

    Syed Ali

    By Syed Ali, founder and CEO, EZO.

    In today’s digital age, technology has become an integral part of the education landscape. K-12 schools are increasingly relying on technology to enhance teaching methods, improve student engagement, and streamline administrative processes. Although the investment is necessary, the rapid pace of technological advancements brings with it significant challenges.

    During the COVID pandemic, millions of K-12 students across the US relied on borrowed devices from their school districts, with Chromebooks being the most common for remote learning. Schools rapidly adopted Chromebooks in 2020, as the demand surged during the transition to remote or hybrid learning models, resulting in millions of students receiving laptops, tablets, and Chromebooks from school districts nationwide.

    Fast forward a few years, and now, many K-12 districts are still scrambling to account for all those devices, year after year. This includes not only locating and recovering missing devices, but also making sure clear policies and procedures are in place for future distribution, collection, liability, and insurance claim filings for those devices that can’t be found, as well as budgeting time and staff to inspect and repair any tablets that do come back before they’re redistributed.

    Take for example the 77,000-student Greenville County, S.C., school system which made headlines during the summer of 2020 when it revealed that it had been trying to recover nearly 5,000 of the more than 58,000 Chromebooks that were distributed to students during that school year.

    Another example comes from the Chicago Public School District. The district reported that computers and other devices that amount to at least 8% of the Chicago Public Schools’ “technology assets” had been listed as “lost” during the pandemic. Also, the district said it had depended on its schools in the district to take a regular inventory, but that the process continues to be time-consuming and inconsistent as only 35% of Chicago’s 500 district-run schools have a technology coordinator on staff.

    Similarly, St. Francis Independent School District located in Minneapolis, which encompasses more than 700 employees and 4000 students from kindergarten to senior high had relied completely on Excel spreadsheets for IT asset management processes. This manual asset tracking system was creating a lot of holes: things were getting missed, and the data was far from accurate. If a Chromebook was checked out of the school by a student or teacher, someone from the IT team had to update spreadsheet-based records with the person’s name, their ID number, the device number, and the school location. This was all done manually, and as a result the team wasn’t able to consistently track the devices they managed.

    This is where an effective IT Asset Management (ITAM) solution becomes indispensable and why an ITAM in K-12 schools should be highly considered.

    Unlocking the Power of IT Asset Management

    IT Asset Management in K-12 schools is not merely about tracking and cataloging hardware and software components (although this certainly helps). It is a strategic approach that empowers educational institutions to maximize the potential of their technology investments and drive positive outcomes. Here’s why ITAM should be a priority for every forward-thinking school:

    Cost Optimization

    An effective ITAM solution enables schools to streamline their technology budget by accurately tracking hardware and software assets. By identifying underutilized resources and avoiding unnecessary purchases, schools can allocate their limited funds more efficiently and invest in areas that directly impact students’ learning experiences.

    Enhanced Learning Experiences

    ITAM plays a pivotal role in ensuring that educational institutions have the necessary tools and software licenses to support innovative teaching methods. By maintaining an up-to-date inventory of IT assets, schools can ensure seamless access to educational resources, empowering educators to deliver immersive and personalized learning experiences.

    Efficiency in Operations

    Managing a vast array of IT assets is a complex undertaking. An ITAM solution simplifies the process by automating asset discovery, tracking warranties, and managing software licenses. This streamlines administrative tasks, reduces manual errors, and frees up valuable staff time to focus on core educational objectives.

    Scalability

    An ITAM solution should be scalable to accommodate the evolving needs of a growing school. It should offer flexible licensing models that align with budgetary constraints and provide options for expansion as technology demands increase.

    Customization and Reporting

    An ideal ITAM solution for K-12 schools should offer customizable reporting capabilities, allowing educational institutions to generate insights that align with their specific goals and requirements. The ability to create detailed reports on asset utilization, maintenance history, and license compliance is crucial for effective decision-making.

