(Dani Gaskell contributed to this article.)

“I’ve been punching above my weight my whole life—not because I wanted to prove anyone wrong, but because I refused to ever leave the ring.”

“Pomp and Circumstance” is in the air as talented young graduates prepare for the next phase in their journey. But not all kids will be celebrating. Some suffer the pain and agony of intense struggle. They are the disadvantaged, at-risk children, following a predictable doomed path of decline where others have opportunity….

In the 1960s, a study was conducted in which teachers were informed that some of their students were "intellectually gifted." These randomly selected students showed significantly higher gains in IQ scores compared to classmates. The rub? They weren’t gifted. The teachers were told a fable and increased their standards, which the kids rose to meet. This showed how positive expectations impact student performance, a phenomenon known as The Pygmalion Effect.

Similarly, a longitudinal study tracked the Kids of Kauai, during which multiple high-risk factors such as poverty and family instability lead to expectations of doom and failure. Yet, a large number–one-third!–demonstrated remarkable resilience, developing into competent and well-adjusted adults.

The stories are all around us. We see people who are supposed to fail, but time and again don’t. Why? What made the difference? Why are we not paying more attention to what works when it’s staring us in the face?

A Tale of Two Struggles

Let’s take a closer look at two people who certainly had good reasons to fail, and yet . . . .

The son of a single mother had been evaluated by the school psychologist, and was flagged for failure. Her report was uncompromising. Here is a summary:

His childhood was a constant uphill battle; below-average intelligence and depressed verbal scores made learning and communicating a struggle. Socially, he was lost, marked by significantly depressed social awareness and interactions, which often led to hostility and poor impulse control when frustration mounted…

Imagine being the parent receiving this news? Kicking a horse when it’s down?

Here is the story of another child who faced similar struggles in her academic years, in her own words:

I felt useless when I couldn’t succeed. Like, why even try? I felt blindsided by all that went wrong. People taught me to see the positives to succeed. There were cheer coaches who pushed me through. Mrs. Fleming taught me for 2 years and she helped me believe. I struggled in her class, didn’t want to try and felt it was pointless.

I have found this past year what she has taught me doesn’t just help me with school skills but teaches me life skills like never giving up on yourself, even when you’re at your breaking point. I learned if you push through, you won’t have any regrets.

I ask educators to make predictions of these children, and those predictions are stark. People think poorly of difficult children such as these, and how likely failure looms. We are quick to imagine these children will struggle into adulthood.

Over the years, however, my research and stories keep reinforcing the same theme: more children overcome failure than we expect, and we are always surprised. We shouldn’t be! What’s more, studying these children, and how and why they overcame, such as the Kids of Kauai, provides strategies to help countless others lost in a fog.

The ingredients to success?

1. 1. Non-parental mentors
2. A strong affiliation with a group purpose larger than themselves
3. Most of all, resilience

What makes resilience so empowering is that it can be learned–it doesn’t have to be instinctive.

Stacking Small Wins

You might be surprised to learn that one of the children from above was me. This gives me the opportunity to empower children. As a non-parental mentor, I see a light where one wasn’t present. Providing this kind of hope to at-risk students gives them a chance, and they start to find success, one small win after another.

Small wins are powerful, incremental, and time-tested. It works. Showing children this path is energizing, and seeing students step into it creates the inspiration to want to keep going.

The other child from above is my daughter. She called me one afternoon on FaceTime, when she was in fifth grade. It was one of the first times I saw the stark reality of her struggle. There had been other times, sure, but patient adults worked with us to manage her challenges. This time seemed different…

Dani had so many characteristics that matched mine. This is likely what made it more difficult for me to accept that she would face the same struggle, the torture, that I had endured. I wanted to cradle her in my arms and make it all better.

The next few years featured similar scenes. Calls from the school. Emails from teachers. Another day in 8th grade she got into a fight in the school cafeteria, which resulted in her removal from the cheerleading team. Then, one day the school called to report that she had been bullied by girls from the team, saying she no longer belonged in the group, since she was off the team. It was kicking a horse when she was down.

The surreal truth was hearing her say, every day, “I hate school,” from fifth through tenth grade. It was painful to hear because I knew how she felt. She tried out for a competitive cheer team, made the highest level, and was quickly demoted to a mediocre level. She would come out of practice, crying and anxious.

It’s hard to pinpoint the transformation. A high school teacher reached out to tell me she had more than she thought in her. As her grades surged, she was also showing incremental success at her new, more family-oriented cheer gym. My little girl made the highest level team and around the same time, I began to notice she wasn't saying the dreaded quote, “I hate school….”

One small win after another. That’s what fertilizes a slight edge, which becomes impressive gains. Captain of her cheer team, cum laude academics, and she got accepted to her reach-school.

Not every step is a success, it’s a jagged line, and she has a keener understanding about staying in the ring, rather than striking gold.

Helping One Struggling Child At A Time

I’m far from a perfect father, but I got to share my story with Dani, and then celebrate her successes when it seemed like too many failures impacted her well-being and belief in herself. She stopped saying, “I hate school,” and the struggling little girl became a resilient young woman.

What was happening around her was the belief she internalized, that she could build on her small wins until one day she was a proud graduate and made it to her dream school, Penn State.

A beacon of hope was all she needed. When she started to hear from those like her teacher and coaches about how to believe, her very own non-parental mentors penetrated the shell of doom in which so many drown. That barrier broke down, little by little, until she became a resilient young woman. Like her dad, far from perfect, but she is hopeful and unrelenting.

More kids should benefit from the challenges we’ve overcome. Let’s start teaching them, one struggling child at a time.

• Best Free Social-Emotional Learning Sites and Apps
• Lifelong Learning: Modeling for Students and Faculty

Dr. Holly Frilot, Cobb County School District Supervisor of Library Media Education and Adjunct Instructor for University of West Georgia in Educational Technology and Foundations, created a Library Learning Commons certification, the first of its kind in the nation. Designed to support the transformational process of making media instructional programs and spaces into future-ready Library Learning Commons, Frilot’s Library Learning Commons Certification focuses on three tenets: services, resources, and intentional spaces.

“The purpose of certification is to provide guidelines and support for the Library Learning Commons transition, as well as honor schools for their commitment to providing students with an education rich in print and digital literacy,” says Frilot, who was recently recognized for Most Innovative Learning Spaces at Tech & Learning’s Southeast Regional Leadership Summit as part of our Innovative Leader Awards.

Frilot shares her motivation to create the certification as well as magical Library Learning Commons from existing media centers, and offers three tips for districts interested in transforming their own innovative learning spaces.

Creating Cool Learning Spaces Through Literal Sweat Equity

Frilot has spearheaded the transformation of more than 50 media centers into library learning commons, with 50 more in the works. These vibrant student-focused hubs of technology, literacy, creativity, and innovation include podcast booths, video studios, makerspace labs, and lots of access to power and wifi.

“I became a high school library media specialist when the school community was just starting to discuss transforming libraries,” Frilot says. “I was reading David Loerschter’s work and became intrigued by the student-focused participatory approach to school library programs. I loved working with teenagers and wanted to really engage them in our space.”

Frilot had a beautiful area with floor-to-ceiling windows in her existing media center that was a perfect place to experiment with this approach.

“I saved up some funds, got input from students, and went to IKEA to buy some student-friendly furniture,” she says. “I spent a very hot couple of days in the summer putting furniture together and the student response was awesome when they came back in the fall. It was a simple start, and of course IKEA furniture couldn’t hold up to 3,000+ students, but that was the start, and I’ve never looked back!”

Learn and Earn—These Spaces Are Certified Fresh!

Collaborative teaching and learning is at the heart of Frilot’s certification initiative, and informs the design of both the program and the space.

“Library media specialists take the lead on this transformative work, often spending years building a collaborative instructional program, positive reading culture, and a student-friendly space,” Frilot says. “The LLC Certification is awarded to the school, since it requires school-wide engagement to achieve the levels of instructional collaboration and positive reading culture required.”

In addition to the physical space redesign, Frilot worked cross-divisionally to support the CCSD Future-Ready Framework, a scope and sequence of digital literacy and future-ready skills. This framework supports the teaching and learning needed to enable student mastery of digital literacy skills as they grow into collaborators, producers, and innovators.

More Hands, More Wallets, More Impact

In an era of financial uncertainty and tightening budgets, some districts might be hesitant to embark on new programs. Engaging stakeholders with a concrete, clear plan in hand can pave the way for funding.

“Dream big and start small! Creating the vision helps stakeholders see what you’re trying to accomplish,” Frilot says. “When you get funding, get tables on wheels. It sounds simple, but it really helps move in the direction of a flexible space. Create student-friendly low-cost programming, lots of books displays, dynamic shelving, and have fun. Promote the joy of reading. Look at your media centers and make small changes that appeal to students.”

Consider local community businesses as potential partners in achieving a dream future-ready learning space.

”Business partners are opportunities for collaboration, idea generation, and real-world application,” she says. “These collaborations can also bring in funding, resources and innovation, while strengthening community ties and helping students see the world beyond school. Additionally, reach out to your public library and partner with them when possible.”

Equity matters. Offering a fun, exciting, vibrant space can make a serious difference for struggling students.

“I fundamentally believe that if students feel like they belong at school, they keep coming,” Frilot says. “For some kids that’s sports or theater, and for some it’s the library. The transformation of school libraries into student-focused collaborative hubs sends the message that all students belong. You can be a reader or not; you still belong here. We want you here. We’re designing this space, not only as a place for books and tech, but for you. If we keep students coming to school and engaging with other students and teachers, they’ll keep learning and growing.”

3 Tips to Create Your Own Library Learning Commons

Frilot shares three actionable tips to transform your media center, which also happen to describe the important work accomplished within the space.

1. Collaborate: “Library learning commons are all about creating a space for everyone, especially students, so it’s important to collaborate with stakeholders to define what the library learning commons should be for your district,” Frilot says. “Student input is often most overlooked! Teachers, leaders, students, and colleagues from districts experienced in this work should all be involved in these discussions.”

2. Learn: Learning can be a challenge for adults sometimes. “Slow down, listen, and ask good questions of students and colleagues who have gone before you in this work,” Frilot says. “See other library learning commons spaces either in-person or via virtual visits. Look with an eye not only for the way the library has been redesigned, but also the flow, the climate, and the way the library program shifts into a learning hub.”

3. Create: “I always recommend that planning teams, after collaborating and learning, dream big together,” Frilot says. “Create the comprehensive plan in both design and instructional shifts. Engage with a company that designs educational spaces. When the big plan is created first, even if funding or resources aren’t available yet, it facilitates a cohesive vision that engages stakeholders.”

Tools They Use

• Future-Ready Librarians
• MackinVia
• Library PASS
• Follett Software Project Connect 
• Nintendo 
• Nearpod
• Microsoft Office 365

• Innovative Leader Award

Is your school district developing a healthy pipeline to ensure your schools are staffed with passionate, dedicated leaders? Are you looking for tips to better develop this pipeline? At the 2025 Consortium of School Networking (CoSN) conference, attendees gathered for the fourth annual Network Meetup to discuss these questions, and to collaborate on driving action plans.

The presenters shared the following guiding questions to the attendees, who worked in small groups to discuss the practical steps school districts can take to build a healthy pipeline that represents all voices.

Question 1: Why is it important to build a pipeline and recruit non-traditional talent?

The answer is multifaceted and deeply rooted in the fundamental principles of inclusiveness, effectiveness, and innovation. Viewing difference not as a hurdle, but as a valuable asset, unlocks a wealth of potential for the edtech field.

The attendees noted that, as school district leaders, we have to start rethinking traditional pathways to careers in edtech. They discussed the importance of focusing on teachable skills – not just on degrees – in order to reduce barriers that might discourage people from considering careers in the field.

The benefits of actively recruiting from non-traditional job candidates included:

• Bringing diverse perspectives: Different backgrounds and lived experiences fuel creativity and lead to more innovative and effective technological solutions.
• Better serving your students: The more the edtech field reflects the diversity of the student population, the better equipped it will be to understand and cater to their varied needs.
• Avoiding underrepresentation and reducing barriers: Intentional recruitment efforts directly address systemic inequities and create fairer opportunities for all.
• Sustainability in engagement: In a challenging climate for teacher recruitment and retention, we cannot afford to overlook valuable talent. Building an inclusive environment fosters a stronger sense of belonging and can improve staff engagement and longevity.
• If we don’t intentionally build the pipeline, we won’t ever get the pool of people of which to hire/promote: This proactive approach is not just a matter of fairness. It's a strategic imperative.
• It’s our job to build these recruits, and to reach out to find people: We must actively market ourselves and the opportunities within edtech to diverse communities.

Addressing this work requires the courage to acknowledge differences and speak out when there is a clear lack of diversity. It necessitates relying on allies who are willing to be brave and vulnerable, built upon a foundation of trust. Finding common goals is essential to move forward collaboratively.

Question 2: How are you building an inclusive culture in your district?

Creating a truly inclusive culture requires intentional effort and a commitment to fostering an environment in which everyone feels valued, respected, and a sense of belonging. This goes beyond mere tolerance and actively celebrates the richness that diversity brings. Ideas discussed included:

• Ensure a variety of backgrounds are represented: One powerful step is to ensure individuals see others in the team/school/district that represent them. This visual representation can be incredibly impactful in fostering a sense of belonging and validating diverse identities.
• Lead with people first: The most critical element to growing your pipeline is the human connection. We lead people, not the work. We need to provide environments in which it is okay to make mistakes, and foster a culture of learning and growth for everyone. It’s crucial to recognize that we don’t expect every employee to work the same way we do. Embracing individual differences and working styles is a cornerstone of an inclusive culture.
• Consider varying work hours: Offering differing work hours when feasible can also accommodate diverse needs and preferences. It’s important to acknowledge that traditional education systems can sometimes inadvertently train out the acceptance of diverse approaches, often emphasizing a singular "right answer." We must actively challenge this mindset and be aware of potential unconscious bias that might lead to placing different expectations on certain students or colleagues.
• Create opportunities for students to learn more about careers in edtech: Creating internship programs among students can provide invaluable opportunities to learn about careers in edtech. Platforms such as Floreo, which offer virtual scenarios for practicing understanding in various careers, can also be valuable tools. Consider hosting career fairs where students can meet a variety of school staff and learn more about the benefits of edtech careers.

Question 3: How do you identify and grow leaders in your district?

Cultivating strong and diverse leadership is essential for the long-term success and inclusivity of any educational organization. This process begins with self-awareness: Know yourself.

It also involves a direct and simple step: Ask people if they want to lead.

Some of the components of effective leadership discussed in the groups included:

• Listen, watch, discuss: It’s also crucial to begin with the end in mind, envisioning the type of leadership needed to achieve the district’s goals.
• Focus on strengths rather than deficits: Think about the skills each staff member has, and consider how these skills can support your district work – even if these skills are not included in the traditional job description.
• Build a culture of celebration: Building a positive and supportive environment is key. It’s not about your success, it’s about how to help your team grow.
• Lesson in humility: Hire people who are smarter than you – and bring new skills to your team. Validate your team’s strengths. Don’t be afraid of what you don’t know.
• Hold regular 1:1s with your team: Give your team the opportunity to identify their career goals and interests and offer them challenging yet achievable goals. Providing timely and constructive feedback is crucial for growth. When you see areas of improvement, pull them aside and give feedback.
• Identify natural leaders: Many attendees shared stories about an ally in leadership who saw their potential as leaders and encouraged them to pursue a leadership career track. They credited this recognition as giving them the courage to pursue leadership positions, often when they hadn’t considered it themselves. Attendees suggested that leaders should intentionally identify someone you think can lead your team, have them shadow your work to really know what it’s like to be in your shoes, and conduct regular check-ins to support their development.

Understanding team dynamics, such as those outlined in The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, can inform leadership development strategies. Utilizing a Skill:Will matrix can help leaders understand their team's capacity and tailor development opportunities accordingly. Embracing a Growth Mindset is essential for both leaders and those they are developing.

Ultimately, effective leadership involves working with people from their strengths, not weaknesses, and elevating leaders who can compensate for areas that may be missing.

In our technologically rich and fluid world, technology has the potential to be an integral component of the teaching and learning process, changing how students learn, teachers instruct, and schools operate.

These benefits of technology come with significant ethical and privacy concerns. As custodians of educational institutions, school leaders must navigate these challenges with vigilance and foresight to ensure that technology is used ethically, and that student and staff data remains secure.

One of the first concerns for leaders is to have a working knowledge of the technology tools being used. Just as the principal historically has been the primary or master teacher whose goal was to provide instructional leadership to other teachers, school leaders today need to have a similar understanding of both instructional and administrative technologies to be fully effective.

Understanding Ethical Technology Use in Schools

Once school leaders understand the technology footprint within their school or district, they must set clear expectations for how technology is integrated into classrooms, ensuring that it aligns with clear educational objectives and ethical standards. Ethical technology use in schools encompasses responsible, fair, and transparent practices that prioritize students’ well-being, academic integrity, and digital citizenship. It involves that digital tools enhance learning while safeguarding against potential harm, such as cyberbullying, digital addiction, and misinformation.

A key aspect of ethical technology use is fostering digital literacy among students and educators. School leaders should advocate for curricula that teach critical thinking about digital content, responsible online behavior, and the implications of AI and automation. Providing professional development for teachers on ethical technology use empowers them to model and enforce best practices in their classrooms. Selected digital tools should bridge, rather than widen, educational disparities.

The Importance of Data Privacy in Schools

The collection, storage, and use of both student and staff data have become increasingly complex in educational settings. With learning management systems, cloud-based platforms, and AI-driven analytics, vast amounts of sensitive data are generated daily. School leaders are responsible for protecting this information from unauthorized access and misuse.

Student data privacy is particularly critical because minors are vulnerable to identity theft, commercial exploitation, and surveillance, but rarely fully understand the implications of such threats. School leaders need to comply with federal and state regulations, such as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). These laws set guidelines for how student information can be collected, shared, and used. Some states have additional statutes in place as well.

To uphold data privacy, school leaders should implement robust cybersecurity measures, including data encryption, secure login protocols, and regular audits of digital infrastructure. Leaders must establish clear policies on data retention and deletion so that unnecessary or outdated information is not stored indefinitely, reducing the risk of exposure. As many states require significant archiving of data, it may be reasonable to store that archival data offline.

Necessary Technology Policies

Technology use and data security policies should be transparent, easily accessible, and regularly updated to reflect evolving technological trends and threats. Technology policies can include a number of established guidelines and best practices, or be rolled into one larger overall tech policy.

It is important to remember that many policies throughout a district can be impacted, so ensuring all policies align is an important task.

Key components of effective policies include:

• Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs): Clearly define how students and staff can use school-provided devices, networks, and software. These policies need to be written in accessible language and, when possible, explain why the guidelines are in place. For example, here are five key policy considerations for regulating AI in classrooms.
• Data Security Protocols: Establish guidelines for password protection, multifactor authentication, and incident response plans in case of data breaches. One key consideration is that these protocols balance usability with security. Creating security protocols that inhibit usability are counter productive as users will look to work around those that frustrate normal use.
• Data Collection and Sharing Policies: Ensure that only essential data is collected and that any sharing with third parties complies with legal and ethical standards. Only data that is necessary should be collected and maintained.
• Parental Consent and Communication: Keep parents informed about how their children’s data is used and obtain consent for data collection when necessary. School leaders need to ensure that parents can understand how data is managed. Some ability for two-way conversations is essential so parents can ask questions.

School leaders should consider establishing oversight committees that include educators, IT professionals, parents, and students to review and refine technology policies. This collaborative approach diversifies the perspectives considered and can build trust.

Training and PD

Ensuring ethical technology use and data privacy requires continuous education for all stakeholders. School leaders must invest in effective and engaging training for staff and students to support their understanding of digital ethics and cybersecurity. The commonly used online video-based training sessions are not particularly effective and may blur together with other mandated PD.

Additionally, students should be taught digital citizenship skills, emphasizing responsible social media use, recognizing misinformation, and understanding their digital footprints. School leaders can facilitate workshops and integrate digital literacy into the curriculum to prepare students for ethical engagement with technology beyond the classroom.

Building a Culture of Accountability and Transparency

Creating a culture in which ethical technology use and data privacy are prioritized requires school leaders to model accountability and transparency. They must demonstrate a commitment to ethical decision-making in their regular use of technology and data management. Teachers should be able to see how student data is being used to improve the instructional process.

Transparency involves openly communicating with stakeholders about technology policies, data protection measures, and incidents of breaches or misuse. When an issue arises, school leaders should promptly address it, taking corrective action and implementing preventive measures to avoid future occurrences.

Accountability extends to third-party vendors and technology providers. School leaders should scrutinize contracts and agreements to ensure that external partners comply with the school’s privacy policies and legal obligations. This includes reviewing data storage locations, security protocols, and terms of service before adopting new digital tools.

Conclusion

As technology continues to expand within the education space, the role of school leaders in ensuring ethical technology use and data privacy has never been more critical. By setting clear policies, fostering digital literacy, investing in training, and cultivating a culture of accountability, school leaders can create learning environments that harness the benefits of technology while protecting students and staff from its risks. Ethical leadership in technology is a necessary responsibility for maintaining trust and integrity in education.

READ MORE:

• 3 Steps To Ensure Success When Implementing Educational Technology
• AI Resources for District Leaders

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy holiday season, as well as a bright and better year ahead!

Enjoy your break, and then we'll see you back here in 2026 with original content every day, featuring what you've come to expect from Tech & Learning: tons of special events, professional learning opportunities, expert advice, best practices, actionable takeaways and much more to help you navigate both technology and education.

Happy holidays!

Having a uniform set of platforms in a school or district helps everyone learn how to best utilize what is available. Making a drastic change to that can be a jarring, unwelcome move for most, even when it’s deemed a necessary step forward.

Here we speak with Kathi Kersznowski, educational technology specialist at Washington Township Public Schools in New Jersey, about how she helped her district switch from Microsoft to Google, some of the steps she took to ensure a smooth transition, and what other schools and districts should know if they are looking to make a switch as well.

Kathi was recently recognized for Best Example of Professional Development at a Tech & Learning Regional Leadership Summit with an Innovative Leader Award.

One Small Step for a District

The idea to switch from one technological ecosystem to another doesn’t come lightly, but every great change starts with a spark. Even if the change is small, it can have massive ramifications if everyone is not on the same page.

“We got a new superintendent last year, and the new superintendent came from a Google district,” says Kersznowski. “He wanted us to be a Google district as well. So we knew it was coming. We had a year to do a turnaround. I have a team of three other people that work with me, it’s just the four of us. We were tasked with making this happen.”

