Date & Time: Tuesday, August 20th at 2 pm ET

Schools and districts are under increasing pressure to align education with practical skill development, ensuring students are equipped for the workforce. This webinar will delve into innovative strategies for integrating STEM and Career Technical Education (CTE), arming students with foundational skills for a variety of careers—from technical roles to engineering positions.

A panel of experts will explore how to leverage school facilities and data as educational tools, and share insights from Hardin County Schools, where district leaders have implemented experiential learning opportunities and certification programs in their schools.

Topics will include:

• New approaches to integrate STEM and CTE learning through certifications
• How to implement experiential learning opportunities and certification programs in schools for little or no cost
• How to build a career readiness program that equips students for high-demand fields

Presenters

Roger Tadajewski, Executive Director, National Coalition of Certification Centers (NC3)

Ben Sego, Board Member, Hardin County Schools (Ky.), Former NASA contractor

Michael Hines, Education Leader, Trane by Trane Technologies

Register Now

Sponsored by

The post From Classroom to Career: How Certifications Enable Practical STEM Learning and CTE Readiness appeared first on District Administration.

Female students experience exposure gaps to various STEM careers as early as middle school, a new report from YouScience and Ford Next Generation Learning asserts. This gap is measured by comparing the difference between female middle and high school students’ aptitude (their natural ability to learn or perform skills regardless of the environment) and their self-reported interest.

Failure to support a diverse workforce in STEM careers early on can lead to significant problems, including innovation deficits, earning disparities and economic disruptions. “We can no longer overlook young women who have the aptitude but have not been exposed to these opportunities,” Executive Director at Ford Next Generation Learning Cheryl Carrier said in the report. “We are now equipped with the knowledge to do better, so we must.”

The widest exposure gaps exist in advanced manufacturing and computer and technology careers at 87%. Exposure gaps were measured in other fields like architecture and construction, which are around 55%. The health science career gap sits around 30%, and engineering, 22%.

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Advice for leaders

The researchers have identified nine solutions to closing STEM exposure gaps for female students. These ideas include:

1. Aptitude measures: A foundational tool that helps students discover their best fit for postsecondary education and career pathways.
2. Career academies: High school programs focused on specific career fields.
3. Collaborative planning: Working with family, educators and counselors to help students navigate their postsecondary goals.
4. Interdisciplinary education: Collaboration between schools and districts to create personalized pathways and integrated programs.
5. Career-connected learning: Helps students connect education to the real world.
6. Education-to-career planning tools: Helps counselors and teachers provide personalized plans for postsecondary education and training.
7. Industry-recognized certifications: Quantifying student knowledge and skills that connect the classroom to employers.
8. Work-based learning: Provides students with internships and apprenticeships with business and industry partners.
9. Community connections: Leveraging ties to address local workforce needs.

The post 9 ways to promote STEM to your female students appeared first on District Administration.

Last week, California became the 26th state to require finance education for its high school students. By 2027, students will have access to a stand-alone personal finance course, the new law declares.

Gov. Gavin Newsom contends that financial literacy is a necessary skill that students should obtain at an early age.

“We need to help Californians prepare for their financial futures as early as possible,” Newsom said in a statement. “Saving for the future, making investments and spending wisely are lifelong skills that young adults need to learn before they start their careers, not after.”

A recent report from consultant company Tyton Partners reveals that only 24% of high school students were guaranteed at least one semester of personal finance as of March 2023. In California, less than 1% of high school students are required to take a personal finance course.

“Every child should have the opportunity to build these essential skills before navigating adults financial choices, not just those who happen to have the opportunity to learn these concepts at home or through an elective,” State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said in a statement.

California’s move comes more than six months after Pennsylvania became the 25th state to guarantee a stand-alone, half-credit course in financial literacy, according to finance curriculum provider Next Gen Personal Finance, which also offers a live dashboard tracking financial education requirements in the U.S.

In 2020, only eight states required the curriculum. By 2022, that number had grown to 17.

DA coverage

For a more in-depth look at which states require finance education, view the dashboard here. Or, read up on District Administration’s latest coverage surrounding curriculum and instruction below:

• Want to teach AI literacy? Here are 5 new strategies
• 5 reasons homeschooling might be more appealing to parents
• 9 ways state tests could be more useful to teachers
• 

The post California is the latest state to require financial literacy appeared first on District Administration.

The mystery is explained in the latest episode of District Administration‘s Talking Out of School podcast by Lindsay E. Jones, one of the leading voices on the Universal Design for Learning, also known as UDL. Jones, the CEO of CAST and a District Administration Top 100 influencer in education, works with school leaders, teachers and researchers to design learner-centered and inclusive education systems, anchored in UDL.