    Conclusion

    As technology continues to revolutionize education, K-12 schools must harness the power of IT Asset Management to optimize their digital resources. By implementing a comprehensive ITAM solution tailored to the needs of educational institutions, schools can unlock cost efficiencies, enhance learning experiences, ensure data security, and streamline operations. And, most importantly, schools and their IT staff can keep track of all those Chromebooks and other devices so there is no need to put out an All Points Bulletin (APB) on missing devices every year.



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  • Teaching Nursing Students to Think Clinically with Realistic Instructional Tools

    Teaching Nursing Students to Think Clinically with Realistic Instructional Tools


    Jan 30
    2024

    Teaching Nursing Students to Think Clinically with Realistic Instructional Tools

    Tim Bristol

    By Tim Bristol, director of strategic planning, NurseThink, Wolters Kluwer Health.

    The ever-worsening nursing shortage is taking the United States by storm, with nearly 800,000 nurses planning to leave their roles or retire by 2027. Unfortunately, nursing education is not immune to this crisis.

    The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) reports that 8.8% of faculty positions are vacant at U.S. nursing schools and additional positions would need to be created to meet student demand. Without enough faculty, this has a serious impact on the capacity and effectiveness of nursing education programs as nursing schools are already being forced to turn away qualified applicants. Fortunately, while faculty shortages won’t be solved overnight, advancements in instructional technology can help fill the gap.

    One key challenge facing nursing education is that the curriculum is not set up to teach students in a way that mirrors real-world practice. While new nurses today will often face greater challenges – and often higher caseloads – than ever before, nursing students are not being adequately trained to face this reality. In many ways, today’s nursing classrooms look no different than the classrooms students may have encountered in 1993. But a lecture hall looks very different than the chaotic hospital setting new nurses will actually experience. To help ensure students build skills and engage in clinical judgement, even if faculty numbers are limited, incorporating electronic health records and virtual simulation into their daily education can make a major difference.

    Electronic health records are not optional

    While electronic health record (EHR) systems are a highly discussed technology across the healthcare landscape, they have been shown to reduce errors and lower medical costs. Needless to say, EHRs are here to stay across healthcare and something that care teams need to use, every day. However, they can only positively impact healthcare as a whole if nurses are trained to use them effectively and efficiently before they encounter them in clinical practice.

    It’s important for faculty to understand how easy it is to implement EHRs into the daily classroom experience. Students could simply login to a basic, blank EHR and enter data based on a case study or challenge given by their instructor. For example, students could be tasked with entering a blood pressure reading that would indicate that they should hold (not give) a patient medication to lower their blood pressure. When faculty allow students to experience this type of activity, they are learning in the same way in which they will be using EHRs in practice. This is something that could easily be incorporated into nursing classrooms, even in a lecture hall of 100+ students.

    The virtual world makes simulation accessible

    Virtual simulations are increasingly demonstrating value for nursing education, helping students feel engaged and better retain what they’ve learned. By incorporating simulation on a weekly or daily basis into the curriculum, this lets learners dive deep into patient scenarios, allowing them to truly learn about nursing in a way not easily replicated with most other learning strategies. Up until recently, one major challenge was that many simulation tools are inaccessible to aspiring nurses, due to the cost and complexities involved.

    The virtual simulation (vSim) world is now comprised of technology that is easily understood and usable by faculty in all environments. Computer requirements for vSim tools that resemble realistic patient scenarios are such that nursing students can easily use these programs on even the most basic of computers. While the technologies available and their complexities differ, these vSim programs are very realistic and allow students to practice high-level decision making in scenarios they wouldn’t likely encounter as part of their clinicals.

    Within the virtual world, the realism of simulation is now accessible to all students. The next step is to make sure nursing faculty realize how critical these tools are. While an instructor might struggle to fit vSim into class time, the reality is that students can often learn more in 30 minutes of simulation than they could in a 2-hour lecture.

    Bringing the nursing classroom into the future

    The future of the nursing profession and healthcare really is in the hands of all nursing programs. Overall, what’s paramount here is that nursing students learn in the same way in which they will use that information at the bedside. This requires getting them comfortable with entering information into EHRs and practicing with realistic patient simulations on a weekly if not daily basis. Thanks to technological advancements in recent years, these tools are increasingly accessible, and we must prioritize training educators on how these tools can be easily adopted in their classrooms to ensure the next generation of nurses are practice ready.