WTPS is a district of nearly 8,000 students with six elementary schools, three middle schools, one large high school, and two preschools, so that transition seemed daunting at first.

“There’s so many people to train, so many to teach,” recalls Kersznowski. “It’s new for the teachers, it’s new for the students. Then we realized it’s new for the secretaries and the administrative assistants as well. We had a lot of people to get this knowledge into. It’s a big shift when you go from Microsoft to Google. Word translates to Docs, and Excel to Sheets, so there’s compatibility with a lot of products, but it works very differently in many ways.”

Embracing “Google Day”

Switching to another technology ecosystem isn’t uncommon. However, some districts may be put off from making the change because of the overall headache it may produce. So how did Kersznowski and her team overcome typical challenges associated with a shift in technology for a whole district?

“I’ll tell you what the best thing is that other districts could do if they want to replicate this,” says Kersznowski. “We had Google turned on last year. The official switchover date wasn’t until the middle of the summer, but we had Google turned on by February 16th of last year, which was a full day in-service for the whole district. As a tech team, we asked for permission to have that day, then we commandeered it and called it Google Day. We wore shirts that had Google day on them. We spent months planning for what this was going to look like, but the fact that we had it turned on last February gave us a sandbox where we could play with it. The only things we didn’t turn on were Gmail and Calendar because those were still running in Microsoft Outlook.”

What was the benefit of having extra time to work with the Google ecosystem?

“With Google Day, we wanted to find out what the core things were that every single person is going to need to know to survive in Google,” says Kersznowski. “We identified those things as Google Drive, the Chrome OS, Google Calendar and Gmail, and the overall app suite. Those were the core things that everyone had to take a session in. We offered live sessions and we offered recorded sessions. Everybody had to take at least two live sessions. We wanted people in person to interact and discuss.”

And how do you deal with pushback?

“Change is hard,” says Kersznowski. “So it would have been the same pushback if we had gone from Google to Microsoft or anything else. People are resistant [to change]. But the fact that we got them PD and training and support so early on, and gave them a place to play, work, and learn, [that was helpful for the transition.]”

Making such a big change for a school, let alone a whole district, can be a daunting task to undertake. But, as Kersznowski and her team have proven, with proper planning and plenty of time to learn the technology, you can set your district up for success as well.

• Innovative Leader Award
• Regional Leadership Summit

Technology has given the world so many opportunities to help ease our daily burdens and make once thought hard tasks doable with less effort. However, as technology continues to evolve, how does education keep up with the changing landscape and prepare students for the future?

Here we speak with Dr. Michael Nagler, Superintendent of Minneola USFD in New York, about his work in adopting technology early on, the importance of maintaining creative thinking skills to prepare students for the future, and how keeping open lines of communication has enabled students and teachers to have an input in the growth of their educational practices.

Nagler was recently recognized as Most Innovative Superintendent at a Tech & Learning Regional Leadership Summit with an Innovative Leader Award.

Adopting Technology Early

New forms of technology crop up almost on a daily basis, and many schools and districts make decisions on what hardware and software to add to their environment everyday. Nagler notes how early adoption primed his district to become known as a tech district and synonymous with innovation.

“More than 10 years ago, when the iPad came out, we embraced it,” says Nagler. “We had a pilot with a group of fifth graders the first year. Within two years, we were one-to-one. The entire district. And we’ve been known as a tech district based on that.”

Under Nagler, Mineola was one of the first school districts in New York to implement a comprehensive computer science curriculum starting in kindergarten, and he continues to encourage his schools to embrace technology in a thoughtful manner. “We do a ton of innovation,” he says. “But it’s a misnomer that we’ve centered around technology as the answer, whereas I think we use tech appropriately as a tool to try to push changes in teaching and learning.”

How has technology changed the educational approach?

“Direct instruction is a vestige of a long ago time,” Nagler says. “We need to engage kids a lot differently. If we use technology to help them be creative in how they do their work and explain what they know as an assessment form, the better we’re positioning kids for the next wave. AI is coming, and I think the more creative things we ask kids to do, the more we don’t have to worry about AI doing all the work.”

It can be easy to offload all of our processes onto AI programs that are created to handle these. However, it is important to note that the skills students will need in their professional lives are still relevant to be taught. Technology is important, but it cannot replace the human element.

Embracing Technology, Finding Balance

New innovations in education can help achieve a lot, but it can also provide too many options for students and teachers. Nagler says sticking with one form of technology for the district can help to keep students involved in the innovation process.

“We were very purposeful with the iPad,” Nagler says. “I think it’s a device you can use to create. If it’s not web-based, you’re not really doing much. That’s why we’re Apple Distinguished. There’s only 18 districts that earn that recognition. And the reason we leverage Apple products is because we want kids to create.”

But how do we keep kids in the spirit of learning even after leaving an educational environment? Nagler says maintaining a level of flexibility within the district is key to adapt to changes and obstacles along the way.

Nagler also embraces a driven sense of inclusion for teachers when it comes to making innovative advances within the school and the district. Having adequate input from educators can help to create an inclusive and understanding educational environment, even if it doesn’t make everyone completely happy.

“Everybody complains about something,” Nagler says. “That’s the nature of humans.”

How to Keep Your Technology Growth in Check

Dealing with issues stemming from technology in a school can create chaos without having a clear cut approach for obstacles, says Nagler. Not allowing technology to take over is also fundamental in providing a leveled educational experience. In addition, fostering the creativity in students through technology helps them stay ready for a future in technology. And, as Nagler adds, teacher inclusion is key.

“My philosophy is, it’s got to be teacher-driven,” Nagler says. “You have to pitch an idea that teachers can embrace and give them the ability to change it, to make it work for them. Teachers spend years studying to ply their craft, and we need to let them do that.”

• Innovative Leader Award
• Regional Leadership Summit

Lessons from a Social Media Experiment

In an era during which online interactions often devolve into toxic exchanges, a recent social media experiment I tested offers a glimpse of hope for civil discourse.

Inspired by the desire to test the waters of online debate, I posted a hot topic on my social media feed, curious to see how my friends and family—who hold diverse views—would respond.

The Experiment

The post was simple, yet pointed: "I believe in science, not in those untethered to the truth."

This triggered a variety of responses, from affirmations on the importance of facts over feelings to humorous remarks about university rivalries. Notably, the conversation remained respectful and constructive, showcasing a hopeful beacon of online civility.

Reactions, Reflections, and Connections

Some participants emphasized the importance of facts guiding feelings, while others expressed frustration with misinformation maintaining a focus on facts. The dialogue highlighted that even in disagreement, respect persevered.

One comment that stood was "MATH DOESN'T LIE," underscoring the reliability of numbers in personal and professional contexts. This sentiment resonated with many, reinforcing the value of objective truth. One respondent amplified this by suggesting math is factual, science is not. Disagreements remained kind and thoughtful.

Ultimately, this experiment connects to my broader educational goals. Schools and our communities can teach us to think critically and to engage respectfully. Encouraging civil discourse matters when developing informed citizens capable of navigating contestable issues. As one commenter noted, everyone has the right to think independently, and discussions should aim to understand rather than change minds. As my daughter says, “FACTS!”

This social media experiment offered a refreshing perspective into the window of online disagreements. In contrast with the caustic approach of keyboard warriors, this group showed maturity, intelligence and respect. Rather than devolving into primal fight, flight or run reactions, they approached the subject with openness and respect.

The Educational Benefits: Critical Thinking, Empathy, and More

Several studies and discussions suggest civility in online interactions can foster environments conducive to learning and intellectual growth. Consider how literally critical this is in schools, where we want our community to thrive through learning.

The effect is profound: individuals can engage more effectively in discourse on important topics, such as moral and political issues, by providing norms for respectful and constructive dialogue. The development of civility as a virtue involves internalizing norms through practice and structured interactions, which can enhance one’s ability to evaluate beliefs and contentious issues critically. I refer to this as disrupting dumbed-down dysfunction.

And there’s more–civil online discussions are considered more informative and persuasive than uncivil ones. In a study examining the effects of synchronicity and civility on perceptions of online political discussions, civil interactions were found to be more credible and engaging. Civil discourse encourages participation and deliberation, which are essential for developing critical thinking skills.

This reveals to me as an educational leader what I could have only hoped for–that online platforms can foster meaningful exchanges, not toxic, destructiveness. It serves as a reminder that our role as educators and school leaders includes promoting critical thinking and empathy, and that this is more significant than ever in the amplified online world.

By embracing these principles, we can transform digital spaces into arenas for thoughtful dialogue and mutual understanding. That, my friend, is hope.

• 7 Things School Leaders Can Do To Promote Digital Citizenship in the Community
• 6 Ways For School Leaders to Address “Whispers”

Inclusion is a big topic when it comes to education. Inclusion when referencing educators, however, might not be as strongly discussed as it should be.

A virtual classroom for teachers around the world to work together to create something more for their students was a difficult project to undertake, but in the right hands, it was not only made possible, but also made to flourish. Fortunately, Jacqueline Gardy was the right person for the task.

Gardy is Global Program Officer at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, DC, for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in the Office of English Language Programs. She was recently honored by Tech & Learning during a recent Regional Leadership Summit with an Innovative Leader Award for Best Example of Virtual Learning.

Content for Comics in the Classroom

The concept for this collaborative pilot project involved gathering multiple teachers from around the world to help develop curriculum for use in the classroom. It just so happened that this curriculum was focused on using comics. Gardy explains how the idea started to come together.

“My supervisor gave me the greenlight to set up a pilot virtual exchange program with a limited budget,” she says. “I worked with five consultants, who helped me develop the curriculum and launch it. We used a combination of Google Docs, a Google YouTube channel, and Slack (free version). We made an Adobe Spark page as a homepage. So we did everything with a low budget in mind. We decided we wanted 40 teachers from all over the world to work with us synchronously online to develop content for comics in the classroom.”

Providing this new type of curriculum to teachers from all over the world helps to diversify their educational outlook and their teaching methods. Using comics as a tool for teaching is a novel approach to education, and the visual aspect also helps when connecting with teachers of varying backgrounds.

Since the pilot,16 other virtual exchanges have been developed with the administration aid under the English Access Scholarship cooperative agreement with FHI-360 and delivered by a variety of nonprofits and universities. The topics have been on Climate Action (with World Learning and Take Action Global), Global Perspectives in the Classroom (Azusa Pacific University), Global Citizenship in the English Language Classroom (UMASS Lowell), Business and Entrepreneurship in the English Language Classroom (Georgetown University), Differentiation for the Contemporary English Classroom (United Planet), Building Blocks for Service Learning (World Learning), Civil Communication with a focus on Computer-Mediated Instruction (Azusa Pacific University), Developing Digital Citizenship (Azusa Pacific University and iEARN-USA), New Literacies and 21st Century Skills in the English Language Classroom (iEARN-USA), Embedding Life and Career Skills in the English Language Classroom (World Learning), Future-Forward Teaching in the English Language Classroom (Take Action Global), and Power Skills in the English Language Classroom (UMASS Lowell).

How to Keep Teachers Engaged and Connected

Creating the program with everyday tools helped to keep the project within a recognizable scope, regardless of who was using the program, Gardy says. But a main obstacle was keeping teachers involved in the program given their locations and accessibility. Having the program come to fruition during the beginning of the pandemic was coincidental, but it also helped when teachers were switching to an online format en masse.

“Our launch date [for the program] was March 15, 2020, and that was right when the pandemic started, right as everything shut down,” Gardy says. “It just happened to be a blessing in disguise because suddenly teachers are no longer doing their full time teaching. They had a lot of time to learn tech skills and interact with people.”

Connecting at the beginning of the pandemic also led to teachers around the world realizing how similar their COVID experiences were, leading to a ready-built rapport that served as the foundation for expanding the program.

“It ended up being a conversation group once a week where we would all talk about our COVID experiences, while we were experiencing it all over the world,” Gardy says. “What was striking was how similar all of our experiences were even though you wouldn’t think any of us would have anything in common. That laid the groundwork for more virtual exchanges.”

This project led to a foundational understanding between teachers, no matter where they were located on the map. Their experiences during the pandemic and in teaching were similar if not exactly the same.

Putting It All Together

Operating an online program in a synchronous manner comes with its own challenges, such as catering to teachers living in different time zones and countries. But Gardy says that having teachers in different parts of the world makes for a more diverse grouping.

“There are usually 40 teachers per exchange, and then we divide them out by four facilitators,” she says. “So the pods were 10 teachers per facilitator. We usually set the pods up using timeline groups along the latitudinal lines to create participant diversity, with no more than three hours apart.”

Once the groups are made, a combination of synchronous and asynchronous interactions helps the teacher pods enhance their knowledge on particular topics.

“We introduce all the information at the beginning of the week, and then we have lots of different interactions that are either synchronous or asynchronous, either in discussion boards or in Zoom calls,” Gardy says. “Then we have these reflect and apply sections where they reflect on what they’ve learned and try to apply it in their classrooms immediately and/or to their final lesson plan. They have to attend 70% of the synchronous events. If they can’t attend the synchronous events, they can watch the recording and fill out an exit ticket to show they have participated.”

Gardy’s efforts demonstrate a method of global citizenship that helps educators reach out and collaborate with teachers across the globe. This endeavor makes education more accessible to teachers everywhere while empowering them to make education more accessible to their students as well.

• Innovative Leader Awards
• Regional Leadership Summit

One of the more hotly debated topics in education is whether students should have access to their cellphones in school. Glenn Robbins, Superintendent of the Brigantine Public School District in New Jersey, speaks with us about the potential positives and negatives of a cellphone ban in schools and where we go from here.

Cellphones have become one of the most important pieces of technology in our lives as these offer a way to stay connected with family, friends, and emergency contacts. But cellphones can also create a distraction in the classroom. Is a cellphone ban the right way forward?

“I think it’s a proven statistical point,” Robbins says. “In the last couple of years, you’ve seen discipline numbers go up. You’ve seen academic struggles go up, and the question is whether that was from the closures where the lockdown happened. You see the academic struggles that some of these kids have who were virtual or not in school for a year or two. You hear a lot of administrators and teachers talking about respect and discipline not being to their liking.”

The pandemic has changed how many students and teachers view in-person school, but one thing that hasn’t changed is students stay in contact with their friends, and that’s with their cellphones. But cellphones have many other uses outside of communication. Does that alter our considerations when it comes to cell phone bans?

“The biggest way that I look at this is the equity piece, and what I mean by that is you have kids of various backgrounds coming to your school,” Robbins says. “They might only have a cell phone in their household. It might be a tablet. They might not have an updated laptop or Chromebook, whatever it may be. So when the teacher sends the student home with homework, they might not have the accessibility of all these different apps and programs [that we are using]. So that’s a part that I’m a little concerned about.”

Dealing With Technology-Based Issues Such As Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is much more prevalent now because of the amount of access children have to connected devices and social media. Would a cellphone ban eliminate cyberbullying altogether?

“I’ve seen articles of people talking about trying to get rid of cyberbullying,” Robbins says. “My question is what happens when the dismissal bell rings at the end of the day? What is the first thing a kid does? They take out their phones. And from the end of the school day until they come back the next day, they’re teaching themselves what to do and what not to do on their devices.”

Focusing efforts on strongly promoting digital literacy during the school day can help inform students on proper device use.

“[We can] show them the possibilities on how ethical use of a device can help them become successful citizens,” says Robbins. “I often think about AI. How do we use this? How do we look into this? How do we go deeper? How can we use it in different lesson plans? Once again, if we don’t show them, they’re going to go home and download who knows what.”

Making students understand the implications of their actions is also critical. “We bring in our local prosecutor, he works with our local police department and talks about things you shouldn’t be doing on cellphones and so forth,” says Robbins. “Those conversations need to be had instead of just shutting them off and putting them away.”

How Far Would A Cellphone Ban Reach?

Banning cellphones in school mostly pertains to students, but what about teachers? Should teachers and administrators also not be allowed to use their cellphones in an educational setting?

“Technology is only going to evolve,” Robbins says. “The businesses that [students] are going to work in may not be an iPad business. It might be that they’re working remote, using any technology you have to get the job done. This gives you the freedom and autonomy to do your job. I look at it from a role model perspective. If we’re telling students they can’t have their phones, and then you have teachers using them or administrators using them, what messages does that send? Are we supposed to be role models? Are we supposed to show [students] how to properly use technology? Sometimes, I question that.”

Regardless of how you look at a cellphone ban, it is evident that students have a unique opportunity to learn how to interact with the digital world inside of a classroom. Whether or not teachers take the chance to embrace that philosophy is up to the decision makers.

Related:

• Guarding Your District Against AI Deepfakes, Including Porn
• Managing Screen Time Without Banning Technology

The movement toward standards-based learning has been in motion for over 30 years, yet there is still widespread confusion about why this model is so valuable.

During a recent Tech & Learning roundtable webinar sponsored by Otus, a panel of K-12 leaders tackled the most pressing questions about standards-based learning and grading, and shared how to prepare to address it in the new school year.

Watch the full webinar on demand here.

Panelists included:

• Eddie Oakley, Learning Acceleration Specialist, Ohio Valley Educational Cooperative, Kentucky
• Kelly Ronnebeck, Associate Superintendent for Student Achievement, East Moline School District 37, Illinois
• Jay Meadows, Chief Executive Officer, Exemplars
• Barbara Geibel, First Grade Teacher, Mentor Lead, Salem School District, Wisconsin

What are the core principles of your district’s standards-based grading, and how do you implement and provide feedback to support these?

Kelly Ronnebeck: “We found that standards-based systems’ grading really focuses on student learning of the core content, not on engagement or the student’s effort. We really liked that, and we were able to show parents where their students were performing in relation to the standard. It really aligns more closely to what we’re doing in the classroom with our instructional practices, and provides a more specific, accurate, and more understandable description of what students are doing.”

Barbara Geibel: “Last year is when we started meeting as grade levels and going through all our standards, picking out our essential standards and the ones we thought were most important, and then started aligning our assessments and building our report cards from that.”

Jay Meadows: “Looking at it through the lens of a math teacher, I realized that our grading practices weren’t really asking our students to think about 21st-century real-world problems and how to solve those while developing 21st-century skills . . . The traditional report card wasn’t really [reflecting those skills]. I was giving students As and Bs on tests for procedural fluency that my phone can do now. So what should we be asking kids to do in our math classrooms? When we think about math a little bigger, beyond procedures and algorithms, and encourage problem-solving and critical thinking, it’s more engaging and in alignment with 21st-century needs.”

Eddie Oakley: “Focusing on the priority standards, and staying away from ‘the efforts’ and extra credit, really let us know where students are, and what they can and cannot do.”

What steps have you taken to align curriculum, assessments, and instruction to standards-based grading?

Geibel: “We worked together to make sure that our assessments were aligned to the state standards, and we used Otus to put that all in to make sure of the accountability and consistency so that we’re all on the same page . . . In the beginning, you have some who are leery about it – it’s something different, right?”

Ronnebeck: “Standards-based grading really helped us give true pictures to parents and teachers and students, especially since we have such a diverse population. It was a big shift, but our teachers were very excited about it because they felt that disconnect between what we were doing with instruction and matching that with a letter grade . . . We started the learning as a group, doing various book studies looking into standards-based grading, what is it, etc. And then from there, we had various curriculum committees working together, which had representation from all the different grade levels, so we were hearing all the voices across the district, which helped with the buy-in.”

Oakley: “We started with the end in mind. We built our summative assessments first, and then built toward the standards . . . Our district has built a portrait of a graduate, which tells every parent what a student should be able to do at the end of each grade level before going on to the next grade level. It took a lot of work all across the district, and featured a big committee with staff, teachers, community members, and parents. The profile features six pieces to it: global citizen, lifelong learner, inspired innovator, critical thinker, responsible collaborators, effective communicators. Each student in 5th, 8th, and 12th grade has to do a defense of learning to see if they can go across to the next grade level.”

Meadows: “When you start with your assessments, you can work backward. You can say, ‘If these are the expectations, the big ideas, then how can we learn to do that in my classrooms?’ And then that drives a lot of conversations in your PLCs and PD . . . So when you ask students to think about math beyond procedural fluency, it really increases the engagement levels of students. When students are given the freedom to solve a cool problem any way they want, it increases student engagement and freedom in the math classroom . . . So when you do that, you create a consistent set of expectations from K through high school that certain big ideas will be covered every year. And it can take three years for everyone to buy in and see math the same way, and that consistency is the key to standards-based learning. It takes time, but it’s a powerful journey.”

Oakley: “Assessments and instruction both need to be rigorous. And I told my students and teachers that the practice is going to be harder than the game. So taking tough assessments gives them the confidence when it’s time to take the state exams.”

How are you communicating to parents? Learning expectations, grading policies, etc.

Oakley: “It first started with getting the staff on board, and then went to families. I wrote letters to parents, and said, ‘When you were in school, grades were 70%, 80%, etc.,’ and I asked them to tell me what that meant. And they couldn’t tell me what it meant. Now with standards-based grading, their students can tell them what that means because they’ve mastered the standard . . . Now we’re using social media to get things out to students and parents.”

Geibel: “We’re just going to be starting it, so it’s been a lot of communication to start out. It’s starting with early grades first. This will be a breath of fresh air because it can show the parents exactly what their student does and does not know . . . By starting with K-2, they will move up through the grades to help with the adoption/switch.”

Ronnebeck: “It’s a very slow rollout. We started with our K-4 buildings, which are self-contained classrooms. We had a gentle start with traditional grades, but changed some other parts. We worked with the mindset at middle school the first year, but we’re also holding town hall meetings, sending home notes, flyers, social media, etc. We also had a short video at every event that scrolled through it over and over again, giving the highlights of standards-based grading . . . A lot of the communication has really happened through conversation, but with the students talking to their parents, but it’s also discussed in teacher conferences, which rolls into the instruction. So having those direct discussions with parents was really the game-changer. Change is scary!”

• Tech & Learning webinars

Steve Toy says that AI has revolutionized the way people learn languages via technology in two important ways.

First, AI can help serve individual users the video content appropriate for their skill level in a given language.

“This is something that educators always wanted to do — have video content that allows you to hear the words that you're learning,” says Toy, CEO of Memrise, a language learning platform. “But it's very costly to make content, and it is very tough to march all kinds of people in lockstep to learn the same amount of words so they can run the same video that makes sense. And now we don't have to worry about that. We just have to know the words that each individual knows, and we have to know the words that are in a given video.”

AI can then do the rest, pairing videos and existing content on social media that meshes with a learner’s knowledge in a given language.