“Universal Design for Learning is an evidence-based framework that educators, curriculum developers—any type of learning experience designer—can use to help them reach all of the brains that they’re trying to reach,” Jones tells the Talking Out of School team.

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UDL is perhaps as relevant as ever as educators seek to individualize rigorous instruction for an ever more diverse population of students. “We have a history of segregating students, either for disabilities or race or other reasons,” Jones explains. “And what Universal Design for Learning does is provide an evidence-based way to acknowledge what neuroscience tells us, which is that every brain is as different as a fingerprint.”

Jones and her team at CAST are now focusing more closely on integrating UDL into career and technical education programs. A few key CTE areas are bio-manufacturing, teaching math and science with drones and “rural, outdoor education.”

CAST also assists districts with procuring accessible edtech and works with edtech vendors to certify products based on UDL principles. Resources for these, and many other topics, can be found on CAST’s website.

“Universal Design for Learning is a way that educators and school districts can prepare and design intentionally for all of the students coming into their rooms,” she concludes.

Listen to the podcast below, or on Apple, Podbean or Spotify.

The post Universal Design for Learning: Why it’s so powerful appeared first on District Administration.

Date & Time: Wednesday, July 17th at 2 pm ET

Research has shown the benefits of social and emotional learning (SEL) include improved academic achievement, better emotional well-being, and long-term student success. But how can teachers incorporate SEL in an already crowded school day?

The science classroom can provide some surprising ways to teach students social and emotional skills across grades K-12.

In this 20-minute Ed Talk, an educator and professional learning consultant will share four strategies for integrating SEL into science instruction, helping students at any grade level to develop both academically and emotionally.

Topics will include:

• The five core SEL competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making
• Using hands-on science activities that require collaboration and problem-solving to build SEL skills
• Leveraging tools and research from the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) to enhance SEL initiatives
• Adopting science standards that promote science and engineering practices, disciplinary core ideas, and crosscutting concepts to foster soft skills development

Presenter

Hoover Herrera, National Science Consultant, Carolina Science

Register Now

Sponsored by

The post Integrating SEL Into K-12 Science Instruction appeared first on District Administration.

A new analysis from the independent, solutions-oriented think tank FutureEd offers a way out of this “testing morass.” As of 2021-22, nearly 50% of parents say statewide assessments are “not helpful at all” in keeping their children on track for college.

“Some critics claim state tests take time away from teaching and learning without contributing enough to instruction and provide results too late in the school year to be useful to educators and families,” the report reads. “Others charge the tests are biased against students from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds and fail to measure important skills beyond academic knowledge.”

But at the heart of the issue is a desire for state tests to serve two different and incompatible roles. The first: giving policymakers comparable information on student achievement. The second: providing detailed information to teachers and families for instructional improvement.

Unfortunately, it’s difficult to improve statewide tests without altering the federal accountability requirements fundamental to their use. FutureEd’s solution? A two-tiered testing model.

“Intentionally developing a system of state and local tests that share the same view of student learning could create a more coherent system of assessments than the current tangle of state and local measures,” the authors wrote. “The premise is that local and school-level transparency would drive behavior and the allocation of resources rather than high-stakes consequences.”

For clarification, state tests would prioritize aggregated data for policymakers and education leaders to monitor educational opportunities. Local and classroom-based assessments, a.k.a. second-tier assessments, would give teachers, students and families timely information.

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Teachers said state standardized assessments could prove more useful if they:

• Captured learning over time (46%)
• Were more accessible for unique learners (30%)
• Were more aligned with the curricula used in the classroom (26%)
• Leveraged technology to adapt to an individual student’s abilities as they progressed (15%)
• Came with more guidance on how to use test results to inform instruction (15%)
• Released results more quickly (12%)
• Were more culturally responsive (12%)
• Offered more guidance on how to use the results to communicate progress to parents (10%)
• Were more aligned with state standards (9%)

To see the rest of the data from this comprehensive report, click here.

The post 9 ways state tests could be more useful to teachers appeared first on District Administration.

Orchard View Middle School students start their journey “career cruising” on the Xello platform, where they can connect their personal and academic interests to job fields such as computer science, welding, automotive repair and cosmetology. They are then introduced to those trades at after-school sessions at the career center.

The “Middle Vision” program, which now includes two other districts, puts students on a path to deeper career exploration in high school and also engages them more deeply in what they are learning in middle school. It also encourages students to stay on track with their grades so the are eligible to attend the career center in 11th and 12th grade, Principal Joshua Smith says.

“We’re helping these kids figure out their passions … and school make much more sense when they can say, ‘Oh, now I know I want to be in food service,'” Smith explains. “They’re more invested and more excited about school.”