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  • California teachers urgently need training in how to respond to, and cope with, trauma

    California teachers urgently need training in how to respond to, and cope with, trauma


    Child care providers discuss trauma at a training at BANANAS in Oakland.

    Credit: Zaidee Stavely/EdSource

    We live in stressful times. This, coupled with the high rate (80.5%) of children experiencing at least one adverse childhood experience by adolescence, necessitates that schools use trauma-informed practices in their daily routines.

    Trauma-informed practices, or TIPS, involve understanding the potential impact of trauma exposure on a child, recognizing signs and symptoms of trauma exposure and responding in a way that supports healing and may build resilience. I

    nteractive trainings help educators know how to respond to students with adverse childhood experiences, as well as what to do when a collective crisis happens, such as a natural disaster or school shooting. Educators learn and practice trauma-informed discipline, how to help regulate a stressed child, and build systemwide practices supporting student and teacher well-being.

    The California Office of the Surgeon General recognized the need for trauma-informed practices training and created an interactive online program for teachers and schools called Safe Spaces. However, it is not clear how many school districts and educators have accessed the program.

    A large majority of teachers (64%) want to learn how to better support students affected by trauma, according to a survey of nearly 15,000 educators by the American Psychological Association (APA). They also need support for coping with their own exposures to trauma. Teachers are often affected by the same events as their students — the pandemic, natural disasters, school shootings. And the APA survey shows educators must also contend with violence by students and parents.

    Although numerous online resources exist, including those from the National Center on Safe and Supportive Learning Environments and the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, there are barriers to overcome to get trained.

    Our research team asked 450 of our local educators during the pandemic about why they might not have been using these resources and found that, despite being highly motivated, teachers faced limited energy and time, some perceived a lack of administrator support, and some felt stigma about needing resources to manage their own emotions. 

    California needs to do more to equip teachers and administrators on how to cope with trauma in their students and for themselves.  

    One of the best ways to embed trauma-informed practices into our school systems is to start with the programs that train our future teachers. The National Association of State Boards of Education noted that only 16 states require some form of trauma-informed practices training, although the content and type of training varies.

    In California, this type of training is one way a future teacher can meet professional standards, but it is not required. Perhaps if it were, future teachers would begin their careers recognizing signs of possible trauma reactions in their students and know how to approach it with a mindset of “What happened to you?” instead of “What is wrong with you?” They would have tools to support their students with coping and handling emotions, and know when to refer for additional supports.

    Teachers already in the classroom also need trauma-informed training, but it’s often lost in the many competing demands districts must balance. Some districts can offer professional development days for their teachers where in-person trauma-informed practices training is available. If more districts could offer this, teachers would have dedicated time to learn the current best practices for supporting students with adverse childhood experiences or with the initial aftermath of school crises, such as psychological first aid for students and teachers.

    They would learn how to support the safety of students with disabilities in emergencies through Especially Safe, which was developed by parents and educators who lost students in the Sandy Hook school shooting. Especially Safe offers free resources to help schools better plan, prepare and teach safety in a way that is accessible to all students.

    Training teachers in trauma-informed practices is not enough if they are in a school environment that is not prioritizing this; therefore, training of administrators is essential as well. And administrators have their own questions about how to support the whole school community following crises and other events. Therefore, it is best if everyone in the school community gets this training.

    Although many organizations offer trauma-informed resources and trainings to schools, we need to scale up these programs to reach all schools and teacher education programs. Funding must cover not only program costs, but also dedicated teacher and administrator time to take these programs as part of professional development days.

    Until tragedies make the news, better training in trauma-informed practices may not make the top of the list of priorities, but we need to change this.

    •••

    Erika Felix, Ph.D., is a professor of clinical psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara and a Public Voices Fellow of The OpEd Project.

    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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