Next, AI can also help people practice their language skills. “We now have the ability to allow you to try to use those words and give you real-time feedback on how it's going in an environment where there is zero human judgment,” Toy says. “The biggest reason why people with 100 words of a given language don't go and try and use those words even to have a planned conversation of ‘Hi, how are you? Can I get you some coffee?’ is because they're worried that they're going to sound stupid.”

These types of AI uses, which allow for individualized instruction and specific, instant and judgment-free feedback to learners, are part of the reason edtech companies big and small have embraced AI. It’s also why many educators are excited about the prospect of the technology and there is something of an AI arms race emerging among top edtech companies.

Embracing AI 

Deirdre Quarnstrom, Vice President of Education at Microsoft, says AI has the potential to exponentially increase student access to personalized learning.

“We know from practice and experience, that personalized learning is really a key and everyone benefits from that,” Quarnstrom says.

One example of how AI is helping facilitate more personalized learning is the Microsoft tool Reading Coach, which is available to educators and parents through Teams. Reading Coach can generate assessments of each student’s reading practice on demand, among other features. “We know that when students are more engaged in the reading, and they enjoy the content and it's more customized, they're going to spend more time and then that becomes a predictor of reading outcomes,” Quarnstrom says.

Other AI tools for educators include Microsoft CoPilot, which is in part powered by GPT technology through Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI and can help teachers generate lesson plans and assessments. Microsoft also recently announced it is enabling Khan Academy to provide free access to its AI assistant Khanmigo, for all K-12 educators.

However, regardless of the AI platform involved, it’s important to have the educator in the driver’s seat, Quarnstrom says. “They know their students, they know what they're trying to achieve, they have a set of goals, they know what their students are capable of,” she says.

Other tech giants are also entering the AI for education arena. Google’s flagship AI model, Gemini, is available in Workspace for education, and Apple’s recently announce partnership with OpenAI is sure to have implications for teachers and students.

AI Pitfalls and Potential 

Of course, there are also critics of AI.

Jane Rosenzweig, Director of the Harvard College Writing Center, argues that many existing AI tutors only provide on-demand versions of Wikipedia articles, not the deeper insights a skilled educator can provide. Research into how effective generative AI tools can be is still in its infancy, although one recent review of research found students saw only modest benefits from using ChatGPT-style tutors. And hallucinations still remain a problem for AI technology.

Alden Do Rosario, CustomGPT.ai’s CEO and founder, says eliminating hallucinations should be the first goal of every AI company, particularly those companies working in the education space. However, he is confident the problem of AI hallucinations will be solved, and like many tech company executives, is optimistic about the future of AI and education. Ultimately, he believes AI won’t just help students at all levels learn but change how they learn.

“If knowledge is available at the drop of a hat, similar to what Google used to do, but now it is a thousand times more powerful, then the focus on trying to memorize stuff becomes much less important,” Do Rosario says. “You remember there is to be these thing called 'open book tests.' Now it's going to be open AI tests. How you take an exam will be completely different with AI right at your fingertips.”

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Chronic absenteeism has become a growing issue on a nationwide scale, one that jumped significantly after the pandemic hit. Michael Hale, Director of College, Career & Citizenship + Innovation Educator at Casco Bay High School in Portland, Maine, says that the percentage of ongoing chronic absenteeism has almost doubled, and with it comes other detrimental effects that can severely derail the futures of afflicted students.

“One thing that is a real concern is that chronic absenteeism is now nationally at 30%,” Hale says “Before now, pre-pandemic, it was roughly 15 to 16%, which already seems high. And I don’t know anybody that’s in education who’s heard that number that hasn’t been floored. We all have different ideas of what the issues are. But collectively, this is a major concern for the county.”

With levels of absenteeism so high, the potential impact it can have on students can be devastating. Challenges stemming from absenteeism can be as common as a lack of readiness for the professional world, but it can also involve serious mental and physical health issues.

So why has chronic absenteeism risen in the past few years, and what can be done to reverse the trend?

Why the Sudden Increase in Chronic Absenteeism? 

While chronic absenteeism has always been an obstacle, the pandemic has shown that there are various ways to help educate students even when they are not present at school. The increased reliance on technology might have had a slight impact on chronic absenteeism, but as Hale describes, the root of the issue is deeper than that. Students might not always thrive in a particular environment when it comes to education, in school, at home or otherwise. However, school is made to help students achieve their educational goals while also catering to their emotional and social development.

Students often are dealing with much more than just test scores and homework. Absenteeism can be attributed to responsibilities that students have to take on to help with their household duties in some instances. Other absences come down to accessibility obstacles, such as a lack of affordable transportation options to and from school.

Aside from sickness, familial emergency, and other necessary instances, some absences can be remedied with the help of the schools involved. And that involves schools and families working together to find solutions.

“At the end of the day, it comes down to the relationships between students, families, and the community that the schools and families have built,” says Hale. “It helps to support students in their educational endeavors, whether it’s making up work, being able to jump back into class and not feeling anxious about coming back to class. A lot of students struggle to transition. But what we’re seeing is that most families and their students are going to be okay. It’s the students that are missing 18, 20 days and more that aren’t necessarily getting the support they need. They’re not going to school for the reasons that really concern us.”

What Can Be Done About Chronic Absenteeism? 

Schools have taken on much more responsibility in raising students and influencing their formative years. However, there are some supports that schools offer that help to supplement a student’s home life. Hale emphasizes that there are definitive steps we can take to help curb the alarming levels of chronic absenteeism, particularly fostering a sense of community.

“It’s slowing things down and building that relationship,” he says. “Being relentless in fostering that relationship over the many years it may take to find success in changing that number around for each student. It’s proven through a lot of research that creating a culture and community within your school that invites attendance and makes you feel like you want to go [to school].”

Hale recommends checking out FutureEd’s attendance playbook for ideas and practical solutions. From this, he cites actions that can be taken from the three tiers of support:

• Tier 1: Intensive Intervention - Includes actions such as providing free lunches and laundry facilities at schools, increased engagement with students and families, school-based health services, and restorative discipline practices.
• Tier 2: Early Intervention - Includes actions such as targeted home visits, mentors and tutors, mental health supports, and targeted youth engagement.
• Tier 3: Universal Prevention - Involves addressing interagency case management, housing insecurity, and truancy.

In addition, districts may need to rethink traditional school structures to accommodate cultural changes.

“In terms of a template [to combat chronic absenteeism] it has to start with the way schools build their infrastructure, their frameworks around that idea, and how well we really know our students,” Hale says.

The level of chronic absenteeism may have increased over the past few years, but educators have more agency over how they impact that increase and how they can turn it around. With greater involvement in student’s lives, a push now can help change the fortunes of young adults personally and professionally into the future.

Related:

• Chronic Absenteeism: Why It’s On The Rise and How to Overcome It
• Building A Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) Framework for Mental Health

I have tried to stay fit since my teens, and four decades later, I was still training at the same intensity until pain in my joints creeped in. Like any stubborn person in denial, I ignored it and suffered. Then I spent a weekend with my sister and her husband, who showed me an innovative approach to strength training that would put less stress on my joints and at the same time increase my strength.

As my brother-in-law, a professional trainer, described this approach and shared the tools to try it, the researcher in me filtered his words. Don't get me wrong, I think he is terrific, but his approach just sounded too good to be true and I hadn’t heard about it before.

After doing my own research, I decided to switch from my intense weight lifting to Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) training, as he had suggested. With this, you place a cuff or band above your bicep and tricep to restrict blood flow to muscles during exercise. This enhances muscle strength and hypertrophy at about one-third the weight compared to traditional training, and strikes a balance between optimizing muscle development and recovery while minimizing stress on joints and tissues.

The results have become profoundly clear by my increase in muscle tone. I haven’t been toned like this since college! So BFR worked, at least for me.

As a school leader in the second half of my life, this experience was not just a personal win-win but it led me to consider a larger payoff: Continuing to learn and develop new ways to improve my quality of life is an approach I can model with my learning community.

You Can Teach an Old Dog

Steven Kotler challenges the conventional wisdom about aging and learning, and shows how testing the limits of an aging body and mind can transform our later years. It can make us more effective and resilient, and prove that we can model for others the value of learning no matter who or where you are in your developmental stages. For school leaders like me, Kotler's insights offer lessons on how continuous learning enhances an ability to support my school community far beyond conventional leadership.

Kotler's experiment is grounded in neuroscience and psychology. He debunks the "long slow rot theory" of aging, and instead presents evidence about how our brains remain pliant and capable of growth well into later years, and allows us to acquire new skills and adapt to challenges, provided we continue to engage in active learning.

One of the key scientific concepts Kotler explores is the idea of "flow," a state of deep focus and immersion in an activity. Flow is achievable at any age but is crucial for maintaining cognitive health and peak performance as we age. By pushing oneself to learn new, complex skills, older adults like me can still achieve high levels of performance and satisfaction.

Again, the secondary and broader advantage is that a new generation of learners and families sees me striving to develop and learn. Because as Ben Franklin suggests, the older I get, the more I realize I don’t know.

Lifelong Learning and School Leadership

For school leaders, these principles can be directly linked to our role as school leaders, helping us be better leaders and models for our school communities through continuous adaptation and learning.

Consider these actions to help your own development, as well as your community.

1. Embrace a Growth Mindset - Kotler underscores the importance of a growth mindset—the belief that abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work. This mindset is crucial for school leaders who navigate the ever-changing landscape of education. By modeling a growth mindset, leaders can inspire teachers and students to embrace challenges and view failures as opportunities for growth. This provokes our locus of control, or the degree to which people believe that they, as opposed to external forces, have control over the outcome of events proves we are capable of anything.
2. Enhance Cognitive Flexibility - Kotler’s exploration of neuroplasticity highlights the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural pathways. For school leaders, continuous learning can enhance cognitive flexibility, allowing us to better handle the diverse and dynamic challenges of our roles. Engaging in new learning experiences keeps our minds sharp and adaptable.
3. Build Empathy and Emotional Intelligence - A cognitive superpower is enhanced empathy, which comes from lifelong learning and the broadening of perspectives. Effective school leaders can better understand and connect with their staff and students on an emotional level because we develop greater empathy and emotional intelligence, leading to stronger relationships and a more supportive school environment.
4. Foster Innovation and Creativity - Creativity triggers innovation, essential for addressing unique challenges. By continuously learning and discovering new ideas and perspectives, we get to foster a culture of transformation within our schools, encouraging teachers and students to experiment and think outside the box.

Dance As If Everybody Is Watching

When I noticed a change with the blood flow restriction training, a good friend of mine, one who is innovative and forward-thinking, asked, “Don't you worry about people looking at you with those bands on?”

This is the oxymoron of leadership. We are expected to project a certain image at the very same time children need fallible adults who demonstrate they can still learn, mentors who can inspire them to grow in a remarkably imperfect upward progression.

My response to my friend: “I am not doing this for them. I am doing it for me and everyone who sees I can still grow.”

Practical Steps for School Leaders

• Engage in Diverse Learning Activities: Participate in a variety of learning experiences that diversify and stimulate different areas of the brain and enhance overall cognitive flexibility.
• Model Lifelong Learning: Demonstrate a commitment to lifelong learning by sharing personal learning experiences with staff and students. This can create a culture of continuous improvement and inspire others to pursue their own learning journeys.

Discovering Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) training later in life allowed me to improve my strength and muscle tone without stressing my joints, illustrating the power of lifelong learning. Kotler's work on lifelong learning and cognitive flexibility show how I can better support my school community by modeling continuous growth and encouraging students and staff to embrace new challenges and learning outcomes.

• Innovation from the Leadership Seat
• The Power of Humility: Why Egoless Leadership Helps Schools Thrive

When the media center at Sebastian River High School in Vero Beach, Florida, needed renovation, Kerri Wall went much further than a new coat of paint. 

Wall is the Senior Instructional Technology Administrator for Sebastian River High School and she created a high-tech, state-of-the-art learning environment that puts students first. For her efforts, she was honored by Tech & Learning during a recent Regional Leadership Summit with an Innovative Leader Award for the Most Innovative Learning Spaces. 

The media center upgrade grew from the idea of creating a central hub for students to explore their educational possibilities. The furniture in the media center is mobile, able to be rearranged to suit the needs of the students when necessary. The center houses 3D printers, a coffee shop (students can eat food in the space), and accommodating chairs and tables.

Student Input Made All the Difference

Input from the students was critical to Wall’s efforts.

“Some of the things they wanted to be able to be in there before and after school–they wanted to be able to eat in there, they wanted their computers. And they wanted to see other groups. They wanted it to be like a hub,” Walls says. “And so we took those points, then we paired them with our renderings to show them, ‘These are the things you want. And these are things we’re going to make happen.’ Then we paired it with the final images and they were able to see exactly what [they] asked for.”

Having input from the students was a major selling point for the useability of the media center. With ideas implemented from student suggestions, students then felt as though they directly impacted their school. “Once you have that input, they’re committed, they’re with you 100%,” she says.

Students even came up with some innovative ideas themselves.

For example, CTE classes can now be seen from the media center, giving students a first-hand look at potential options for their professional futures. This stemmed from the students wanting to have an almost open-air concept for the space.

The renovated media center represents more than just a fancy space for students to work, says Wall. It represents dedication toward the impact students can have regarding their educational and professional futures.

The Blueprint for Student Advancement and Engagement

Seeing the success of the space, the input from the student body, and the support from educational leadership coming together to create something innovative, other schools can use this media center as a blueprint for their own renovation projects.

“Leadership and support is important. I would say you have that kind of perfect recipe,” says Wall. “I have friends in other districts that are already branching out and trying some things because it’s like, ‘Really, we really can do it.’ You don’t feel like you know much about furniture, but, you’d be surprised what a couple phone calls can start to get happening.”

Wall made a concerted effort to create a comfortable space for students to explore educational options and make decisions on their futures. She was empowered by the overwhelming support she received from her leadership group as well as the student input that helped mold the space into the ideal environment for learning and growth.

Now that the media center is fully functional, more students have felt empowered to make it their own, using it for varying purposes.

Wall had a simple purpose for creating this space: give students the tools they need to succeed. With this media center, students can thrive in their educational endeavors and other schools have a blueprint for ways to engage students in their educational futures.

• Collaborating with School Librarians and Media Specialists on Lessons
• How School Librarians Are Evolving

Tech & Learning’s first-ever Utah Regional Leadership Summit in Salt Lake City brought together leading minds in technology and education to delve into the convergence of innovation, learning, and leadership. Focusing on emerging technologies such as AI, Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality (AR/VR), esports, and the application of design thinking in educational settings, the conference provided a rich platform for collaboration, exchanging ideas, and actionable insights. 

Tech & Learning partnered with the Utah Coalition for Educational Technology for this pre-conference learning opportunity at the Leonardo Museum.

During the conference, several conversations explored AI's transformative potential in revolutionizing educational practices. Event emcee Carl Hooker showcased AI-powered learning, instructional ideas, and intelligent content creation tools. Discussions emphasized the importance of ethical AI deployment, data privacy, and ensuring inclusivity in AI-driven educational solutions. Leaders in the field highlighted the need for continuous research and development to harness AI's full potential in enhancing teaching, learning, and administrative processes.

One spotlight session by Dr. Shannon Putnam highlighted AR/VR technologies and emphasized the immersive and experiential learning capabilities for learners of all ability levels. Educators shared success stories of using immersive tech simulations for complex subjects, and examples of AR/VR content creation tools were offered, enabling attendees to explore innovative ways to integrate these technologies into curricula. Discussions centered on scalability, accessibility, and the role of AR/VR in fostering creativity and critical thinking skills.

Esports continues to grow in popularity in school districts, and the session presented by esports expert Audra Yocom, Director of Technology Education for Success in Education, a nonprofit serving every school district in the state of Utah with core education-based programs, explored the potential of esports to engage students and teach valuable skills such as teamwork, strategic thinking, and digital citizenship. How esports programs have a positive impact on student retention, academic performance, and career readiness was a point of focus, while panel discussions addressed concerns around screen time, gaming addiction, and the need for establishing responsible gaming guidelines.

I presented the day's final session focused on design thinking methodologies, particularly on fostering a culture of innovation within classrooms and schools. Participants learned how design thinking principles could be applied to tackle challenges such as curriculum design, pedagogical innovation, and instruction. Attendees also discussed how to use design thinking to reimagine learning spaces, develop student-centered solutions, and build a culture of continuous improvement and experimentation.

A Special Thank U(tah) To Our Partners!

• Apptegy - Apptegy makes it easy for administrators and educators to reach parents, students, staff, and your community at large. Their tools lets adminstrators communicate better and influence how your public thinks and feels about your schools.
• ClassLink - A global education provider of access and analytics products that create more time for learning and help schools better understand digital engagement.
• evolv - Evolv Technologies is transforming human security to make a safer, faster, and better experience for schools using industry leading AI-powered weapons detection and analytics.
• ScreenBeam - ScreenBeam's wireless screen sharing untethers teachers to provide freedom of movement changing the trajectory of their classrooms to be more collaborative in new and dynamic ways.
• Lincoln Learning Solutions - Lincoln's EK-12 curriculum facilitates student success in and beyond the classroom in any learning environment. 
• GoGuardian - GoGuardian provides simple, proven solutions to create effective, engaging, and safer learning environments where every student can thrive.
• Incident IQ - Incident IQ is the workflow management platform built exclusively for K-12 schools, featuring asset management, help ticketing, facilities maintenance solutions, and more.
• Education Market Experts - From small start-ups hoping to break into the education market to established companies branching out beyond their existing spheres, EME provides the research, product development, sales, and marketing tools needed to help our clients succeed.
• Cignition - Cignition delivers virtual high-impact K–12 tutoring, led by experienced educators who produce proven, repeatable results in student success.
• Elephant Learning - Elephant Learning is a supplementary curriculum delivering effective conceptual mathematics through adaptive gamification. 
• nXu - With a commitment to serving BIPOC & historically marginalized youth, nXu delivers best-in-class SEL and College & Career Readiness resources, development, and support to educators so that students in schools nationwide can lead thriving lives, driven by purpose and connected to community.
• Rhythm Nation - Rhythm Nation is an early education music curriculum that builds community, fosters creativity, and develops confidence in young learners…all while supporting literacy.
• Pathway2Careers - P2C is dedicated to clearing the biggest hurdles in education by challenging current approaches and motivating student learning through career-connected relevance.

UCET Conference Bonus

Following the Leadership Summit, Tech & Learning joined the first-ever Utah Educational Library Media Association (UELMA) and Utah Coalition for Educational Technology (UCET) combined state conference, which kicked off at the Salt Palace Convention Center.

This event brought together educators, librarians, technology specialists, and administrators from across the state to explore innovative practices, tools, and educational resources. Tech & Learning was a partner and supported numerous sessions to add to the event.

ISTE CEO Richard Culatta kicked off the event with content focused on the core message of his book Digital for Good: Raising Kids to Thrive in an Online World. His keynote emphasized the importance of fostering inclusive learning environments, leveraging technology responsibly, and preparing students for the challenges and opportunities of the 21st-century workforce.

The conference featured diverse breakout sessions covering various themes and topics relevant to educators and technology specialists, and Tech & Learning had the honor of hosting a room featuring a variety of edtech innovative speakers, including Eric Curts, Steve Isaacs, Ken Shelton, myself, and more. 

Other conference sessions included:

Digital Literacy and Citizenship: Workshops equipped educators with strategies and resources to teach digital literacy skills and promote responsible digital citizenship among students.

STEM Education and Maker Spaces: Presentations showcased innovative approaches to STEM education, including integrating maker spaces, robotics, and coding activities into the curriculum to foster creativity, problem-solving, and hands-on learning experiences.

Blended Learning and Personalized Instruction: Educators shared best practices for implementing blended learning models and leveraging technology to personalize instruction, differentiate learning experiences, and meet students' diverse needs.

AI In Education: These sessions explored its transformative impact on education. Topics included AI-driven personalized learning, adaptive assessment, and data analytics for student success. Ethical considerations in AI deployment, fostering inclusivity, and empowering educators with AI tools were also discussed. Participants engaged in hands-on workshops and shared best practices for AI integration.

The vendor expo allowed attendees to explore the latest edtech solutions, digital resources, and available learning platforms. Attendees were able to enjoy demonstrations, hands-on activities, and special discounts for conference attendees.

From inspiring keynote presentations to interactive breakout sessions and a vibrant vendor expo, the UCET Conference and the Utah Regional Leadership Summit provided attendees with valuable insights, resources, and networking opportunities to support their professional growth and enhance student learning outcomes.

• Tech & Learning Regional Leadership Summit
• Tech & Learning Innovative Leader Awards

The Tech & Learning Regional Leadership Summits are unique opportunities to engage with other school and district leaders whose work draws from national, state, and edtech organization standards such as NGSS, CCSS, and ISTE. For educators, it provides a think-tank like space to dream and build innovative and accessible futures for learners. 

At this year’s Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia regional event held at the Maritime Conference Centre in Baltimore, teams of colleagues, many meeting for the first time, worked throughout the day to craft their own versions of schools based on the new National Educational Technology Plan. Much of the content used to inspire the building of these model learning centers derived from the different sessions from throughout the day. 

Breaking the AIce 

Naturally, AI was a topic on everyone’s mind, and as such, the day started with a fun icebreaker developed by the summit’s trusted and enthusiastic facilitator, Carl Hooker, called “KarAIoke.” In the activity, attendees had to guess popular songs based on AI-generated images. The icebreaker was a massive hit and provided a fun opportunity for teams to work together and experience using AI in a low-risk and exciting way. 

Emerging Tech 

ISTE CEO Richard Culatta sat down for an intimate chat with Carl Hooker to discuss emerging tech trends on the horizon. Culatta reminded the school and district leader attendees that the trends over the year of AI is the equivalent of 100 years of ed policy change. Meaning, it is moving quite expeditiously! 

Culatta highlighted the importance for educators to have an understanding that ChatGPT is not AI, but instead is one tech tool that uses generative AI, and that there is a shift from generalist AI to specialist AI. For example, StretchAI for education is in Beta testing, and it relies on a “walled garden” approach in which all the data fed it is carefully curated by ISTE and ASCD. This is important because it protects the accuracy of the information. 

Moving from a primary focus on academic integrity concerns with AI, Culatta highlighted three trends in schools that are doing AI right:

• Time to Tinker with AI: Providing time for educators to explore using different types of generative AI. Some schools use the weekly faculty meeting time to allow for open experimentation with AI tools. 
• Modeling AI Use: Leaders in schools are modeling use of AI. For example, a school leader will include an AI-generated image in their weekly newsletter to show it is ok to use AI in fun ways for teachers. 
• Talking to Students about AI: Instead of banning AI outright, schools are having intentional discussions with students on what AI is and how it could or should be used or should not be used. For example, kids can consider how they can use AI to support writing a college application essay or not; having the discussion is key here. 