About 60 students now attend two-week CTE sessions in writing and illustration, culinary arts, environmental and veterinary medicine, auto collision, medical and health sciences and cosmetology. For example, sixth-graders in the writing and illustration pathway created their own books and showed them off in a presentation to parents, Smith notes.

CTE and design thinking

The exploration continues in seventh- and eighth-grade electives where teachers have been trained in design thinking to embed career-readiness concepts into subjects such as health and STEAM.

One outcome of this process was the creation of the school’s fabrication lab. Students and a STEAM teacher were given free rein to design the space. The students did “empathy interviews” with their classmates to learn what equipment they wanted in the lab. They then built dioramas that they presented to the school board for funding.

The lab is now home to robotics and e-sports teams, among other features. “Middle school is often a time when we see kids start to disconnect,” Orchard View Superintendent Jim Nielsen says. “All of the students involved have found connections to school that weren’t available four or five years ago, and it’s been vital to our sense-of-belonging goals for our district.”

The post CTE surge: Sixth grade is never too early for welding! appeared first on District Administration.

These programs cover more than traditional hands-on careers such as mechanics, plumbers and electricians. Today, they extend into evolving fields such as wind energy, aviation mechanics, CNC machining, robotics and automation, hybrid and EV automotive and diesel repair, welding, HVACR and many more. Roles in fields like these are expanding career choices beyond white- or blue-collar to include a new breed, the “skilled-collar.”

As parents and educators, we can help today’s students find the path that fits their interests and goals, not someone else’s expectations, by encouraging them to consider a wider variety of education and career choices than currently done.

Beginning career exploration in middle school and junior high

Today, career exploration often starts in high school. However, shifting to middle school and introducing boys and girls to the diverse, skilled-collar career landscape lets them embark on self-discovery and explore interests and strengths they may never have considered or known about. Many hands-on science, technology, engineering and mathematics education and career options didn’t exist just a generation ago.

A few excellent resources that exist to involve middle school and junior high school students in these fields and potential careers include:

• SkillsUSA is a nonprofit organization that offers resources for career and technical educators and students interested in hands-on careers in more than 130 fields. Curriculum resources and information on scholarships and competitions are available online for middle school, high school and college-level teachers and learners.
• TechForce Foundation is a nonprofit committed to career exploration and workforce development for technician professionals. It offers free resources for students, educators and schools through its TechForce network, including $4 million in scholarships and grants, training, local career-focused events, job postings, contests, opportunities to connect with industry and more.
• The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) promotes manufacturing careers, including many skilled trade jobs. NAM’s website includes videos, infographics, lesson plans and other resources for educators and students.
• The U.S. Department of Labor’s CareerOneStop website offers a wealth of information on skilled trades careers, including wages, training and job outlook. Also, the Department of Education’s Career Clusters group different trade careers together and provides information on the skills needed for each cluster.

Shifting perspectives to include these other post-secondary education alternatives is crucial—not just to show students what options exist but to fill the employment demand in many industries today.

Exploring the breadth of post-secondary educational options

Factors fueling Gen Z’s increased interest in skilled trades include labor shortages (75% of employers globally report having challenges filling roles), significant growth in technological trades and the rising cost of four-year colleges.

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The average cost of attendance for a full-time student living on campus at a public four-year school was $21,337 during the 2020-2021 school year, and costs were more than double this for those attending private four-year universities. Secondary students are beginning to realize that the cost of a four-year education may no longer be realistic or representative of the best path. In fact, according to a 2024 report from The Burning Glass Institute, over half of college graduates were underemployed one year after completing their degree.

Meanwhile, trade programs that last two years or less offer targeted technical education for students who want a hands-on career. These programs may also benefit from lower total education costs, shorter lengths and employment demand. Even at the higher end, a technical education is often a more economical choice.

Career paths in skilled-collar fields

Trade programs offer a clear advantage: they equip graduates with targeted technical skills for specific in-demand jobs. With 9.5 million job openings in the U.S. and 6.5 million unemployed workers, the skills gap is one major factor preventing companies from filling roles.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the national annual average job openings between 2022 and 2032, including openings due to net employment changes and net replacements, for technicians in these occupations to be:

• Automotive service technicians and mechanics: 67,000+
• Aviation technicians: 10,000+
• Bus and truck mechanics: 24,000+
• Energy technicians: 39,000+
• HVACR technicians: 37,000+
• Electric-mechanical and mechatronics technologists and technicians: 1,000+
• Welding technicians: 42,000+
• Non-destructive testing technician: 7,000+

Long-term skilled-collar career evolution

While higher education institutions play a vital economic role, a skilled-collar job can open the door to a fast-track pathway to entrepreneurship. This, too, appeals to a generation in which 60% are interested in starting and running their own business. More than one in six skilled tradespeople create their own businesses and 20% become partners in a business.