Future of Education 

Sharing that one constant in edtech is change and that none of the top five issues from ten years ago are the same as today is how Keith Krueger, CEO of CoSN, started his presentation on the future of education. Krueger showed images of “older” tech (cell phone brick, palm pilot, disk man, large computers) that in many ways still perform the same functions that we rely on currently, but we use newer technologies to do so. This was a great reminder to focus on the function of technology as opposed to specific tech tools, and then laid the foundation for presentation nicely. 

Kreuger’s three big challenges that affect tech leaders are: 

• Cybersecurity: Since 2018, cybersecurity concerns continue to increase, and K-12 schools are the No. 1 targeted population for ransomware attacks, at 57%. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of protection of data or people keeping things secure in K-12, and districts have large amounts of employee and student personal information, including SSNs, DOBs, and addresses. The impact of ransomware includes lost learning time and loss of reputation. The CoSN website provides resources that districts can access to be more proactive in addressing cybersecurity. 
• Digital Equity: Despite increased focus on access, which can still be a challenge, student connectivity remains an equity issue. The type of device matters (not all devices can do video conferencing for example), and what the government considers being a high connection internet speed is not sufficient for remote learning tools. As we move into the future, underconnectivity will be a focus and ensuring that not only do all students have a device, but they have the right device to handle robust computing and enough processing. 
• AI in K-12: AI will undoubtedly be a challenge going forward. Currently, there have been three responses from school districts regarding AI use: ban it, embrace it, and duck and cover. CoSN is working on providing supports for districts and has created a K-I2 generative AI readiness checklist and toolkit. AI’s cross-cutting impact with cybersecurity, as well as its influence on analytics and adaptive technologies, are also areas to watch. 

Other Emerging Topics Explored During the Summit 

The day was quite full, and a dozen other topics were presented and discussed. Some of the highlights include:

Esports: An Esports presentation by Tarrin Morgan from Morgan State University and CEO of REALdigitizED was exceptional, and showed the alignment between esports, student wellness, and career readiness, amongst many other areas. 

Esports has existed since 1972 and is a testament to the power of computing. Individual growth benefits to students who participate include: 

• Emotional, mental, and physical wellness 
• Analytical and critical thinking 
• Increased hand-eye coordination (i.e. transferable skill to be a surgeon) 
• Learning to be a good teammate and leader  
• Effective communication skills
• Networking and community building  
• Adaptability 
• Strategic planning (shooting and building at the same time) 
• Computer fluency (many video games reply on coding skills) 
• Extends STEM career opportunities (e.g. cybersecurity, animation, game design and coding, sound design, block chaining - dealing with digital currency) 

NextGen Science Standards in Action: Dr. Godfrey Rangasammy and Jessica Leedy from Prince George’s County School District provided insights on changing the STEM status quo through an equity lens by working toward justice-centered and multilingual science education. They shared how they have helped their students think about how they can change the world through teaching, using the NGSS. Their work is a culmination and continuation of a decade’s worth of innovation, curriculum audits in grades 3-8 biology, ambitious science teaching, and using AI + Scratch for multilingual cohorts as well as K-5 robotics in science instruction. 

The Shifting Role of Edtech Coaches: Dr. Amy Jackson and Krystle Pearson discussed the  shifts in instructional coaching in this post-pandemic era, recognizing that many teachers have fatigue with using tech tools. Change management using Kotter’s method was suggested as well as intentional long-term planning with other coaches by forming coaching teams with reading, math, and science coaches as edtech coaches are curriculum agnostic. Modeling digital pedagogy, engaging in more collaborative learning, and focusing on capacity building were advised. 

Putting a Bow on the Learning

The day concluded with the group presentations of model schools, which were showcased with walkup music, in poetry form, and featuring the D-ID avatar generator. Model school examples had eco-friendly materials, including state-of-the-art tech tables, and focused on developing students’ soft-skills, cultural competence, and engagement with community and industry partners. 

After the model school presentations, the Innovative Leader Award winners were recognized, including: 

Best Example of Innovative Digital Curriculum: Amanda Lanza and Valerie Schaffer, Baltimore County Public Schools

Best Example of Providing Equity & Access: Godfrey Rangasammy and Jessica Leedy, Prince George’s County Public Schools

Innovative Chief Technology Officer: Chad McGaha, Belton ISD

The Tech & Learning Regional Leadership Summits are one-of-a-kind opportunities to learn, network, and be on the edge of all things new in edtech. Use some of the information shared in your own work and join us in the future! 

Tech & Learning’s Regional Leadership Summits are starting off the 2024 year in the Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia region on February 23, 2024 at the Maritime Conference Centre! Following a successful event last February, the T & L team is excited to head back to Maryland and have a full day filled with sharing sessions, phenomenal speakers, and plenty of opportunities to network! 

                   READ MORE AND FIND THE LINK TO REGISTER HERE

District administrators from the region are invited to join the day’s events at no cost as it is Tech & Learning’s mission to make sharing information and networking accessible to the school leaders who are innovating in their communities. PLUS: Tech & Learning will cover a two-night hotel stay for qualified attendees. The day’s events will include interactive workshops and panel discussions designed to support school planning. The event features inspiring speakers including:  

Richard Culatta
T&L Summit MC Carl Hooker talks with ISTE/ASCD Chief Executive Officer Richard Culatta to discuss his vast experience in education policy and teacher preparation and his thoughts on the future of education. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions as part of this conversation.

Keith Krueger
In this session, Keith Krueger, CEO of CoSN, explores the key challenges and opportunities facing education leaders around technology. How should we think about innovation to transform learning? Attendees will engage in an interactive conversation about the top Hurdles, Accelerators and Tech Enablers identified in the 2024 Driving K-12 Innovation report. 

Tarrin Morgan, NASEF scholastic fellow
This session will explore how scholastic esports programs provide students with meaningful career and STEM education alongside their tournament experience. 

Amy Jackson, Supervisor, EdTech Programs, Arlington Public Schools, and Krystle Pearson, former Brunswick County Director of Technology will discuss The Shifting Role of Edtech Coaches.

These leaders have a wealth of knowledge to share and the Tech & Learning team urges prospective attendees to visit the agenda to see more of what the day will entail. In addition to these featured speakers, attendees will have the chance to participate in small group discussions with other district leaders, where they can share ideas and best practices to help reshape and reimagine the future of education. 

We'll also kick off the event the day before with our new Innovation Lab – a new series of events we are launching in partnership with Education Market Experts – where attendees can learn about new emerging tech AND earn a $200 scholarship for their district, followed by an opening dinner. 

Tech & Learning will also be hosting the "Innovative Leader" Awards as part of the Summit, to ensure leaders are getting the recognition they deserve. All finalists will be invited to the Summit and the winners will be announced at the event. District leaders are welcomed to think about the work an individual has done and submit a nomination here.  

Tech & Learning is delighted to continue providing a space in 2024, where school district leaders can engage with one another and amplify one another’s work. If you are not in the DMV area but are interested in attending another Tech & Learning Regional Leadership Summit, please visit here to see a list of other 2024 Summit dates and locations.

                   READ MORE AND FIND THE LINK TO REGISTER HERE

Mary Jane Warden majored in business in college but made an early career change to education after volunteering as a tutor in Chicago and meeting a student named Ramon. 

“Ramon was a first grader and I was really sparked by the challenge of helping Ramon learn how to read,” she says. “That just  opened my eyes into the things that I wanted to spend my time doing.” 

Today she is the Chief Technology Officer for the Community Consolidated School District 15 in Illinois and recently won the Innovative CTO award, one of Tech & Learning's Innovative Leader Awards, at the recent Midwest Regional Live Summit. She speaks with us about her evolution as a technology-focused educator, woman in edtech, and the potential of data to transform education.   

Technology Sparking Creativity  

After being inspired by meeting and tutoring Ramon, Warden obtained her master's in teaching and started teaching in Chicago Public Schools as a seventh- and eighth-grade social studies teacher. This was in the early days of classroom internet and Warden became fascinated with the potential of technology. She applied for a grant to bring internet to the school she taught at and used the new technology to foster student creativity. 

“I had my students build websites around mythology and connected science to that,” she says. “It was a really fun project and that set me into a whole path of supporting schools getting online, and helping teachers to see how to integrate technology into what they were doing. And then as technology continued to evolve, so did I as an educator and technology manager.”  

A Space for Women in Edtech  

While Warden encountered discrimination and sexism during her career as a woman in edtech, she also encountered supportive mentors and opportunities. “Education is a unique space for women to enter into the tech field,” she says. 

In the past, young women have been taught that girls are bad at science and math, and while that perception is changing overall, Warden believes the change is happening more rapidly in edtech. “In education, I've seen women being able to have entry points,” she says. “I'm finding that in education, those kinds of opportunities, and intersections happen more often than not.” 

However, that doesn't mean there are no barriers or obstacles for women in edtech to overcome. Warden says one of the highlights of her career has been modeling female success in tech, all while not “shying away from the boys’ clubs.” 

The Potential for Data Use 

 Warden is excited about the future of technology to help students in many areas including the potential of data to better inform teacher and district leader decisions. But she acknowledges it’s easy to get lost in mountains of data. “Many teachers are not spreadsheet users,” she says. So district leaders should provide data in an easily accessible format and encourage teachers to use data in small ways that can have a significant impact. 

For example, In her previous district, she had teachers compare their MAP scores to local assessment benchmarks and drill down into areas in which their students were struggling. She says it was an easy way to help teachers use data to figure out what they would teach next and why certain students were not performing. Teachers can then expand their use of data as time goes on. 

“I think small steps are always good steps,” she says. 

• Trends To Watch Beyond AI and Other Tips From A Retiring Edtech Leader
• 4 Tips For New Edtech Professionals

Keeping professional development fresh and current is a challenge for administrators. Creativity is key, and passionate educators have risen to the challenge. 

Dr. Leanna Mullen of Egg Harbor Township School District, a recent Innovative Leader Award winner for “Best Example of Professional Development,” discusses her innovative PD program and how it engages teachers and enhances the overall classroom experience. 

Using Data to Personalize PD 

Since Mullen, a student data coordinator and Rtl data coach, started at Egg Harbor Township (EHT) Schools 10 years ago, she has served in many capacities, including acting as a bridge between the IT department and curriculum administrators.

“I support universal screening data collection and provide in-depth data analysis at the individual student level and large scale, district-wide projects,” says Mullen. “I’m a member of our district’s Professional Development Committee and the primary professional development facilitator for all things edtech.”

This natural interest in data analysis helped Mullen create The Faculty Room, a unique spin on the traditional PD program.

The Professional Development Committee created an annual needs assessment survey and at the end of last school year, they expanded it to ask teachers about their preferred learning modalities and delivery of PD content, says Mullen. “Do they like large group auditorium style keynotes? Do they prefer intimate PLC conversations? Do they like curated video content?”

Mullen and her team discovered a large percentage of staff were looking for individualized learning and autonomy while maintaining content hyper-focused on EHT. The solution was simple from a mechanics standpoint as The Faculty Room is simply a Google Classroom.

“We are a Google for Education district, so the LMS made sense for us,” says Mullen. “We created a Faculty Room for each one of our nine buildings (some with more than 200 staff), and assigned all the teaching staff as students.” 

Since starting this virtual classroom concept, the committee has been able to make announcements, add reading and video materials, and provide teachers and admin the opportunity to directly connect via the private commenting feature.

The New Demand for On-Demand 

Flexibility through on-demand or asynchronous content can help educators who struggle with tight schedules. For those with family obligations or other personal considerations where travel to attend courses presents challenges, this type of mode can be a game changer, as well as a leveler in terms of accessibility.

“To introduce some of our new processes this school year, our team has created a number of short, 3-5 minute videos (titled “Independent Learning”) on specific topics that could be described as ‘EHT-centric’,” says Mullen. “We categorized them based on upcoming events and due dates (e.g. “Everything I need to know for September”).  

During their opening PD days, Mullen added Faculty Room time right into educators’ PD schedules. This included some required reading and video content, as well as optional “extra credit” materials for those wanting to take their learning further. 

“To ensure they understood the information presented, we outlined a list of action steps to mark complete as they finished,” Mullen says. “This gave staff the opportunity to get acclimated in the LMS while providing the flexibility to complete the assignments when it worked best for them. It also provided a layer of accountability that we weren’t able to capture before.

Staff has told the committee that the on-demand design of the Faculty Room is a convenient way to learn. They don’t have to search through old emails or an infinite number of Google files to locate directions or resource hyperlinks. Plus, it saves them a lot of time when they can review just what they need when they need it. 

“We are working on an Innovation and AI series now and we’ll continue to create content based district initiatives and staff requests,” says Mullen

Since the initial roll out, Mullen’s team has produced more content related to the district’s Equity Committee and a detailed review of the New Jersey Student Growth Objectives (SGOs).

“Office Hours” for Every Schedule 

Mullen created "Office Hours" to provide an extended opportunity for personalized PD.

“I have done a lot of research on andragogy [teaching adult learners] and educator self-efficacy,” says Mullen. “Everything around professional learning and teacher confidence indicates the ability to ask questions and feeling supported is key to their success. In short, it comes down to personalization and relationships.”

To answer this need, the virtual and in-person ‘Faculty Room Office Hours’ were offered as an extension of the asynchronous PD. Appointment slots use Google Calendar, so any of the 1,300+ faculty can reserve a 15-minute one-on-one meeting for support. The two to three “Office Hours” days offered each month get completely booked. 

“Staff has been incredibly receptive,” says Mullen. “I’ve met with teachers, counselors, secretaries, and even building principals.”

Support Matters 

This initiative did not carry any monetary cost — making it a potential solution for any district. However, creating The Faculty Room required a lot of upfront time to implement to add staff to Classrooms, record video content, and schedule assignments. 

“Our district recognizes the value it has brought to our staff,” says Mullen. “Our Supervisor of Literacy, Nanci Barr, our Director of Career and Technology, Dr. Carmelita Graham, and our Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Lily Moss, all offered their time to support the project.” Day-to-day maintenance is handled by the administrative team, and the central administration and Board of Education has also been supportive. 

“They know we are always striving for the best when it comes to supporting our students and staff -- and will do whatever it takes to support that,” says Mullen. ”Together, we divide and conquer!”

• Meet the 2022-23 Winners of Tech & Learning's Innovative Leader Awards
• Innovative Leader Award

In a time when educators are struggling to reconnect students to their studies and reignite the joy of learning, the Leyden High School District 212 outside Chicago has discovered the perfect blend of personalized learning and interdisciplinary teaching through their innovative freshmen co.lab. 

The Leyden co.lab Identify Unit allows all freshmen to participate in an interdisciplinary curriculum that connects English, biology, global studies, health, and digital literacy. 

Using a design thinking process helped propel the Leyden co.lab, says Superintendent Nick Polyak and Brian Mahoney, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction, who also believe this project-based learning concept can inspire students and serve as a model for other districts.

co.lab — A Paragon of Connection 

The Leyden co.lab helps students make their education dynamic while also connecting their studies to themes such as identity, community, and wellness.

“This process took several years of planning and investment,” says Polyak.”We allowed this amazing team of teachers to dream big, visit other programs around the country, and build something unique to our students and our community. When the hard work is being done at the grassroots level, it's easy to provide the funding and the support necessary to help them be successful.” 

Drawing from personal experiences and community involvement are key, but tech also helps facilitate the program. 

“When you walk into the co.lab classrooms, you will see wall-mounted video monitors with group seating. Any student can plug their chromebook in and share the screen with the group,” says Polyak, whose district has enjoyed 1:1 Chromebook use since 2012. “The technology and the furniture are intended to drive collaboration, public speaking, creativity, etc. During Covid, like every other school district in the country, we saw higher rates of failure. However, even during remote learning, the failure rates in co.lab were incredibly small. That community feeling and deliberate empowerment shone through in student success rates during that difficult time.”

Sharing their success created a lasting impact on students and their families. An exhibition is the culmination of the work learners have participated in throughout the year. Attendees can hear poetry, watch animated videos, and learn how a student’s family recipe can provide nutritional value for the human body. Sharing these student “artifacts” is a core tenet of the co.lab interdisciplinary education. 

“Our teachers and administrators spent countless hours brainstorming, researching, and conducting site visits to develop a program that brings several disciplines together in a unique way to build community, give students a purpose, and also provide significant academic outcomes for our students,” says Mahoney. “Providing the best project-based learning opportunities to our students in line with the curriculum is both an exercise in creativity and research.”

Support Starts at the Top 

“At Leyden, we have a district commitment to develop confident problem-solvers by providing students relevant and authentic experiences,” says Mahoney. “We let this commitment drive the vision of co.lab. The interdisciplinary nature of this program, along with the field trips and project-based learning, allows our co.lab teachers the ability to ‘check the boxes’ of the required content and standards while also extending that learning with real-world examples and experiences.”  

A supportive administration is key to pulling off such an impressive endeavor. At Leyden, co.lab teachers are provided substitutes to free up their schedule for full-day team meetings and common planning time.

“Leyden has a Board of Education and a school community that embraces and celebrates innovation and experimentation,” says Polyak. “We have clearly seen higher levels of personal confidence, community connection, public speaking and more. At the same time, our co.lab students have continually performed as well or better than their peers on state and national assessments. That program analysis has helped sustain and support this program.”

Results as Impressive as the Students 

Not only are students making their mark in the classroom, but Leyden is often contacted by community agencies—park district, township office, etc.—with reports of students taking positive action in the community. When asked about their motivation, they cite their time at the co.lab. 

“co.lab allows our students to interact with their community and tie their education to the towns they live in,” says Polyak. “They are not only learning their core academic competencies, but they are also understanding how they fit in their world and how to help give back.”

The end goal for an educator is to send students on to the next level as best prepared as possible for what life might bring.

“Our co.lab teachers are often approached by their colleagues who have former co.lab students,” says Mahoney. “A common refrain is ‘I knew they were a co.lab student because they were so prepared for… (fill in the blank).’ That is the dream for every teacher.”

How to Create a co.lab at Your School 

1. Assemble the Team. Find a well-rounded group of teachers and a supportive administrator not afraid of hard work. 
2. Write your Mission, Vision, and Standards. Use design thinking and resources such as NGSS, Common Core, and NHES. 
3. Gain Support from Administration and Community. Create a presentation and pitch to your Board of Education. 
4. Develop the Curriculum. Brainstorm, use outside resources such as Buck Institute for PD and ABCD framework, and team review instructional outcomes. 
5. Develop a Schedule and Committees. Divide time blocks aligning with class sessions, consider committees for roles such as resource, scheduling, secretary, agenda master, liaison, eagle time, and recruitment. 
6. Recruit Students. Connect with prospective participants and their parents. 
7. Launch the Program. Reflect, revise, and be flexible and ready to make tweaks along the way. 

• Innovation from the Leadership Seat
• How Project-Based Learning Can Increase Student Engagement

The world constantly evolves, and schools must adapt to keep pace with societal and technological changes. Innovative leaders can help schools stay relevant and prepare students for the challenges and opportunities of the future. 

Innovation in school leadership can lead to the development and implementation of new teaching methods, curriculum designs, and educational technologies. These innovations can enhance the quality of education and improve student outcomes.

To prepare for the future job market, students need to develop adaptability, creativity, and digital literacy skills. School leaders have to introduce programs and initiatives to nurture these skills. 

Innovative practices are also required to generate creative solutions for those hard-to-reach students who don’t fit the mold of regular schools. As important is the modeling of these practices for teachers to embrace the need for education to perform differently than in the past to fit the present and future needs.

With more than 20 years of district leadership experience under our belts, here are some of our leadership actions to consider to promote innovation.

Supporting Innovation: Embrace Technology & Promote Blended Learning 

Embracing technology is essential for both leaders and students if both are to find success in an era focused on the importance of individual needs. Leaders should make use of data akin to a marketing strategy when meeting the needs of both staff and students. This could include using digital tools, online resources, and innovative ways to hold meetings.

Encouraging a blend of traditional classroom instruction and online learning provides flexibility that allows students to learn at their own pace and style while providing teachers with data to personalize instruction.

Feedback for Teachers

We have found a tool such as Voxer to be of great use when it comes to feedback, based on its ability to reach teachers more effectively in a manner that avoids defensiveness. Gone are the days of reading between the lines on evaluative checklists or skimming reports too dense (or boring) to read. The recorded voice or video allow messages to be absorbed on demand as they move through their other tasks.

Individualized Instruction

Rather than failing students and making them attend summer school, we decided to help students who struggled to pass their courses by instituting what we call Winter School. This has students reviewing critical concepts they fell short on via an online platform and at their own pace. They can enroll through the year as usual by successfully completing those concepts. Online platforms also serve as avenues for exploration in courses for which no teachers or when students cannot attend school for medical reasons. Google Classrooms are now the norm, but they are only the first step in truly using technology to innovate for the benefit of students.

Support Professional Development 

It's key to invest in PD for teachers and staff, focusing on innovative teaching methods, technology integration, and new educational trends.

The most meaningful PD is relevant, ongoing, and job-embedded. It is key for leaders to discover creative ways to hit these three markers of success. 

For example, we held a staff-created and -run conference on a district PD day. Staff members submitted proposals for sessions they would run and then individuals attended based on their needs. There was a high level of personalization, and sessions included current issues needing support, topics for deeper discussions as we move forward, and every staff position, from paraprofessional to nurse to art teacher. This event created an environment that allowed exploration of current topics, consistent follow-up with presenters, and the ability for teachers to coach one another in their areas of expertise.

Create Flexible Learning Spaces 

Redesign classrooms and learning environments to be flexible and adaptable to different teaching and learning styles. This can foster creativity and collaboration.

It’s not just that everyone learns differently, but students also can maximize their learning based on their surroundings. 

For example, knowing and understanding this, we changed the structure of our library. We removed large, stationary desks that once housed desktop computers and bookshelves that occupied most of the floor space. These items were replaced with a large center area containing high-top bistro-style tables and chairs on wheels. We also put all the bookshelves on wheels. The result has been an area that houses mini concerts, lunch, multiple classes, afterschool programming, and more. And we now have a flexible space that can be reconfigured to meet the many different needs of students and staff throughout the day and evening. Students can consistently collaborate or work individually based on their unique needs.

Stay Informed

School leaders should stay up-to-date with the latest educational research, trends, and best practices to identify opportunities for innovation.

It is also essential for leaders to hear multiple perspectives on every aspect of the educational experience so they can help make it what it needs to be in the future. Besides reading non education-based books on leadership, consider being part of a professional growth organization such as Better Leaders Better Schools Mastermind. 

Innovation comes from surrounding yourself with other leaders who will challenge what you are doing, support you through obstacles, and hold you accountable for ensuring the success of all those you serve by creatively meeting their individual needs.

It’s important to know and understand that innovation does not just appear. It is the result of transforming current ideas into a reality that achieves the goal of continually moving forward in a way that effectively supports, engages, and empowers students and staff to reach their highest level of success. 

By fostering a culture of innovation and providing the necessary support and resources, school leaders can contribute to developing effective and forward-thinking educational practices.

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As part of our Regional Live Summits, Tech & Learning recognizes exceptional district administrators in select regions around the country through our Innovative Leaders Awards. We’re seeking district leaders who are reimagining and reinventing education by developing and launching unique and forward-thinking programs, policies, and best practices that have shown to have a positive impact and are also replicable at other districts.  

Please join us in celebrating the winners - and learn how you can nominate yourself or a colleague for the 2023-24 Innovative Leader Awards here. 

2022-23 TECH & LEARNING INNOVATIVE LEADER AWARD WINNERS

NOMINATE A COLLEAGUE OR YOURSELF

Do you know an innovative school district leader who you would like to nominate for the Tech & Learning's Innovative Leader Awards, or would you like to nominate yourself for this award? Find our upcoming dates and locations for these awards here. 

Each selected finalist will be invited to join us at the relevant Regional Leadership Summit where the winners of each category will be announced.

All finalists receive:

• An exclusive invitation to attend the Tech & Learning Summit in their region including the awards ceremony, all sessions, discussions and networking
• Two-night free hotel stay (close to the Summit venue)
• Recognition in Tech & Learning magazine (reaching 80,000 readers) and on the Tech & Learning website (reaching 150,000 monthly visitors)
• A Tech & Learning Innovative Leader Award Seal that can be added to all district websites
• PLUS winners and finalists will receive an exclusive invitation to Tech & Learning's Innovative Leader Summit, taking place on December 8 outside of New York City!

Plus winners receive: 

• An exclusive interview and profile in Tech & Learning magazine (reaching 80,000 readers) and on the Tech & Learning website (reaching 150,000 monthly visitors)
• A Tech & Learning Innovative Leader Award Winner Seal that can be added to all district websites

                                                     Nominate yourself or another district leader here 

To share your feedback and ideas on this article, consider joining our Tech & Learning online community here

The EdExec Summit is a new event from Tech & Learning that brings together top executives from the K-12 industry for a unique three-day networking conference to help business leaders develop new strategic partnerships, navigate the ever-changing landscape of education, grow their businesses, and build the infrastructure and culture needed to ensure a successful, scalable education business plan. 

The event takes place at the beautiful Chateau Elan Winery & Resort outside of Atlanta, Georgia, on September 6-8, 2023.

                                                    REGISTER HERE

Agenda highlights include:

►Keynote presentation by NFL CIO Gary Brantley, who will share practical tips to develop thriving edtech business ecosystems. 

►Finding the money after ESSER and the “fiscal cliff”

►How to scale into new global markets

►How to avoid the 6 mistakes made by emerging edtech companies

►How to market and sell in a post-Covid economy

►How to integrate generative AI into your products and educate your customers about how generative AI impacts teaching and learning.  

►How to successfully recruit and onboard diverse former educators and prepare them for success in their shift to corporate careers. 

►A sneak peek at the National EdTech Plan – and what this means for the education industry. 

►Marketing tips from a panel of school district leaders who share an inside look at how and why they choose corporate partners. 

►Education policy updates: What edtech companies need to know and how to prepare they need to watch for in 2024 to ensure financial success. 

                                                       REGISTER HERE

Whether you are a K-12 publisher, software developer, hardware manufacturer, investor, industry analyst, or provider of any service to schools, the robust EdExec Summit agenda offers invaluable advice to support your business growth. We hope you can join us for this networking conference dedicated to the business of education at the beautiful Chateau Elan Resort, North Georgia’s premier destination resort, which includes a winery, spas, golf, and more!              

During her career as a pioneering school leader in edtech, Lorrie Owens has encountered racism and sexism. 

Sometimes it has been subtle things such as mansplaining. “I've had some of my subordinates trying to explain technical terms to me in very elementary terms,” says Owens, who has been the Chief Technology Officer for the San Mateo County Office of Education since 2004.

In other instances, the discrimination has been more overt. “I've had vendors who refuse to talk to me but they talk to my male subordinates,” Owens says. “It's just a plethora of things that made me feel unwelcome and it's mostly because of my gender. Though I have had on certain occasions people, usually vendors who have been a little standoffish or worse, and I can tell that it was because I am Black.” 

Throughout it all, Owens persevered and the micro and macro aggressions she’s endured have decreased, though not disappeared. 

Along the way, Owens has worked to make edtech a more inclusive space for staff and students. She is the first female, and still the only Black woman, to lead the technology division of a county office of education in California. She serves on the CoSN DEI committee and is a civil rights advocate who is constantly fighting for the disenfranchised. For these efforts she was awarded Best Example of Providing Equity & Access at a recent Tech & Learning Regional Leadership Summit in California. 

Owens’ Advice to Women and People of Color in EdTech 

“As hard as it is to not take it personally, don't take it personally,” Owens says. “I did for many years, and all it does is eat at you. It really is a matter of the ignorance, or maybe ignorance is a harsh word, but the conditioning of the person that you're interacting with.” 

However, not taking it personally doesn’t mean letting bias go unchecked. “You don't let it slide,” she says. “I call it out but I try to do it in a way that doesn't make the person defensive and makes them aware. In some cases, people are doing it on purpose and, they just don't like you because of your gender, your race, or whatever, and that's just who they are. But in many cases, they're not aware of what they're doing.” 

The K12 leaders who have displayed bias or inappropriate behavior that Owens has encountered usually didn't mean to be offensive. “What I found is that most people, when they are made aware, they will stop those behaviors,” she says. 

What School Leaders Can Do to Support DEI  

K12 leaders should be aware of the inherent biases that they themselves have. “Most people still have an unconscious bias that the most technically competent people are male and are either white or Asian,” Owens says. 

Being aware of this potential for bias in themselves can help leaders begin to address them and treat employees more fairly. Owens says school leaders need to make sure that when they are interacting with or evaluating, or engaging, a person of color or with a woman, that they do it strictly on merit, strictly on what that person brings, what their qualifications are, and not on any preconceived notions. 

Owens also advises women and people of color working in technology to interact with students and model careers in edtech. “I strongly believe that you can't be it if you can't see it,” Owens says. “There are a lot of young very talented young people who could do very well in this profession. But if you ask the average young person, say in elementary, middle, or even in some cases high school, have you thought about the Chief Technology Officer, Chief Information Officer, or pursuing a leadership role in technology? Many of them haven't thought about it because they don't see it.” 

• 5 Ways Educator Pathways is Promoting DEI in San Diego County
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To share your feedback and ideas on this article, consider joining our Tech & Learning online community here

Scrolling through LinkedIn, an unbelievable number of members are changing their status from active to retired. Many teachers and school administrators are changing their profiles as well, in fact, the National Education Association predicted in February 2022 that 55% of teachers would retire last year. Teachers have carried a heavy load this school year and several years before as well. With this in mind, it is time to consider how schooling could look as we usher in the 2023-24 school year. 

Summer is a time for flip-flops, mountain tops, and beaches, but it is also good to plan for the next school year. The spring was most likely spent justifying spending needs and hopefully, many budgets will be passed by the first of July. With approved budgets in hand, districts should strategically think through the implementation of programs and projects that were included. 

This is also the time to consider what was learned from the past year that can be applied to future improvement. Summertime has a short number of weeks, and with staff vacations added to the mix, time is of the essence. 

Here is a quick list of priorities for school leaders summer planning.

1. Assess Facilities 

Summer is the time to take inventory of all of your facility needs, including technology. Make sure old equipment is properly disposed of and new equipment is on the way prior to absolute disposal. Walkthrough as many buildings as possible to check the grounds and determine if there are priorities for rehabilitation in the coming years. Additionally, some communities are experiencing a lot of growth while others are declining in population. This is the time to set the needs of buildings and the demand on the capital budget. Check boundary lines in conjunction with the new development and begin a plan that will inform the school board of upcoming needs. 

2. Recruit Teachers/Staff 

Currently, recruiting staff is a priority every day but summer is the chance to reach out and hire as many highly qualified educators, administrators, and support personnel as possible. You may consider hiring ‘permanent substitutes’ to create a pipeline of teachers for when vacancies occur throughout the year. These teachers serving as permanent substitutes fill long-term subbing positions or are assigned to one school to substitute. Because they are certificated and highly qualified, they can move into teaching positions that match their skill set. 

The April 2022 issue of Tech & Learning features a teacher recruitment and retention playbook for school districts, with advice, best practices, and resources to help find quality educators. 

3. Inventory

Inventory is a dirty word but someone has to do it. Inventory is the best way to know what resources are available to your teachers, students, and staff members. Technology, books, and other necessary equipment should be not only inventoried but checked to make sure it still functions properly and can still meet needs.  

4. Purchase

After a thorough inventory, purchase orders can be written to recoup resources and add new items before school starts. This process should begin as soon as students leave the building so that orders can be placed in a timely fashion. 

5. Reflect and Retreat

Leaders spend a large amount of their time lifting up others and troubleshooting. Summertime offers the chance for them to slow down to middle gear and reflect on what was successful during the past year and what needs to be tweaked. 

Of course, this can be done through an email memo but trust and relationships are built when leaders retreat to work together in an environment that is different from the school or office environment. This can be done at a retreat center, a conference that all will be attending (such as ISTELive 23), a public state park, a church, or other community building located nearby. Taking time to reflect and plan as a team builds the infrastructure needed to endure anything the 2023-24 year has to offer by way of challenges or opportunities. 

Education can only improve if we put the time and effort into rethinking what it can be. Taking advantage of the summer to assess, reflect, and revise is a great use of time for any administrator. Happy Summer!

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Tech & Learning is excited to announce a new partnership with the National Association of School Superintendents (NASS). Through this partnership, Tech & Learning will promote the work of NASS members and offer a new scholarship to cover the NASS membership fee to select superintendents. 

           To be considered for this scholarship, please complete this form.  

About NASS 

NASS was originally launched in 2009 to serve the unique needs and challenges faced by superintendents by leveraging its most powerful and reliable source of support, networking with other superintendents. It offered new superintendents immediate guidance and resources, while simultaneously affording their more seasoned and experienced colleagues opportunities to continue to refine their expertise as well as contribute advice and leadership to their profession.

Today, the organization is a new nonprofit undergoing its third realignment, beginning with developing an all-new resource center that will continue to grow and improve by the addition of features and opportunities for professional growth and advancement.

NASS Membership Benefits

Members join a coalition of dynamic superintendents from across the country to share their collective expertise with the goal of continuously advancing public education. Member benefits include: 

• Access to THE RESOURCE CENTER, a growing collection of advice, best practices and proven strategies can significantly advance school superintendents’ individual and combined success;
• Access to MY CONTRACT, an extensive collection of concepts and sample language to consider for your personal employment contract;
• Access to COLLABORATION, in which experienced members are available to share what they've learned as well and brainstorm solutions to the latest challenges;
• Eligible to be a FEATURED MEMBER, an article including your background, career highlights, and accomplishments, available to search firms, board members, and internet search engines, and the first step in the NASS Superintendent of the Year selection process, promoted to NASS’s 16,000 newsletter subscribers;
• Eligible to be recognized as an INFLUENCER for outstanding contributions to our profession achieved outside the duties and responsibilities of the position;
• Opportunity to PUBLISH articles and build your resume;
• Eligible for NASS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE membership; and
• Eligible for NASS Annual Awards.

About the NASS-Tech & Learning Partnership

Tech & Learning will expand the audience for the work of NASS members through profiles of select members in Tech & Learning’s newsletter and website, reaching 70,000 subscribers weekly and 2.5 million users annually, respectively. 

Tech & Learning is also offering scholarships to cover the NASS membership fee for 10 superintendents ($199/year). Accepted superintendents will also receive:

• An invitation to the monthly Tech & Learning Regional Leadership Summit in their region (find upcoming dates and locations here), which includes a two-night hotel stay for qualified superintendents and the opportunity to present. 
• A nomination for the Tech & Learning Innovative Superintendent award (read more here). Winners are named at the closing ceremony at the Regional Leadership Summit.
• All winners and finalists for the Tech & Learning Innovative Superintendent award receive an exclusive invitation to the Tech & Learning Innovation Summit, taking place on December 8, 2023, outside of New York City, and consideration for the NASS 2023 Superintendent of the Year.

         To be considered for this scholarship, please complete this form.  

“The superintendency is one of the most important and meaningful professions in our country,” says Theresa Daem, Founder of the National Association of School Superintendents. “While the work can be immensely rewarding, it is also extremely demanding and subject to new pressures and mandates on a regular basis. We look forward to building a coalition of dynamic superintendents with the collective expertise truly capable of continuously advancing public education.”

“We’re honored to partner with NASS to recognize the unique, sometimes challenging work that innovative leaders have taken on in their role as superintendents,” says Christine Weiser, Content Director for Tech & Learning. “These district leaders work hard to support the professional development of their school communities. By partnering with NASS, we’re glad to offer superintendents a place where they can develop their own personal and professional growth through collaboration with their peers, as well as promote their work to our national audience.”   

To share your feedback and ideas on this article, consider joining our Tech & Learning online community here.

Emmy Werner studied resilience, at a time when resilience research was not widely recognized, as a resource to help traumatized children outside of scholarly literature, until now. Werner’s work is based on a remarkable longitudinal study that tracked hundreds of children who were born on the Hawaiian island of Kauai in 1955, over four decades.

One out of three of the children from Kauai identified as high-risk grew into unexpectedly competent, confident, and caring adults. They did not develop behavior or learning problems during childhood or adolescence. They succeeded in school, managing home and social life well. These children grew into adults who were somehow able to overcome incredible odds, leading to successful and fulfilling lives. 

This study challenged the persistent belief that at-risk children cannot succeed. How did they beat the odds?

A consistent pattern of protective factors were revealed in these resilient children:

1. Protective factors within the individual: These included characteristics such as intelligence, a positive outlook, a sense of humor, and a talent or interest that provided a sense of purpose and identity. 
2. Protective factors in home life: These included having at least one supportive and involved opportunity to establish a close bond with at least one competent, emotionally stable person who was sensitive to their needs, often substitute caregivers such as grandparents, older siblings, aunts, or uncles. 
3. External factors: These included access to supportive social networks, such as teachers, mentors, and peers, and opportunities for involvement in activities that fostered positive relationships and skills development. 

The second and third factors are provisions that schools and communities can foster, but the first factor may seem dependent on the individual. Yet, internal resilience can be learned, resulting in these protective factors interacting in a synergy that compounds positive long-term consequences. Indeed, schools and communities can implement the lessons learned from Werner’s study. More evidence across other studies provide validation for generalizing strategies to disadvantaged children in schools. 

Learning Resiliency from Historical Patterns 

A more recent tragedy, with parallels to post-Covid student trauma, was conducted for Katrina hurricane survivors. This disaster wiped out much of the city of New Orleans in 2005.  Researchers published findings on “resilience outliers” a decade later, in Children of Katrina. These kids were displaced from school and home for a year, and had no digital access to connect to their educational or social lives. 

Similar to the pandemic, 100,000 post-Katrina students were isolated, stripped of critical developmental and social learning opportunities. However, the researchers found individuals who had not only survived, they went on to lead successful, thriving young adult lives. As with Werner’s findings, a sense of strong community helped Katrina kids rebuild their lives. And like the Kids of Kauai, having a strong support network helped those traumatized children experience post-traumatic growth.

Patterns in history reinforce solutions. Moving ahead to 2014, Google researched who their most successful employees were. The assumption was that those who went to prestigious universities topped the list. Certainly, they were given the conditions to succeed, except they were beaten out by individuals who had endured a trauma at some point in their lives, and excelled not despite, but perhaps because of, the lessons learned from overcoming. 

This study reinforced that not all is lost. In fact, resilience is sometimes best learned through real-life challenges. Incorporating protective factors helps traumatized individuals draw strength, rather than weakness, from circumstances.

Expectations and Outcomes 

The Pygmalion Effect, another study regarding school community support that dates back a half century, showed how teachers who were told certain students were gifted, expected them to excel academically. Another group of students, they were told, were average. In reality, there was no difference between these groups. Yet the teachers treated the perceived gifted as more intelligent, providing them with more attention, encouragement, and opportunities. 

As a result, the perceived gifted students demonstrated gifted levels of performance while their peers performed as expected, with average performance. The Pygmalion effect revealed higher expectations leading to better performance. 

Teacher perceptions and attitudes toward students often include unintended biases. Being conscious of this can help all children, by pushing past our biases to create supportive learning communities, so all children are given opportunities to excel. 

Consider a template to guide educators:

• Teaching resilience to children so they can learn to persevere. Resilience building can often be achieved through inspirational stories of overcoming trauma.
• Provide strong affiliations to mentors, coaches, and teachers to foster a sense of connection to adults in the life of children in need.
• Provide outlets for supportive social networks, such as teams, clubs, religious affiliations, and other organizations to connect students to these children.  

While not a failsafe, these actions, as evidenced, certainly increase the odds of success for those who have had to overcome barriers in early life. Stacking these strategies together further compounds the likelihood of success for many students, certainly more than without. 

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To share your feedback and ideas on this article, consider joining our Tech & Learning online community here

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) was one of the key themes at this year’s 30th anniversary CoSN conference in Austin, where district administrators and industry partners gathered for one of the biggest CoSN conferences to date. In addition to celebrating this important anniversary milestone (find the timeline of CoSN’s 30-year impact to date here), this hybrid event offered dozens of in-person sessions and activities, along with virtual sessions for those who could not attend in person. 

The CoSN conference agenda was again rich with content, and the association’s commitment to DEI was evident in programming dedicated to this effort. Events included: The CIOs Guide to Allyship: How to Overcome Fear and Embrace Mistakes, an LGBTQ+ session and Reception, Women in Technology Breakfast, and The Network Meetup: Brought to you by CoSN’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee.  

The Network Meetup

At the second annual “Network Meetup,” hosted by CoSN’s DEI committee, about 100 attendees gathered for this informal conversation, held in small groups, in which we explored the following questions:

• Why is it important to build a pipeline and recruit talent from underrepresented groups? 
• Where can you go to find talent and build a pipeline of underrepresented groups? 
• How might you retain talent from underrepresented groups? 

What follows are some of the highlights captured during these small group discussions:  

The IT Pipeline: Why is it important to build a pipeline and recruit talent from underrepresented groups? 

CoSN’s recent survey data found that there is still work to be done to diversify CTO representation: in 2016, the number of CTOs identifying as female was 36%, with 64% identifying as male; in the 2023 survey, this number dropped to 33% of CTOs who identified as female and 65% identifying as male (2% prefer not to answer). Here are some of the reasons small groups answered the questions: why is it important to build a pipeline and recruit talent from underrepresented groups? 

• Students are less likely to become what they don’t see
• Representation matters
• The bottom line may be improved
• Diversity of experiences and opinion adds to the team
• Provide opportunities for community members

The IT Pipeline:  Where to go to find talent and build a pipeline of underrepresented groups 

We often hear that we don’t get diverse applicants for open positions, but are we truly being intentional in our outreach efforts? Below are ideas shared in the small group discussions: 

• Unless a district is intentional about how they go about finding people, nothing will change. Don’t just post a job on the school website. Go into the underrepresented communities to share career opportunities through channels consumed by these communities (local papers, churches, libraries, etc.). This is not only HR’s responsibility – leadership must drive this intentionality. 
• There needs to be an organizational philosophy driving the work; it’s a conversation for HR across all types of positions in a district
• Start getting students excited about tech careers in elementary school – by middle school, we’re already losing girls, for example. 
• Leadership needs to step back far enough to recognize ways they are creating “pockets” of divisive categories– e.g. Magnet, AP, CTE, GT (further incentivized because there is funding associated with each kid/these category – e.g. CTE) 
• Create opportunities to come to work right from high school without needing higher education. Craft job postings that lower barriers to entry (ex: requiring certifications for a position). Adjust job descriptions to focus on skills (not jargon) so people can see themselves in the role. 
• Partner with your community institutions and high schools to build pipelines and use your community to drive building connections. Partnerships can include: HBCUs (here's a great resource, HBCU Connect), community colleges, technical schools, training centers, and local veteran groups. 
• Build mentorship/internship programs such as cybersecurity academies to help students be prepared for college, careers, and to work in the district. Teach students networking skills and IT support while in high school.

The IT Pipeline: The How to retain talent from underrepresented groups

How can we support our hiring committees to ensure they are retaining staff from underrepresented groups? Here are ideas shared in the small group discussions:

• Create an environment and culture in which underrepresented staff want to stay and grow.
• Make your environment into a space in which all staff (especially under represented staff) want to come to everyday.
• Train the leaders in your technology teams to use inclusive practices so that everyone on the teams is heard, is intentionally involved, and feels ownership over goals.
• Create unstructured spaces that underrepresented staff can be together within and build community.
• Encourage leaders to model inclusion for underrepresented staff without tokenizing and creating situations that ‘othering’ will thrive.
• Provide intentional mentoring through which underrepresented staff can see themselves in the future.
• Create affinity groups and build allyships, especially when you are one of few staff from underrepresented groups. Be an ally and activist when toxic thoughts are brought into the culture and work to remove it.
• Provide development and leadership opportunities to advance those and help develop their skills to retain talent, including mentoring opportunities. 
• Provide financial support and time for certifications; support upskilling.
• Keep in mind that many certification exams are not constructed with all learners/takers in mind. A lack of success on the exam does not necessarily indicate lack of knowledge and skill in that area. Non-passing scores should result in conversations, support, and mentoring - not a threat to jobs.
• Policies & Practices - rethink and reevaluate all of them. 
• Allow people to build their network within the department to facilitate trust being forged between team members. 
• Give your team autonomy and listen to their ideas and plans. Allow them to be leaders. Understand people's mindset and provide direction. 

As you reflect on your district or company’s hiring and staff retention practices, how are you addressing the Why, Where, and How to ensure you are diversifying your staff? Where are you creating new opportunities? 