Working in tandem, traditional higher education and post-secondary trade schools can help meet the needs of today’s and tomorrow’s economy by ensuring students are exposed to the full range of careers available.

The post How to steer students toward “skilled-collar” career opportunities appeared first on District Administration.

A national keyword search conducted by K12 data tracker Burbio suggests growing momentum behind STEM-related initiatives at school board meetings as we head into summer. In this month’s dataset, Burbio highlights five states/regions where STEM-centered conversations have been most prominent in their discussions. The share of districts that have mentioned STEM (or STEAM) at least once include:

• Florida (46.3%)
• California (43.5%)
• New England (42.7%)
• Southern states [AL, MS, NC, TN and SC] (27.5%)
• Texas (13.3%)

Discussions at school board meetings in these locations have also spent significant amounts of time discussing special education:

• New England (84.6%)
• California (82.7%)
• Southern states (38.6%)
• Texas (36.3%)
• Florida (19.5%)

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What about K12 grants?

Shifting away from school board discussions, Burbio gathered data that reflects the scope of state-specific funding for K12 schools. Below, you’ll find a chart summarizing 10 of the most common categories of grants, the total number of grants in each category and the market size for the categories listed.

Note: The data represents grants that were available during the 2023-24 school year and several that have been announced for 2024-25.

The post School boarding meetings: How much time is devoted STEM? appeared first on District Administration.

Numerous studies show that students who cannot reach grade-level reading proficiency by third grade rarely catch up and face a greater risk of not graduating from high school. Alarmingly, a groundbreaking new report shows that, nationwide, children who were ages 1 through 4 when pandemic-related school and childcare disruptions began are now coming to school less prepared and struggling to achieve grade-level success.

The implications of these learning gaps are stark. They also explain why State Board of Education President Linda Clark listed “improving K-3 literacy” as Idaho’s top education goal for 2024. More than 60%% of Idaho students went back to school this September without the skills necessary to reach grade level, according to results from the most recent Idaho Reading Indicator assessment.

A data-driven cultural shift

In West Ada, the state’s largest district, our teachers could see evidence of learning loss in nearly every classroom across our 58 schools, from kindergarten through 12th grade. Like many schools in Idaho and across the nation, our district’s challenge in overcoming learning gaps was determining how to allocate the right resources to meet the individual needs of 40,000 students, all of whom were still adjusting to significant disruption. We turned to data to find that answer.

First, creating an ecosystem of data required a fundamental cultural shift around assessment. A broad misconception is that data is primarily used for punitive measurements, determining whether teachers meet the right metrics in their classrooms each year. This mindset reduces students to numerical figures while placing too much pressure on teachers to meet certain benchmarks at the end of the year.

We endeavored to redefine assessments as an instrument for learning and mutual accountability for a student’s success. Now, our teachers are trained to access, evaluate, and communicate data in real-time. They embed diagnostic tests into instruction rather than building instruction toward one or two high-pressure statewide tests. As a result, data serves as the foundation for a constant, continuous conversation between teachers, principals, and families.

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In the last nine years, we have worked with Curriculum Associates, the makers of i-Ready. These programs for K-8 math and reading equip educators with data about students’ skills and areas for growth. In the past, results from state reading assessments each spring would inform teachers about their new class of students, helping them identify learning gaps and skillset needs.

Now, instead of using data as a snapshot—and measuring students’ progress once or twice annually—West Ada’s teachers use i-Ready assessments multiple times throughout the year. Our teachers can now adjust instructional planning decisions and create individualized pathways for every student to succeed. We use assessments to drive progress, not just measure it.

Principals are playing a key role, too

And it’s not just our teachers who embrace data to advance student achievement. Our principals use data to facilitate honest conversations with teachers and students’ families. Our district leaders use data to inform our Leadership Institutes, a regularly programmed in-service day focused on solving department- or grade-level trends and challenges. During our Leadership Institutes, we zero in on data to understand how we can adapt instruction and, ultimately, improve student learning.

Having dependable, accessible data is no longer an advantage in today’s classrooms. It is an imperative. According to results from last spring’s Idaho Reading Indicator assessment, more than 77% of our students are now reading at grade level. As of January 2024, 75% of kindergarten-through-third-grade students are reading at grade level. Although we are encouraged by this progress, our primary goal remains to help every student reach grade-level proficiency.

Every child has the potential to overcome adversity and—in the words of Dr. Seuss—move mountains. We will continue to foster a culture of assessment and embrace data to achieve that goal and help our students reach the places they’ll go.

The post How to close learning gaps with a new assessment culture appeared first on District Administration.