If you'd like to share some of your DEI successes and challenges, please drop me an email at christine.weiser@futurenet.com.  

Benton Community School Corp. in Indiana was able to overcome longstanding bus driver shortages thanks to an innovative set of strategies, including recruiting teachers and parents and allowing new hires to choose morning or afternoon routes. 

Superintendent Dr. Scott Van Der Aa received the Innovative Superintendent Award at a recent Tech & Learning Regional Leadership Summit in California for leading these efforts as well as launching other innovative programs in the district, including installing a free WiFi tower to increase internet access in the rural district and launching a weather station at the district’s high school. 

Van Der Aa, who will step down as superintendent at the end of this school year, shares strategies that other education leaders can use to successfully steer clear of bus driver shortages in their district. 

1. Recruit Bus Drivers By Letting Drivers Work Mornings or Afternoons 

Benton Community School Corp was able to increase drivers by waiving the requirement that drivers complete both a morning and afternoon route. 

“So maybe somebody goes into work at 9 a.m. well, then they could work for us in the morning,” Van Der Aa says. “Or maybe vice versa. Maybe they get off at 2 p.m. and they could drive for us in the afternoon.” 

The flexibility has helped the district add coverage. 

2. Encourage School Employees To Make Extra Money By Driving The Bus 

The district has had success offering bus driver positions to current staff members and helping them obtain their commercial driver licenses. The program has proved popular. 

“We have a teacher who drives every morning and every afternoon apart from being a teacher, and so that helps us out,” Van Der Aa says. “We have a mechanic who is one of our subs and he drives almost every day. We have a groundskeeper, same thing.” 

3. Host A Drive-The-Bus Day  

Benton Community School Corp. has been able to successfully build interest in bus driving positions within the community by hosting drive-the-bus days, a concept many other districts have employed in which people with standard driver’s licenses are given the opportunity to drive a real bus on school property. 

“Even if you don't have your CDL if there's nobody on the bus, you can drive it in the parking lot on our grounds legally,” says Van Der Aa. This gives community members a feel for what driving a bus is actually like and school employees can help explain the potential benefits of the position to attendees at these events. 

4. Make Parents and Others in the Community Aware of The Benefits  

“With all our local contacts and community members, we're constantly telling them how easy the training is to go through and how much support we have for the training, and then the rewarding benefits of driving a bus,” Van Der Aa says. “If you have kids in school, now you have a job where you're on the same schedule. The kids have a day off, so you got the day off.” 

These types of efforts are driving interest. “We've had a couple of parents that were willing to consider driving and getting their CDL,” Van Der Aa says. 

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• Gamifying Teacher Training

Ask any educator why they chose to become an educator, and answers may include “To inspire the next generation,” “To impart learning on young minds,” or “To instill the love of learning in every child.” But what exactly is the love of learning, and can teachers instill it in their students? 

The Positivity Project suggests that when a person masters new skills and topics on their own, they have expressed a love of learning. Bard College in New York calls out “the Love of Learning” on its website by posting, “Love of subject is measured by the extent to which a teacher spends time, of his or her own accord, working on scholarly endeavors in his or her chosen subject.”

Measuring the love of learning can be as easy as taking a personality test online. In 2003, a dissertation entitled “Defining and Measuring the Love of Learning” was published and represented an attempt to create a tool to measure the love of learning. There were weaknesses in the methodology, but evidence suggested it could be possible. 

Montessori education is probably the best example of demonstrating the love of learning through how the classroom is designed and the students interact with the environment and their work. Many traditional classrooms attempt to allow students to personalize their learning journey but are often sidetracked by ensuring students are prepared for standardized assessments.

Instilling a Love of Learning 

Instilling this love in our students can provide many benefits and have long-term effects on their future careers. A love of learning can: 

• Increase curiosity 
• Improve abilities 
• Build courage 
• Enable you to enjoy work more 
• Encourage out-of-the-box thinking 
• Provide a positive example to others 

This list represents what can be seen in almost every lesson a great teacher presents, however, teachers building their greatness may need assistance. 

Some ways to address the love of learning in the classroom might be to provide hands-on learning experiences within the lesson, enabling students to explore options and possibilities as they are challenged to solve a problem. Another may be to share your passions with your students and let them see how exciting it can be to have a passion for something that you strive to know more about daily. 

Making learning fun sounds easy, but it has to be fun with intention, so finding interesting activities to incorporate in your lessons, or different approaches to introducing the subject matter, can be ways to liven up lessons. For example, Socratic seminars are taught through discussions to help engage the students in meaningful dialogue to increase curiosity and challenge thinking and can certainly make a lesson more interesting, especially on less dynamic topics.

Modeling the Love of Learning 

Ultimately, the best way to encourage your students to love learning is to model your love for learning and teaching, and be supportive and encouraging as they struggle to master concepts. 

John Miller’s recent book Love and Compassion speaks to educators attending to love and compassion through their teaching. It suggests that teachers can teach basic skills without love, except there must be love to make a real difference in a student’s life. 

It is always important to remember that to love others, you must first love yourself, and, as teachers, we must love what we do. Teachers who feel loved exude love through their work, which affects all they come into contact with. Love is the major difference between teaching as an art and science. Let there be love!

• Bringing Back Joy to the Classroom
• Restoring Hope and Optimism in Schools

On December 2, the Tech & Learning 2022 winners and finalists of the Tech & Learning Innovative Leader Awards were invited to the first Innovative District Leader Summit at the Liberty Science Center outside New York City. The event brought together some of the nation’s most innovative district leaders to collaborate on solutions to today’s challenges, including working in teams to plan the school of the future.

Taking Risks and Failing Forward 

The Tech & Learning Innovation Summit took place at an ideal space for the event’s theme: the Liberty Science Center, a 300,000-square-foot learning center located in Liberty State Park on the Jersey City bank of the Hudson near the Statue of Liberty. The Science Center houses 12 museum exhibition halls, a live animal collection with 110 species, giant aquariums, a 3D theater, live simulcast surgeries, hurricane- and tornado-force wind simulators, K-12 classrooms and labs, teacher-development programs, and the Western Hemisphere's biggest planetarium. 

The day kicked off with a keynote from educator, author, and international speaker Carl Hooker, who discussed how risk-taking and celebrating failure are key building blocks to drive innovation. During this interactive session, Hooker led attendees through a series of improv activities designed to help activate the creative side of their brains.  

Attendees next broke into working groups to review different scenarios that could impact their districts, collaboratively discussing solutions to these challenges. During each topic discussion, attendees were asked to consider the following questions: 

• Where have you “failed” as it relates to this topic?
• How did this “failure” impact this topic? 
• How did this experience make a positive impact related to this topic?  
• What risks have you taken to impact this topic? 
• What risks might you take to impact this topic? 
• In what other ways might you overcome resistance to change in your district related to this topic?

Each discussion session kicked off with a short case study presentation from some of the 2022 T&L Innovative Leader Award winners:  

• Professional Development:  Matt Joseph, Director of Supervision and Evaluation at Brockton Public Schools in Massachusetts shared a story about his first professional development session as principal – which “was a disaster,” Joseph said. “I was afraid to show what I didn’t know. That first PD session was just me talking about what I knew from school in sit-and-get sessions. I had to get over the fear of giving up control and learn to be myself.” 
• Engaging School Communities: Mike Gaskell, principal of East Brunswick Schools in New Jersey discussed a program his school uses to reach disadvantaged children. “We created a program that makes positive connections between students/families and law enforcement,” Gaskell explained. “A suspension has no positive effect on the student – no student comes back from suspension and is reformed.” Now teachers run a mentoring program with resource officers (often former law enforcement officers) as part of the team. “By bringing students in and not suspending them, we’re holding them accountable in another, non-punitive way,” he said. 
• Learning Space: Andrew Wallace, Director of Technology for South Portland Schools in Maine, advised attendees to “always have a $1 million project ready to go.” Wallace was handed that opportunity with ESSER funding, and put into place an initiative that focused on audio – not just because people were wearing masks at the time, but because studies show that many people have audio-related challenges. “Teachers wear lanyards to help promote speech intelligibility,” Wallace said. “We don’t need to make kids share their disabilities. By improving audio, everyone can improve.” The challenge, he said, is that now we are on the other side of Covid, how do we get others to continue to buy in? “You have to have to do the ‘Why’ of tech integration,” Wallace said. “You have to bring in stakeholders from the start and be transparent with the ‘Why.’” 
• Changing Pedagogy: Glenn Robbins, Superintendent of Brigantine School District in New Jersey, introduced the discussion on changing pedagogy with a reflection on how to sustain the willingness to try new approaches that happened during the pandemic. He works to build psychological safety nets with his staff, and encourages them to try new things. “By building trust and respect with the staff, you can make changes,” Robbins said. “You have to support them first. Catch them doing the good things, and give them praise. The staff has to know you have their back. Once teachers understand that they can evolve, they can give students the same ability to be creative and try new things as well.” 

Designing the School of the Future

After lunch, attendees were grouped into teams to answer the question: “What does the ideal future school district look like?” The teams were told that they have unlimited funds and there were no politics or state/federal mandates to accommodate. 

Tech & Learning pre-assigned teams that were a mix of superintendents, technology and curriculum directors, coaches, librarians, and principals to ensure the future school plans included a balanced plan for all stakeholders. 

Teams were asked to design schools that addressed questions that included: 

• What are the core values of your future school? 
• Where does teaching and learning take place at your school?
• How are students grouped in your future school? Will you still group students by grade based on their ages?
• How will you work with your parents & community at your school? 
• On what skills does your future school’s curriculum focus? 
• How will your school address learning mastery? 

The resulting presentations were truly innovative. Teams went beyond the usual talking points and jargon to develop thoughtful strategic plans that included: rethinking school schedules; partnering with local businesses, universities, and parents to co-teach; developing personalized career paths for every student; creating flexible learning spaces that repurposed unused community spaces; and much more.   

All of the winning teams will be highlighted in the December/January Innovation Playbook presented by Tech & Learning. 

About the Regional Innovative Leader Awards

Interested in joining the growing community of Tech & Learning Innovative Leaders? Here’s how. 

As part of our Regional Live Summits, Tech & Learning recognizes exceptional district administrators in select regions around the country who are leading innovation in their schools. We’re seeking district leaders who are reimagining and reinventing education by developing and launching unique and forward-thinking programs, policies, and best practices that have shown to have a positive impact and are also replicable at other districts. 

All finalists will receive an invitation to the Tech & Learning Regional Summit in their region, including a two-night hotel stay at the event. The winners will be announced at the closing session of the summit. All finalists will be recognized in an issue of Tech & Learning and will receive a Tech & Learning Innovative Leader Award Seal that can be added to all district websites, etc. Winners will also be profiled in Tech & Learning magazine.

Find our list of regions for award opportunities in 2023 here. We look forward to learning more about your work! 

Tech & Learning’s Regional Leadership Summits drew hundreds of innovative district administrators from across the country last year. Based on the positive feedback we received for this event, we have launched a new series for the 2024 school year. 

APPLY TO ATTEND AN UPCOMING TECH & LEARNING REGIONAL LEADERSHIP SUMMIT HERE.

Tech & Learning’s Regional Leadership Summits bring together district leaders in a relaxed setting where attendees can talk candidly about how to develop effective district strategic plans. Each free-to-attend summit focuses on the unique needs of the region to give attendees the valuable insight they need to develop action plans. Tech & Learning also covers a two-night hotel stay for qualified attendees. 

“The ability to collaborate with fellow attendees and speakers is what separates these events from other conferences,” writes one of our recent attendees. “The organization of the event is smooth and thoughtful and I would recommend this event to any administrator who is looking for a relaxing event that is definitely worth your time.”

What follows are the dates and locations of our upcoming Regional Leadership Summits with links to more details: 

Regional Leadership Summits 2024

February 23, 2024: DELAWARE/MARYLAND/VIRGINIA, Maritime Conference Centre, MD.
Featured speakers for the DMV Tech & Learning Summit include ISTE/ASCD CEO Richard Culatta (will speak about the future of edtech), CoSN CEO Keith Kruger (The State of EdTech: Trends & Leadership), Amy Jackson, Supervisor, EdTech Programs, Arlington Public Schools, and Krystle Pearson, former Brunswick County Director of Technology (The Shifting Role of Edtech Coaches) and more. Find a sample agenda here,  Find more information and link to register here. 

March 18, 2024: UTAH, The Leonardo, Salt Lake City, UTAH
Featured speakers for the Utah Tech & Learning Summit include Hall Davidson and Barb Nemko (Artificial Intelligence: Get What You Paid for? Free AI vs. Premium AI), esports expert Audra Yocom (Scholastic Esports: More Than Just Gaming), VR/AR export Dr. Shannon Putnam (Revolutionizing the Classroom with AR/VR), and more. Find more information and link to register here. 

March 22, 2024: SOUTHEAST, Loudermilk Conference Center, GA
The program will include conversations on topics like AI and emerging tech, data privacy and security, professional development, rethinking learning spaces, and more. Find more information and link to register here. 

May 3, 2024: NEW ENGLAND
The New England Summit takes place at the relaxing, beautiful Connors Center outside Boston. Topics will be determined by the attendees in a pre-con survey, including life after ESSER, addressing the teacher shortage, rethinking PD, and more. Find more information and link to register here.

June 22, 2024: DENVER
Taking place at the Denver Zoo the day before the ISTE Summit, the T&L Denver Summit will be a mix of fun and learning as we reflect on the 2024-25 school year and discuss the future of education. Find more information and link to register here. 

September 20, 2024: TEXAS
At the TCEA Conference Center, attendees will discuss Texas policy changes and how it impacts the classroom and the state of technology in education. Networking will result in district leaders being able to exchange information on how to adjust to a changing landscape. Find more information and link to register here. 

October 18, 2024: NORTHEAST
The Northeast Summit opens with a fun networking dinner, followed the next day for a full day at Rutgers University’s brand new science building. The event will focus on the most crucial topics facing the region’s tech directors. Session topics will be determined by the attendees via a pre-con survey. Find more information and link to register here.

November 8, 2024: MIDWEST, Naperville Conference Center
Attendees will share their work on topics including: professional development, data privacy & security, rethinking learning spaces, teacher recruitment & retention, staff and student wellness, and more. Find more information and link to register here. 

December 6, 2024: INNOVATION SUMMIT
The third annual Innovation Summit is an invite-only event that brings together our growing community of innovators to share ideas, best practices, and solutions to help to reshape and reimagine the future of education. Attendees have the opportunity to work in teams to design a school of the future and share their ideas in the Tech & Learning Innovation Playbook. Find more information and link to register here. 

“I love the format of T&L Leadership Summits,” writes another attendee. “In a single day event, I can learn about current issues in the world of edtech and meet one-on-one with vendor partners who can help me with implementation.” 

APPLY TO ATTEND AN UPCOMING TECH & LEARNING REGIONAL LEADERSHIP SUMMIT HERE.

WORKING AGENDA 

Each Tech & Learning Regional Leadership Summit follows an agenda that maximizes the opportunity for learning and networking with colleagues. Below is a sample working agenda: 

DAY ONE: 

Welcome Dinner

DAY TWO: 

8:30 AM - 9:00 AM Registration & Breakfast

9:00 - 9:50 Welcome & Keynote

Edtech luminary and international keynote speaker Carl Hooker brings his enthusiasm and passion for education to the Summit as our host and MC for the day. 

10:00-11:30 Problem-Solving Table Discussions or Partner Meetings

During this breakout, attendees either participate in a problem-solving table discussion or meet with industry partners. Table discussions will include: navigating generative AI, sustaining tech programs after ESSER, rethinking PD, data privacy & security, data governance, managing the teacher & administrator shortage, and more.

11:30-12:00 Session on Topic Selected by our Attendees & Partners

12:00-1:00  Lunch & Meet the Partners

1:00-1:30 Session on Topic Selected by our Attendees & Partners

1:30-2:00 Session on Topic Selected by our Attendees & Partners

2:00-3:30 Problem-Solving Table Discussions or Partner Meetings

During this breakout, attendees either participate in a problem-solving table discussion or meet with industry partners. Table discussion topics will include: professional development, data privacy & security, rethinking learning spaces, teacher recruitment & retention, staff and student wellness, and more.

3:30-4:00 Closing: Reflections and Actions 

Carl Hooker leads a closing activity in which attendees can reflect on what they learned throughout the day, and discuss specific actions they can take back to their districts. 

4:00-4:15 Awards Ceremony 

4:00-4:30 Closing Keynote/Activity & Awards Ceremony

INNOVATIVE LEADER AWARDS

As part of our Regional Live Summits, Tech & Learning will recognize exceptional district administrators in select regions around the country who are leading innovation in their schools with our Tech & Learning Innovative Leader Awards. We’re seeking district leaders who are reimagining and reinventing education by developing and launching unique and forward-thinking programs, policies, and best practices that have shown to have a positive impact and are also replicable at other districts. 

All finalists will receive an invitation to the Tech & Learning Regional Summit in their region, including a two-night hotel stay at the event. The winners will be announced at the closing session of the summit. All finalists will be profiled in an issue of Tech & Learning and will receive a Tech & Learning Innovative Leader Award Seal that can be added to all district websites, etc. 

PLUS, all winners and finalists will receive an exclusive invitation to Tech & Learning's Innovative Leader Summit, taking place on December 8 outside of New York City! Find more details here. 

Read more about our recent winners here.  

NOMINATE YOURSELF OR A COLLEAGUE FOR THE TECH & LEARNING INNOVATIVE LEADER AWARDS HERE. 

Apply to attend one of our upcoming Regional Leadership Summits here. 

“The Tech and Learning Leadership Summit was an amazing way to connect with like-minded professionals, learn what others are doing in their school districts, and see hands-on innovative technology,” writes an attendee. “I would recommend a Tech & Learning Summit for anyone in the administrative level of a school district.” 

Tech & Learning and  Dr. Kecia Ray’s K20Connect have partnered to create the K/20 Leadership Today newsletter, a free weekly resource for education leaders in K-12 and higher education. 

“It’s an honor to partner with Dr. Kecia Ray, one of the leading innovators in education, to bring our readers the latest curated news and research to help them navigate the ever-evolving culture of education,” says Christine Weiser, content and brand director of Tech & Learning. 

Sign up for the latest news and research for K-20 leaders here.  

K/20 Leadership Today reaches subscribers each Tuesday and features weekly insights about educational leadership from Dr. Kecia Ray, who is recognized as a top influencer in education and an award-winning leader of transformation in urban districts.

“Are you leading a district, university, school, or a division or department in an education organization? Then this newsletter is for you,” Ray says. “Ripe with current research and up-to-date information, it provides a quick summary of key information for you each week.” 

In addition to discussion of current trends at schools and universities, each issue features the latest stories published by Tech & Learning and K20Connect. 

Tech & Learning is a leading resource for innovation in education that draws more than 2 million visitors annually to its site and hundreds to professional development conferences around the country. K20Connect is a network of independent consultants who are proven leaders in the education market. The partnership between these organizations for the newsletter provides an exciting opportunity for education leaders.

“It is our goal with the K/20 Leadership Today newsletter to ensure our readers never miss out on the trends, insights, and developments that will help them stay ahead,” Weiser says. 

Sign up for the latest news and research for K-20 leaders here.  

On December 2, 2022, Tech & Learning will host its first “Innovative District Leader Summit” at the Liberty Science Center outside New York City to celebrate the district leaders and industry providers who are leading innovation in schools. 

The Tech & Learning Innovative Leader Summit will bring together district administrators to share ideas, best practices, and solutions to help to reshape and reimagine the future of education through interactive workshops and presentations. 

Innovative district leaders are invited to apply here to attend this unique opportunity to work with their peers to reshape the future of education. 

Highlights and takeaways from this event will be captured in an “Innovation in Action Playbook” that will be published in Tech & Learning magazine and shared with our audience of 72,000 district leaders. 

          Visit our website to apply to attend the Innovative Leader Summit

Tech & Learning Innovative Leader Summit Agenda

Below is the agenda for the Tech & Learning Innovative Leader Summit:

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2022: Opening Dinner & Reception

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2022 

8:30 AM  Registration & Breakfast 

Attendees arrive to register, network, and enjoy breakfast.

9:00 AM-9:30  Welcome and Introductions 

Edtech luminary and international keynote speaker Carl Hooker brings his enthusiasm and passion for education to the Innovative Leader Summit as our host and MC for the day. As MC, Carl will facilitate fun and interactive conversations throughout the day to ensure attendees walk away with innovative ideas they can put into action. 

9:30 -10:00  AM  Keynote: What Does It Means to Be Innovative? 

Risk-taking and celebrating failure are key building blocks to drive innovation. During this interactive session, Carl Hooker leads attendees through a series of improv activities designed to help activate the creative side of their brains. Come prepared to move, think, and leave your inhibitions at the door. It’s not how you fall down, it’s how you get back up! 

10:00 AM - 12:00 PM Problem-Solving Working Groups and Sponsor Meetings 

Attendees will break into small working groups to review a variety of scenarios that could impact their district and will collaboratively decide what is the best course of action to handle the situation. After each case study, attendees will choose a representative from their group to present their solutions. These solutions will be curated into actions that will be shared in the Tech & Learning Innovation Playbook. 

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM  Lunch & Networking

1:00 - 3:00 PM Planning the Future Working Groups and Sponsor Meetings

Attendees will break into small working groups to imagine what their future school district might look like if there were no barriers. After each case study example, attendees will choose a representative from their group to present their solutions. These solutions will be curated into actions that will be shared in the Tech & Learning Innovation Playbook. 

3:00-5:00  Pitch Contest: Building the District of the Future 

Attendees group into teams to answer the question: “What does the ideal school district look like?” You have unlimited funds, no politics, no state or federal mandates. The sky's the limit! Your team has 30 minutes to create a 5-minute pitch that you will present to your district community. The audience votes on each pitch and the winning teams receive prizes and a feature in the Tech & Learning Innovation Playbook. 

5:30 - 8:30 pm Closing Reception & Dinner

Attendees celebrate the collaboration and creativity of the day at a cocktail reception and dinner.

          Visit our website to apply to attend the Innovative Leader Summit

As defined in Simply Psychology, “Transformational leadership inspires positive changes in those led and invests in the success of every member involved in the process.” Nowhere is this more critical than in the post-pandemic educational environment. With a focus on student-centered learning and personalized professional growth, educational leaders must reevaluate their leadership systems to inspire, support, and collaborate to transform learning and innovation.  

Quintin Shepherd, Superintendent at Victoria ISD in Texas, and Sarah Williamson’s recently released book, The Secret to Transformational Leadership, recognizes the ‘lone wolf’ leader as a thing of the past. Instead, leadership is an influence relationship between leaders and followers who intend fundamental changes that reflect their mutual purpose. Therefore, educational leaders need to have a growth mindset and follow another path of leadership skills that results in high achievement and academic success in schools.  

Competency vs. Compassionate Language

Competencies are a person's knowledge, skills, abilities, and talents that allow them to complete the responsibilities of a specific job successfully. However,  simply communicating competency may not be enough to inspire success. 

“Competency-based language of leadership is like a suit that doesn’t quite fit right anymore,” writes Shepherd. “It works and gets the job done, but you know it is not as good as it could be. Leaders want to tackle the critical and challenging topics facing them every day, but competent language gets in the way of having the conversations that matter.” 

According to Shepherd and Williamson, following another path of skills requires leaders to move away from competency language to the more collaborative language of compassion. This mindset shift will result in better performance and visibility into what the school community expects of its leaders. Choosing to use compassionate language prompts leaders to think differently about how they evaluate their efforts. Compassionate leadership’s transparent and shared purpose or vision includes positively valuing differences, frequent face-to-face contact, continuous commitment to equality and inclusion, clear roles, and a strong team. It embraces the digital world we live in, the generational difference in the school community, and the need to accomplish organizational goals and bring people together around ideas. 

This new language inspires and empowers at the same time. It can unite the school community regarding complex issues that impact students and staff. “It focuses equally on great questions over satisfactory answers, embraces the unknown, and wrestles it into manageable,” writes Shepherd.   

Building Relationships 

To master the new language of leadership, leaders must pivot their thinking from focusing on individuals to concentrating on interactions between individuals. This pivot requires constructive de-polarization that brings people together around purposes and relationships and does not divide based on ideas or ideology. 

The relationships between leaders and active followers should be based on influence and, therefore, multi-directional with more than one follower and typically more than one leader. Leaders and followers purposely desire specific changes, and these changes must be substantive and transforming. Through non-coercive influence relationships, compassionate leaders and the school community can develop objectives that reflect their ideals and mutual intentions. 

Communication Framework 

Shepherd and Williamson identify a four-part communication framework of why, who, how, and what embedded in the shift to compassionate language and transformational leadership.  

Communicating the “why” is mission-critical for the work’s success, as the words of a leader will fall flat without meaning, and the innovation’s success will be in jeopardy. 

Communicating the “who” of the work builds unconditional faith and an ability to connect with the emotions of others. Investing in training resources and processes is non-negotiable, so leaders must have the compassion to treat others as professionals in their work. Shepherd says that if leaders intend to embrace compassionate leadership to the fullest, they must immerse themselves fully in the work and dreams of others.  

Communicating the “how” means enthusiastically embracing innovative ideas. By doing so, districts reduce the cost of failure while increasing the value of innovation, resulting in a powerful paradigm shift in the school culture.  

Communicating the “what” is key as improvement cannot exist in a vacuum. Compassionate transformational leaders share the “what” of the work with deep compassion. 

Reflections  

Shepherd highlights that leaders need to understand their thought processes and disrupt any competency-based language that falls into the “good” or “bad” continuum. His advice to leaders traveling down the path of transformational leadership is to embrace compassionate language by connecting more deeply with their current climate and community. Immersing in the crowd-sourcing of decisions and optimizing digital strategies will create shared spaces for everyone to have their voices heard.  

At the Tech & Learning Leadership Summit in Boston, school district leaders gathered at the beautiful Connors Center for a day of professional development that included small group discussions on important topics such as data privacy, digital wellness, changing pedagogy, and more. 

The Summit closed with an award ceremony that named the winners of the Boston Tech & Learning Innovative Leader Awards, which recognizes exceptional administrators in select regions around the country who are leading innovation in their school districts. 

Please help us congratulate the winners – and consider nominating yourself or a colleague for other upcoming Regional Summits here. 

Most Innovative Learning Spaces: Andrew Wallace 

As South Portland Maine Schools’s Director of Technology, Wallace and his team used emergency funding to refresh most instructional spaces. South Portland equipped most instructional spaces with Lightspeed-Tek audio distribution systems to greatly improve speech intelligibility during a period of universal mask wearing, and it’s already yielding post-pandemic benefits. Going beyond the basic voice distribution solution, some teachers implement classroom audio “pucks” in addition to the lanyard style microphones. These small devices are placed in small group areas around the classroom so students can share their voices via the ceiling mounted systems. The new audio solution complemented the Promethean interactive touch panels recently added to all K-5 instructional spaces. 

South Portland also approached classroom video in a new way by mounting the interactive panels to a ClearTouch mobile tilt & height adjustable stand. Because the panels can move around the room for small group as well as whole class instruction these deemphasize lecture-style, front-of-classroom instruction. The motorized mounts were chosen by a team of South Portland educators with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in mind, allowing students of all physical sizes and abilities to touch and interact with the panels. Teachers connect their lanyard microphone to their laptop or interactive panels to distribute the voices of remote students or guests throughout the classroom – making this solution flexible for hybrid learning. 

The Audio Puck system is being expanded to more classrooms, so that students too can share their ideas and observations in a true participatory classroom. South Portland’s innovative Audio Puck solution is literally and figuratively amplifying “student voice” and agency in the classroom.

Best Implementation of Data Privacy: Kim Ramos 

As a Technology Instructional Coach in the North Kingstown School District (NKSD), Ramos worked with the IT director and systems administrator to create a plan to better vet the digital tools their students and teachers were using. After multiple meetings with other tech admins across Rhode Island throughout 2020-2021, a student data privacy plan began to take shape, which started with prioritizing the types and number of platforms that were offered. The next step was to implement better vetting of the digital tools. During the 2021-22 academic year, a workflow for requesting and approving these tools was developed. Finally, all teachers, principals, and staff needed to learn not just the “what” of data privacy, but also the “why.” 

As the main provider of technology-based professional learning for NKSD, Ramos has led PD sessions, curated and created content-specific webpages, and communicated best practices via bi-weekly "Tech Coach Tips" emails. While this is still a work in progress, NKSD is confident they are on the right path.

Nominate a colleague for an Innovative Leader Award for an upcoming Regional Summit here

Best Example of Teacher & Student Wellbeing Programs: Dr. Alena Zachery-Ross 

As Superintendent of Ypsilanti Community Schools in Michigan, Zachery-Ross led her team to provide exemplary services to students, staff, and community over the last two years. Her team trained all administrators on the Trauma Resilient Schools through Starr Commonwealth and Elena Agular's work on Onward. They hosted monthly Sunshine Committee events for all staff and quarterly events for families including jazz nights, town hall meetings with mental health professionals, and Boots on the Ground activities in their communities. 

The district also created a Resiliency Center that was a one-stop-shop resource for students and families. They also offered food and learning labs right in students' communities to allow them to feel physical and mental safety. Ypsilanti Community Schools also offers an online school that was opened this year for families who were still not comfortable returning to the district.

Best Overall Implementation of Technology: Laurie Guyon 

As Coordinator for Model Schools Washington-Saratoga-Warren-Hamilton-Essex BOCES, Laurie has supported the professional development of hundreds of educators across New York State. She has hosted 400 webinars and workshops, created more than a dozen self-paced training courses, offered office hours for one-on-one or small group support to answer questions, and showcased ways to save time and use technology effectively. She also creates digital resources for educators in all aspects of hybrid and virtual teaching, hosts an edtech coaches group through her BOCES, and has established a “Learner Variability Advisory Board” in which she explores pedagogy and teaching techniques to support educators using technology when and where appropriate. 

All Finalists

• Anthony Emmons, High School STEM Supervisor, Randolph Township Schools 
• Kerry Gallagher, Assistant Principal for Teaching and Learning, St. John's Prep (MA) 
• Michael Gaskell, Principal and Author, East Brunswick Schools (NJ) 
• Matthew Joseph, Executive Director of Teaching and Learning, Providence Public Schools 
• James Rand, Educator and Esports Coach and Kyle Gunderman,  Infrastructure Manager, Griswold High School (MA) 
• Michael Terrell Conner, Former Superintendent of Middletown Public Schools and currently CEO/Founder of the Agile Evolutionary Group (MA) 

• Nominate a colleague for an Innovative Leader Award for an upcoming Regional Summit here

You would have to be paying no attention to education news to miss the shuffle of school superintendents across the U.S. For instance, the superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Alberto Carhvahlo, is now the superintendent of Los Angeles Unified. Houston Independent School District was led by an interim superintendent for three years until the board unanimously voted in Millard House II into the position, pulling him from Clarksville-Montgomery County Schools in Tennessee. Fairfax County recently nabbed Michelle Reid, the 2021 AASA National Superintendent of the Year, yielding questions from NAACP about the qualifications of the candidate to lead a significantly larger district than her Northshore School District that serves 22,000 predominately white students. 

These superintendents moved far distances from their previous districts to take on new leadership challenges, yet 50% of superintendents in the U.S. are unsure about how long they plan to even remain a superintendent. 

A recent study of the nation’s 500 largest school districts reveals that 37% of experienced leadership turned over during the pandemic. In a time when equity and diversity is the focus, 70% of the newly appointed superintendents are men and 39 of these were replacing female superintendents. Of the 13,728 superintendents in the U.S., only 1,984 are women. That number is even more astonishing when considering women represent 72% of all K-12 educators. 

Here is some even more incredible research regarding the top education position: 

• 28.5% of all school superintendents are women, while 71.5% are men 
• The average age of an employed superintendent is 46 years old 
• The most common ethnicity of superintendents is White (68.6%), followed by Hispanic or Latino (14.0%), and Black or African American (10.2%) 
• The majority of superintendents are located in New York, N.Y., and San Bernardino, CA 
• Superintendents are paid an average annual salary of $115,019 
• Superintendents’ average starting salary is $79,000 
• In 2021, women earned 93% of what men earned 
• The top 10% of highest-paid superintendents earn as much as $167,000 
• 15% of all superintendents identify as LGBTQ 

Leading during a crisis is one of the most challenging tasks a leader can take on and the crisis of health and welfare of children during a pandemic, mixed with the varying ways that states managed accountability during this time, makes it doubly stressful. 

Another major stressor for superintendents has been finding classroom educators, with at least 60% reporting teacher and substitute shortages. (See Tech & Learning’s April Playbook for Teachers). 

All this stress is amplified even further when there is a divided school board. The politics that have played out in school board chambers in recent years have been dramatic and represent a lapse in the belief of public education. As a result, school board elections in near months are polarizing in almost every state, with governors in South Carolina and Tennessee passing education funding legislation focused on weighted formulas for students, which may or may not be in a district’s favor. 

To help solve the numerous superintendent shifts we’re seeing in education, we must begin with the school boards and city councils that are responsible for overseeing the governance of school districts.  

The fundamental role of a school board is to select a highly qualified superintendent who can meet the needs of the community and its schools. Finding that person today may feel like finding a needle in the haystack, but great superintendents do exist and they are worth every penny. Superintendents should be the last person standing in a school district and that type of leader is the one school boards should seek. 

If a school board is unsure about how to go about finding a great superintendent, here are some places to start:

• American Association of School Administrators 
• Characteristics of Effective Superintendents - National School Public Relations Association 
• Effective Superintendents, Effective Boards - Wallace Foundation 

School board chairs should also reach out to their state school board association for assistance with searches. And, if you want to be inspired to hire a woman for the role, check out the Tech & Learning’s Honor Role podcast, hosted by two former assistant superintendents, Dr. Kecia Ray and Dr. Frances Gipson. 

As a receiver with Tennessee Tech’s Division I football team, Sam Brooks blew past so many defenders that he remains the fourth all-time leading receiver in yards. 

Over the years, he’s brought a similar passion and excellence to the classroom. First as a biology teacher and, for the last decade, as Supervisor of Personalized Learning in the Putnam County School System in Tennessee. 

He leads Future Ready VITAL, the district’s virtual learning program, and has led the expansion of online and dual enrollment offerings, developing an online personal finance class in partnership with the Lampo Group and Florida Virtual School. He has also created more personalized learning opportunities and helped his fellow educators become more tech-savvy – his team hosts the largest Google conference in Tennessee each year, which is free to the nearly 800 educators who attend.

For these efforts, he recently was recognized for Best Implementation of Digital Curriculum at Tech & Learning’s Innovative Leader Awards in Atlanta.

Nominate someone for the Tech & Learning Innovative Leader Award here

Personalized Learning and Personal Finance  

In the Putnam County School System, every student has to take a personal finance class to graduate, and it has to be taken online. A number of years ago, Brooks was tasked with improving the quality of this offering, and decided to work with the best collaborators he knew. 

Brooks was impressed with an online college course developed by personal finance expert Dave Ramsey, and also had worked closely with the Florida Virtual School, so he pursued a three-way partnership with both to pilot a new high school personal finance class. The combination of Ramsey’s financial advice videos, the Florida Virtual School’s online course management, and the individualized touches Putnam County School System educators provide, have made the course a winning one. 

“I feel like it is the best financial education online class in the world,” Brooks says. “That class has been sold to districts around the world to use.” 

However, Putnam County School System is not involved in the sale of the course, says Brooks. They just helped pilot it and are licensed to use it. 

Sustainable Online Learning 

Putnam County has long taken a holistic approach to online education. 

“In 2014 our district went forward with the requirement that our graduates would have to complete at least one online class,” Brooks says. “We felt like going into the college world, with as much as online class use had grown, that it was beneficial for our students to understand and be equipped with those skills before they left high school.” 

In addition to offering students online classes to supplement their in-person learning, the school system district has a fully virtual option for students grades 3-12 who find that option convenient for reasons as wide-ranging as health issues to acting opportunities that require frequent travel. Most online classes are synchronous for grades 3-8, but for high school students, many classes are asynchronous. However, even in the asynchronous classes, student and teacher interaction is built-in and personalized learning is prioritized. “The teachers get to know their students very well,” Brooks says. 

Putnam County’s approach has become a model for others. “We've had about 75 districts come here and visit over the last five years,” says Brooks. 

Advice for Educators 

When educators ask for advice on building their own online programs, Brooks tells them the most important thing is to scaffold gradually. “Start with a small group, learn how to do it, learn how to do it the right way, and then step back and let it grow,” he says. “You don't have to worry about it growing when you show that success and meet that student need.” 

Equally as important is to always keep focus on the students. “It's kind of our motto, and I'm not ashamed to say I stole it from Florida Virtual, is that the student is at the center of every decision we make,” he says. “We talk about that every meeting we have. And so that makes us become student-centric, in every decision and every thought process that we go through.” 

Having educators, such as Brooks, who are passionate about their jobs also helps. “I get out of bed and love to come to work every day,” he says. “How blessed am I to be able to do that?” 

• Tech & Learning Innovative Leader Awards

At the Tech & Learning Leadership Summit in California, school district leaders gathered at the UC Irvine Conference Center for a day of professional development that included a keynote from UCI’s Gillian Hayes on how to make edtech more accessible, a student panel discussion that explored how esports can open up a wide array of college and career opportunities, and a tour of the UCI Esports Arena, the first of its kind on a college campus. 

The Summit closed with an award ceremony that named the winners of the California Tech & Learning Innovative Leader Awards, which recognizes exceptional administrators in select regions around the country who are leading innovation in their school districts. 

Please help us congratulate the winners – and consider nominating yourself or a colleague for other upcoming Regional Summits here.  

Best Overall Implementation of Technology 

Sophia Mendoza, Director, Instructional Technology, Los Angeles Unified School District, California

“Sophia Mendoza continues to challenge the status quo by taking appropriate risks to improve how the Instructional Technology Initiative accomplishes its work,” writes a colleague at LAUSD. Mendoza leads the ITI’s three initiatives: instructional technology through ISTE Standards, expansion of computer science education, and digital citizenship. 

“She sets the example for creative and innovative behavior, and encourages her employees to try new innovative approaches,” her colleague reports. “She fosters innovation by creating conditions that enable the team to openly contribute to and achieve objectives. Employees feel empowered to bring forward their creative ideas for improving the way they do their jobs, to seek new work, and to improve the department’s operations.” 

In leading LAUSD ITI Mendoza also supports the six-week Future Ready Certification for 15,000 educators, encourages edtech coaches to collaborate to design strategies to support teachers through virtual office hours, develops computer science coding activities, creates tutorials, and designs lessons for both families and teachers. 

Robert Sidford, Director of Technology and Innovation, Mt. Diablo Unified School District, California

Sidford joined the team at Mt. Diablo Unified School District at an interesting time – July of 2020. Not one to be dissuaded by a challenge, he launched into action by chairing a representative task force to develop a long-range strategic technology plan at MDUSD. 

During the past 17 months, Sidford also oversaw a district-wide 1-to-1 program to serve 29,000 students. He led a team to prioritize equitable IT service management through a revamped work order system and the restructuring of technician assignments to more equitably serve schools. He initiated streamlined purchasing practices, established responsible partnerships and minimum standards, and drafted a security “risk register” to identify vulnerabilities to mitigate risks. 

Sidford also developed a team-focused “responsibility matrix,” outlining departmental responsibilities and improved student data privacy by collaborating with the instruction and legal teams to develop a clear approval process for digital tools. 

“He hit the ground running and never looked back,” writes Lisa Gonzalez, Chief Business Officer at Mt. Diablo USD.

Nominate yourself or a colleague for other upcoming Regional Summits here. 

Best Example of Student & Teacher Well-Being Programs 

Ling Lam, Director of Education Technology, Helios School, Sunnyvale, California

Lam has been instrumental in bridging the gap between tech and instruction by developing strong relationships with both teachers and administrators, as well as with students. She is a well-respected professional development expert who supports not only her district, but other districts as well. 

Lam demonstrates best practices in making the case for including more technology in teaching and learning, but also emphasizes the importance of blending technology with solid pedagogy and social-emotional learning needs. Lam’s dedication to continued professional learning and wellness are just two examples of her commitment to improve educational outcomes for students in California and beyond.

Best Implementation of Data Privacy 

Steve Harmon, Sergio Rizzi, and Bruce Neff, EdTech Specialists, Oak Grove Union School District, California

This edtech team has spent years building student data privacy safety protocols in not only their district, but they also helped lead and train other districts across the state of California (their webpage for student data privacy is here). 

Harmon, Rizzi, and Neff were early proponents of comprehensive California Student Data Privacy Agreements, which offer critical protection of student, staff, and administrator personally identifiable information. They embody best practices against cybersecurity attacks, and include the entire Oak Grove community in their efforts. 

In their work with LearnPlatform, they have been active partners in advocating for how to do things better and have brought their collective knowledge as thought partners to other California districts through their involvement with CITE and other California networks. 

Harmon, Rizzi, and Neff are exemplars of continuously developing best practices and working to ensure their adoption throughout their district. Plus, they are “always willing and ready to answer the call to share resources, support other districts, and present on a moment’s notice,” writes a colleague.

A Mexican man hires a coyote border guide to get him into the U.S. He’s taken to a safe house in the desert and left with minimal food and water for two months. When the coyote returns and leads him across the desert, the man is chased by border patrol agents and their dogs, but escapes. 

Ultimately, he travels to Alabama, where he works hard and makes enough money to support his elderly parents in Mexico. 

This vivid story was captured during an interview conducted by one of Dr. Claudia Martinez’s students at North Tattnall Middle School in Georgia. It was included in Untold Immigrant Stories: Multilingual Student Experience in the United States, created by Martinez’s sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade ESOL students. The class book, which was provided to the students' parents by the district, includes interviews, essays, and poems, and tells the stories of the students, their families, and their communities. 

For these and other efforts to support all students, Martinez was recognized as Best Example of Teacher & Student Well-Being during Tech & Learning’s Innovative Leader Awards in Atlanta.

Nominate someone for the Tech & Learning Innovative Leader Award here

The Power of Storytelling  

Martinez immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico as a child. She struggled with learning English and adjusting to a new country at first. “I went through a silent stage,” she says. “Back then there wasn't a lot of help for English language learners.” 

These hardships motivated her to become a teacher. “I wanted to make the lives of those students that were coming into a new school system easier,” she says. “I know that there's a lot of inequality still, and I want to create better opportunities for students in the United States.” 

Martinez became the first member of her family to complete college when she graduated from Georgia Southern University with a degree in early childhood education. She later obtained her masters and doctorate degrees from the same institution. 

One of the findings of her dissertation was that storytelling could be a powerful tool for learning, which inspired the book project with her students.

“I want all of you to interview somebody in the community or family member that has a powerful story,” she told her students. “I feel that it's important for people to be educated on our struggle, and what we go through and the obstacles that we have to overcome.” 

After the book was self-published, Martinez and her students were asked to share it with the local board of education. “When we presented it, some of the board members were crying because they were like, ‘We didn't know that you went through this,’” Martinez says. “My goal was for it to educate and to help build empathy. And I think it did that.” 

Honoring Students and Their Stories 

In addition to helping her students publish this book, Martinez has gone above and beyond to honor their diverse heritage. She helped to launch a Hispanic Heritage Month celebration that involved the community as well as the students, and has developed community support for student experiences such as STEM lab visits at Georgia Southern University.

Storytelling can lead students to become proud of their heritage, Martinez says. “It helps them to come to grips with their identity and who they are, and their limitations, and also what they can do in the future,” she says. “I'm always telling them my struggle, my story, what I went through and what I'm still going through, and they're able to relate.” 

By sharing her own story, Martinez is able to build trust with students, which is key to the type of teaching she does. She advises other teachers trying to incorporate storytelling into their classes to focus on that trust, and to also make sure to protect those behind the stories. “We changed the names of the people that were interviewed to protect their identities,” Martinez says. “And we talked about the importance of that in the class.” 

Discussing the project with students also helped them to take ownership of it and contribute in various other ways. “Our cover was designed by one of our students,” Martinez says. “It turned out amazing. He was really proud that he was the illustrator of the book.”

• Tech & Learning Innovative Leader Awards
• How A Director of Technology Keeps Students Connected

Innovation blossoms in a leadership environment where new ideas can be tested and evaluated. Additionally, school district leaders must have the vision to make a difference and the courage to evolve and make that vision a reality. 

How do leaders make this happen? I say, through collaboration. That collaboration and rich professional learning recently occurred at the Tech & Learning Leadership Summit in Atlanta. It is exciting to say, "Tech and Learning LIVE Summits are BACK in person!" 

Districts that pivot and offer professional learning aimed at educators' needs and wants see less attrition and increasingly educated teachers. Ongoing and continuous professional learning for district leaders is the key to the future design of schools and peer collaboration. 

The Tech & Learning Leadership Summits are a perfect place to meet new peers from around the globe and bolster knowledge of current trends in the field. These events give leaders a viewpoint about the learning process from practitioners living the work every day. Additionally, participants can meet with industry partners to learn about the latest edtech on the market. 

Hotlanta Learning 

Successful leaders know that risk-taking is a part of being successful. T&L’s Atlanta Summit had many new leaders take the risk to join the event for the first time. Little did they know the day would be packed with collaborative challenges, peer discussion, team building, and unlimited learning and laughter.

Carl Hooker, host and MC (above), shared, "Students learn by observing teachers taking risks, and when they see you try new things, they will be empowered to take risks in learning and collaborating too." Carl brought his trademark enthusiasm and passion for education to the event, opening the day with a welcome activity, planning collaborative and impactful learning activities, and then leading a session on risk-taking. He has been instrumental in the educational shift of infusing learning with technology integration during his 23 years in education. He also expertly led attendees through a series of risk-taking improv activities designed to help activate the creative side of participants' brains. The activities focused on strategies and confidence to get back up if an educational risk didn't go as planned.

BreakoutEDU also led a collaborative activity (below) that allowed attendees to be students and dive into critical thinking and problem solving. This team-building experience set the tone for the day by modeling innovative learning and opened participants' eyes that education is a team sport. Breakout EDU gamifies learning to create an engaging and empowering experience for students of all grade levels. Learn more here about the positive impact they can have on professional development and team building. 

The learning continued throughout the day with individual sessions. The facilitators combined a mix of traditional presentations while sparking discussions on the topic to include all voices and highlight the opportunity to share, learn, and apply the collective experiences at the event. 

Sessions included:

• Impactful Professional Development Strategies 
• Personalizing Learning Experiences 
• Data Privacy/Cybersecurity 
• Supporting Student Well-Being 
• Digital Curriculum 
• Equity and Access 
• Sustaining Student Engagement 
• Changing Pedagogy 

Attendees enjoyed a tour of Tech & Learning’s new Atlanta office with a team actively utilizing all the learning from the day. The APPMazing Race activity allowed participants to get up and move with the challenge of solving a group challenge collectively while encouraging a high level of creativity. This activity from the day modeled the shift in collaborative learning happening in schools and districts. 

 The day ended with recognizing four leaders for their innovation and impact on the field of education. (Read more about these winners here.)

• Most Innovative Learning Spaces: Dr. Kristy L. Beam 
• Best Implementation of Digital Curriculum: Sam Brooks
• Best Overall Implementation of Technology: Cristin Kennedy 
• Best Example of Teacher & Student Well-Being Programs: Dr. Claudia Martinez 

Being engrossed in learning for a full day gave participants a mix of new strategies while learning from participants' collective knowledge and experience. These events have a unique way of involving participants while delivering high-level professional learning. 

After participants dispersed from the Tech & Learning headquarters refreshed and energized, the next important step is to take time to reflect on all the new ideas and strategies attendees learned at the event. Implementing what is learned from events such as this is only as good as your ability to understand what impact a change would make. Try a few new resources or tools this week that you didn't know about before the conference. Tailor any new strategies to fit your style; only then will it have an impact. Keep sharing ideas and strategies using #TLTechLive hashtag as we keep the collaborative learning going! 

If you have never been to a Tech & Learning Leadership Summit, sign up to join and get ready to share, listen, and learn about the extraordinary work going on in your region! Find all of the upcoming Summit locations and dates here. 

At the Tech & Learning Leadership Summit in Georgia, our editorial team named the winners of the new Tech & Learning Innovative Leader Awards. This honor recognizes exceptional administrators in select regions around the country who are leading innovation in their school districts. We’re seeking district leaders who not only drove innovation during the pandemic, but plan to take these lessons learned to reimagine and reinvent education moving forward. 

Please help us congratulate the winners – and consider nominating yourself or a colleague for other upcoming Regional Summits here. Tech & Learning will cover travel for all awards finalists.  

Best Example of Teacher & Student Well-Being Programs 

Dr. Claudia Martinez, ESOL Teacher, North Tattnall Middle School, Reidsville, Georgia

Martinez, a multilingual teacher at North Tattnall Middle School, has been diligent and highly focused in fostering student voice, equity, and representation. For example, Martinez worked with her students to publish a class book, Untold Immigrant Stories: Multilingual Student Experience in the United States. She also helped to launch a Hispanic Heritage Month celebration that involved the community as well as the students, and has developed community support for student experiences such as STEM lab visits at Georgia Southern University.

Martinez is the recipient of the 2020 GATESOL Teacher of the Year. She believes in the importance of critical and culturally relevant and anti-oppressive practices, and has planned and led many district lessons, programs, and celebrations that teach and celebrate diversity.

Best Implementation of Digital Curriculum 

Sam Brooks, Supervisor of Personalized Learning, Putnam County School System, Cookeville, Tennessee 

As Supervisor of Personalized Learning in the Putnam County School System, Brooks leads VITAL, the district’s virtual learning program. During his decade-long tenure, he has overseen a tremendous expansion of both online and dual enrollment offerings. A significant part of the growth was the development of an online personal finance class in partnership with the Lampo Group and Florida Virtual School, which was piloted by VITAL.

Brooks also has been recognized for his efforts to create more personalized learning environments for students. In addition, his team hosts the largest Google conference in Tennessee each year, which is free to the nearly 800 educators who attend. 

Best Overall Implementation of Technology 

Cristin Kennedy, Director, Instructional Technology, Cobb County Schools, Georgia

During the pandemic, Kennedy led her team in developing and implementing a personalized LMS for a district of more than 100,000 students that met the needs of students, parents, and teachers with features to address instruction, planning, assessment, and communication. The team also supported the rapid transition to remote learning with extensive professional development and training for new technology tools 

This year, Kennedy has cultivated a culture of IT service, continuing to bring new technology into classrooms across the district and offering training for teachers and students, including after traditional school hours. 

Most Innovative Learning Spaces 

Kristy L Beam, Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning, City Schools of Decatur, Georgia

As Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning, Beam led City Schools of Decatur to rethink “learning spaces” with the adoption of a virtual learning program for the 6,000-student district in the 2020-21 academic year. To make certain this virtual learning environment had the same rigor as in-person classes, she ensured all staff received high-quality training, created effective policies to govern operations in the new virtual learning program, and embedded a social-emotional learning regimen into the program to make sure all students in the virtual learning program received the holistic support they required.

During her 24 years in education, Beam has taught grades 3-12, been an administrator in public and private schools, and prepared teachers in the university setting. She also helps educators examine data to create and implement strategic plans to achieve their goals.

Many districts scrapped hybrid teaching after the first year of the pandemic, but it continues to be a success at the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District in Texas, and is being kept for select use going forward. 

The success of hybrid teaching is thanks in large part to the leadership of Kyle Berger, the district’s chief technology officer. Berger recognized that for hybrid teaching to be successful that high-quality audio and visual were needed, and all the tech had to be easy to use for teachers who already had a lot on their plates. 

For these and other innovations, Berger was recognized with a Tech & Learning Innovative Leader Award for Best Overall Implementation of Technology at the recent Tech & Learning Leadership Summit in Dallas. 

How Berger’s district employs effective hybrid teaching and continues to use in-class cameras can provide a blueprint for other districts. 

Nominate someone for the Tech & Learning Innovative Leader Award here

Cameras and Audio  

Berger recognized early on that standard laptop or computer cameras would not work for teachers who would be addressing both in-person students and those participating virtually. He mounted webcams to the ceiling of each classroom, about six feet back from the board, so it would capture both the teacher and what they put on the board. The camera hung down from the ceiling to create a natural shot. “I wanted to capture the teacher at more of an eye level, so it didn't look like a security camera view,” he says. 

He and his team debated about providing teachers with mics but found that the webcams he used were sufficient to clearly capture what the teacher and students were saying. The whole setup was easy for teachers to operate, and was quick and inexpensive to install. 

“I could outfit a room with this in less than 10 minutes, at a cost of under $400,” Berger says. 

The Future of Hybrid Classrooms  

With the vast majority of students now attending in-person classes full-time, Berger removed cameras from a few classrooms, but more than 90 percent of the devices have stayed in place. The district is looking at scheduling future hybrid classes to provide more flexibility for students who do not always want to attend in person. 

In the meantime, the cameras continue to be utilized in a variety of ways, including: 

• For students who are out of school with COVID or for other medical reasons to keep participating in class.
• To allow a teacher to quickly record an explanation or lesson so students can access it later. “The way they're mounted on the ceiling, the teachers started taking that to a different level because you could reach up to the webcam if you wanted to and you could turn it to point down, and now in a sense, it's a document camera,” Berger says. 
• To help with the substitute teacher shortage. “We can bridge two classrooms together through our video solutions, and maybe just have an instructional aide in the second classroom,” Berger says. 
• To allow educators to engage in professional development by watching videos of their own lectures and lessons. 

“It's really allowed us a lot more flexibility to continue to navigate the ever-changing environment and education right now,” Berger says. 

Getting Students Connected 

The best-in-class camera and audio in the world doesn’t matter if virtual students can’t get online, so during the pandemic, Berger got innovative in the way he helped students stay connected. Prior to March 2020, Grapevine-Colleyville ISD had been a one-to-one district and had made serious efforts to close the digital divide. However, during the pandemic, the district upped its support for these devices by using technology lockers outside of schools.

“So a student at home can put in our helpdesk system, ‘My laptop isn't working,’” Berger says. “They would get a note back saying, ‘Locker A1 has your replacement device in it. Here's the combination. It's available 24/7, you can go up there at any time.’” 

Even with social distancing no longer vital, the district continues to use the lockers for convenience. “For us, it's a great tool because sometimes mom and dad don't have time during working hours to come and pick up something for their kids. Now it doesn't matter, you can come any time of the day to pick up that device,” he says. 

Berger has also begun hosting monthly events to teach parents about technology in general, not just as it relates to school. “We live in it every day, but a lot of parents don't,” he says.  “So we can help educate them on all the different things that are happening and all the scary apps on the phones that they might need to watch out for their kids.” 

It’s all part of Berger’s ongoing efforts to keep innovating. Berger’s mom was an educator and his dad was an IT professional in the corporate world, so he combined his parents’  passions when he became a CTO more than 20 years ago. He’s constantly asking “What’s next?” and looking for ways for his district to grow. “I continue to push forward to try to continue to redefine education, not only for my students but for my community as well,” he says. 

• Tech & Learning's Innovative Leader Awards

Mary Decker, Associate Director of Schools for Teaching & Learning, Franklin Special School District, Tennessee 

Franklin Special School District’s overall approach to sustainable technology implementation during the pandemic is an exceptional model because it involves best practices around equity as well as high-quality technology tools and instructional resources. 

The district created a sustainable technology infrastructure that ensured technology access for all students via the device management and refreshes, flexible learning spaces, and robust, scalable networks. Wireless access was made available in all classrooms and Cat6 wire was installed in all school remodels, making every room a potential virtual learning studio. Mary Decker, Associate Director of Schools for Teaching & Learning, coordinated the innovative efforts. 

“I am most proud of our consistent implementation of high-quality instructional materials,” says Decker. “We began the work around HQIM in earnest in 2019 because we believed in the research-based extremely positive impact such resources would have on student learning and on equity. We could never have anticipated just how much HQIM would support that learning during these extraordinarily challenging past two years.”

With the emergence of COVID-19 and extended school closure, technology—including a district-provided device for every student and hotspots for those in need—was instantly deployed via car pickup lines at schools and bus drop-offs to neighborhoods. When the 2020-21 school year began, the district embarked on another new frontier by offering parents the choice of virtual or in-person learning. For virtual learners, an education equal to that of in-person students was imperative. 

“So soon after the extended closure of spring 2019, not all parents were ready to send their child back to a school building. At that point in time, there was great uncertainty and to a certain extent, fear,” says Decker. “It was very important to us to effectively meet the needs of every student and family, whether those needs were related to physical or emotional health, or both. We already had our HQIM in place, all with digital components. Virtual students had access to all of these resources along with the use of Google Classroom and Zoom.”

Nominate someone for the Tech & Learning Innovative Leader Award here

Supporting Teachers to Support Students 

Decker and her team also ensured teachers charged with running the virtual classrooms had every tool necessary to stay on track with their in-classroom counterparts.

“Virtual teachers were provided ongoing professional learning and collaboration opportunities, with targeted support from district administrators,” says Decker. “They used district-created pacing guides to maintain the same scope and sequence as in-person teachers. They were also provided with their choice of technology tools including a headset, document camera, ring light, or second monitor. In the elementary grade levels, virtual teachers taught only virtual students.”

Focusing on the Big Goal 

At FSSD, each pupil in the district uses the same tech. 

“Years of focus on the implementation of and support for high-quality instructional resources and technology developed a laser-like focus on one question: What is best for students?” says Decker. “The invaluable nature of these strategies encompasses lessons learned that will inform future innovation. We are so proud of our incredible teachers, staff, administrators, board, families, and of course, students. Even throughout the most unusual and difficult of times, everyone banded together and never lost sight of our absolute priority: Doing what is best for students.”

Exciting Things in the Wings 

After accomplishing so much under such trying circumstances, Decker doesn’t miss a beat in reaching higher for the future.

Decker says, “Dream plans to which I aspire include increasing all students’ proficiency and growth in math and ELA on the state assessment every year, with specific attention to our English Learners and students with disabilities, advancing our work around student advocacy so that every student is well-served in this regard, and ensuring that each student and staff member feels a sense of belonging in our district.”

• Tech & Learning Innovative Leader Awards

Tech & Learning is the only publication to write about how technology and pedagogy can be implemented effectively to improve teaching and learning through case studies, how-tos, and innovative district leader profiles. The focus is on providing practical, actionable advice and expertise that can be used by any district, no matter the size, location, or socioeconomic status. All articles are written by education experts and are reported, researched, fact-checked, and edited in accordance with the highest standards of journalism. Tech & Learning has a strict policy against using any AI-generated content.

Each week, Tech & Learning’s newsletter reaches 90,000-plus tech-savvy educators looking to stay informed about the latest trends, news, best practices, and tools in K-20. Our monthly digital magazine has a readership of more than 90,000 education leaders, teachers, and support personnel and more than 2 million users visit Tech & Learning’s website each year.

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Long before the pandemic made telehealth a part of our collective vocabulary, Renee Kotsopoulos pushed for the practice in the Garland Independent School District in Texas. 

“People always have believed that because we give people Medicaid, and we have churches out there that help with medical care, that equals access,” says Kotsopoulos, director of health services for the district. “But I can tell you firsthand, that doesn't equal access. It doesn't matter what we do, if they have to get to a site, they can't get to the site. They don't have transportation.” 

To eliminate this barrier, the district began offering telehealth services to students several years ago. In February of 2020, the district partnered with Hazel Health to provide telehealth services to three of its schools. Shortly after that, when the pandemic crisis began, Kotsopoulos requested an expansion of services to all 55,000-plus students district-wide. 

For her efforts with this program, Kotsopoulos won Best Example of Teacher & Student Well-Being Programs for this program at Tech & Learning’s Innovative Leader Awards at Tech & Learning Leadership Summit in Dallas. 

Nominate someone for the Tech & Learning Innovative Leader Award here

All About Access 

By partnering with Hazel Health, Garland ISD has been able to offer expanded health care services to students. “They provide medication, they do well visits. They're not meant to take over their primary care provider, but they fill in those gaps for access,” Kotsopoulos says. 

Transportation is a major barrier to access, but it’s not the only one students in the district face. “Some of them either have Medicaid or they don't have coverage at all,” Kotsopoulos says. “Even if you have Medicaid, the doctors that are around here that accept Medicaid are extremely booked up. So it may take a week to get to the doctor.” 

Through the telehealth program, access to a provider is immediate. “Within five minutes you're in with a provider,” Kotsopoulos says. 

The program can be accessed by students at home or during the school day, and can help keep students in class. “You're in high school, you don't have your glasses and you get this random headache,” Kotsopoulos says. “If you call a parent to come to bring Tylenol to that kid, that kid's going home because momma ain’t coming back twice.” 

After a telehealth appointment, the same student can be given Tylenol at school and resume class shortly. “So no more going home for these little bitty things,” Kotsopoulos says. 

Making Health Part of Your School’s Technology Plan 

Kotsopoulos advocates for health service representatives being involved in discussions about school technology and increasing awareness for school leaders about ways in which technology can be utilized to facilitate student health. 

Using technology for health services is as important as effectively using it in the classroom, Kotsopoulos says. “If the kids aren't in school, they aren’t going learn,” she says. “The goal is using all this technology to keep the kids in school learning. We can't wait for these parents to be proactive and take these kids to the doctor. They just can't. There's a lot of people that lost their jobs, they don't have insurance, or if they get a job, they need to keep it, so they can't take off during the day.” 

While some people complain about the price of telehealth, ultimately investing in student health always pays dividends, Kotsopoulos says. “People think it costs you money, but in the long run, you end up saving money because you're keeping the kids in school.” 

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To be effective in schools, innovation has to be ongoing. 

“You don't innovate on one thing, and then you're done. ‘I innovated today, I'm going to go on and do my next thing,’” says Bill Bass, past president of the board of directors at ISTE and Innovation Coordinator for the Parkway School District in Chesterfield, MO. 

Instead, school leaders need to be constantly evaluating their programs and practices, looking at what’s working and what’s not, and updating accordingly. They also should actively foster a school culture and climate that permits and encourages innovation. 

“In school districts, creating the conditions is the key,” he says. “If you create conditions in which people who are part of the system understand that they can take risks, and they're going to be supported in those risks, then they're more willing to do that in the future. Teachers do this every day, but systems don't.” 

Part of Bass’ goal in his district is to connect the innovative methods and approaches teachers are implementing in the classroom with their students to the larger system. Doing this effectively often means borrowing best practices from the business world. 

Apply Principles of Customer Service  

“We also have to make decisions based on our students,” Bass says. “Our students are our customers, our families are our customers, and we need to see them as such. The mantra that ‘the customer is always right’ – that's not exactly true. But at the same time, we should see ourselves in the service of educating our youth. And one of the things that comes with that is this idea of personalized learning.” 

Bass’ district has pushed for more personalized learning and educators have allowed students to lead them to teach in a way that is applicable to their lives. 

Educators naturally teach and assess things that they value. The disconnect comes from not valuing the same things that our students care about, Bass says. Which is why it’s important to assign material that is meaningful to students and their lives. “If kids don't care about [a lesson], they have a thousand other things that they can learn, and they don't need us to learn it,” he says. 

Bass isn’t advocating eliminating core topics because students can’t see how calculus applies to their day-to-day lives. However, he encourages working harder to connect the material to students and their experiences. 

“How do we get the more traditional topics that we want our students to understand, to be applicable in their actual lives? That's one of the things that when we look at our students as customers and our families as customers, that changes that a little bit, because we are looking for not only what we need, but what they need,” Bass says. 

Assess Your Innovative Practices  

Another aspect of the business world that Bass thinks educators can learn from is the practice of assessing new programs and initiatives. “One of the things that we do really well in education is we plan. We plan, and we plan, and we plan,” he says. “But what happens when that plan isn't going to work? We have to be able to pivot, we have to be able to change. And that's one of those things that in business that you see a lot. If you are analyzing data, or you're analyzing a system or evaluating a program that you're a part of, and it's not performing? Well, you have to pivot, or you have to abandon it.” 

Moving away from projects can be more complicated in education than in business but the principle still applies. “We're not going to abandon students, but we can abandon programs that are no longer working for us, and not just keep trying it because we spent so much time in the planning process,” Bass says. “We can spend less time planning upfront and more time in the ongoing evaluation of whatever that program is.” 

Some good ideas don’t work once implemented because every student is different and every school and district is different. Leaders need to understand and embrace that sometimes it just doesn’t work out for reasons beyond anyone’s control. 

Ultimately, establishing a culture that encourages students and educators to try and strive for improvement without fear of failure is the goal. “We have to be okay with making mistakes, and we have to help our teachers make mistakes, and we have to help our students make mistakes, and we can't assume that we're perfect,” Bass says. 

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When Hagop Soulakian was hired to launch INCubatoredu, an entrepreneurial curriculum at Barrington High School in 2012, it was the first of its kind in a U.S. high school. He brought his experience as an athlete and a commodities trader at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and injected a sense of real-world into the program as it developed. A unique partnership between the school district, the district’s educational foundation, and local business formed the initial program. Then Uncharted Learning, a local not-for-profit, developed the INCubatoredu entrepreneurial education program to be available to schools beyond Barrington. It is now taught globally for elementary, middle, and high school. 

“Regardless of what field students eventually decide to pursue after high school, INCubatoredu provides them with the opportunity to develop their communication, problem solving, and collaboration skills – essential in today’s workforce,” says Soulakian. “I wanted to encourage students to go where they never imagined.”

Students work together to develop a product or service and are coached by real-world entrepreneurs and business experts who guide students through ideation, market research, and business plan development. Throughout the process, students learn marketing, accounting, human resources, and the legal aspects of creating a sustainable business, culminating in Pitch Night, their own version of ‘Shark Tank.’

To test their entrepreneurial grit, students pitch real investors on their ideas to win funding for their companies. Successful students win funding and launch their companies in year two with the continued support of mentors and business experts.

INCubatoredu: Working With Mentors

For Barrington students, INCubatoredu classes are different from any courses they’ve taken previously. Mentors meet with students once per month. Their role is to question and challenge students, forcing them to defend their ideas about their business model. They are not there to provide answers—just resources—so that students are empowered to discover the answers for themselves.

“The ROI on this program is seeing students develop a vision, further their intra- and inter-personal skills, participate in evidence-based learning, problem solving, utilizing mentors—all of which is preparation for college and life,” says Soulakian.

Over the years, the Barrington program has had 170 program volunteers, some of whom have been involved since the launch. “Entrepreneurship is about risk,” says Soulakian. “We are building a foundation for what comes after college for these kids. The skills they learn working with teams will benefit them no matter what they do.”

The value of the program is echoed by Margarita Geleske, chief evangelist for Uncharted Learning. She helps educators understand that a rigorous, hands-on, real-world program actually increases students’ abilities to learn. 

“Entrepreneurship is a discipline that can be taught,” she says. “One of the most valuable skills students learn is working together as a team to figure out how to move forward within a time constraint. This builds resilience.”

INCubatoredu is being used in districts across the country. “We hope that authentic, experiential learning becomes the norm in education—moving away from memorization to a practical, lived experience,” Geleske says.

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