Author: studyblog

Key points: The PD problem we know too well: A flustered woman bursts into the room, late and disoriented. She’s carrying a shawl and a laptop she doesn’t know how to use. She refers to herself as a literacy expert named Linda, but within minutes she’s asking teachers to “dance for literacy,” assigning “elbow partners,” and insisting the district already has workbooks no one’s ever seen (awalmartparkinglott, 2025). It’s chaotic. It’s exaggerated. And it’s painfully familiar. This viral satire, originally posted on Instagram and TikTok, resonates with educators not because it’s absurd but because it mirrors the worst of professional…

Key points: Creating consistency between classrooms and ensuring curriculum alignment school-wide can be challenging, even in the smallest of districts. Every educator teaches–and grades–differently based on their experience and preferences, and too often, they’re forced into a solution that no longer respects their autonomy or acknowledges their strengths. When Superior Public Schools (SPS), a district of 450 students in rural Nebraska, defined standards-referenced curriculum as a priority of our continuous improvement plan, bringing teachers in as partners on the transition was essential to our success. Through their support, strategic relationships with outside partners, and meaningful data and reporting, the pathway from curriculum…

Key points: The academic landscape has evolved dramatically, especially when it comes to summers. More students are embracing year-round learning to build strong study habits and develop the critical thinking, application, and retention skills they need for success in higher education and the workplace. They’re treating AP®, SAT®, and ACT® practice and preparation as long-term investments rather than temporary obligations where they are last-minute cramming for these high-stakes exams. Trends and research support this approach. The Pew Research Center found that 36.6 percent of U.S. teens had a paying job during the summer of 2021–the highest rate since 2008. According…

Key points: Between kindergarten and second grade, much of the school day is dedicated to helping our youngest students master phonics, syllabication, and letter-sound correspondence–the essential building blocks to lifelong learning. Unfortunately, this foundational reading instruction has been stamped with an arbitrary expiration date. Students who miss that critical learning window, including our English Language Learners (ELL), children with learning disabilities, and those who find reading comprehension challenging, are pushed forward through middle and high school without the tools they need. In the race to catch up to classmates, they struggle academically, emotionally, and in extreme cases, eventually disengage or…

Key points: A trending AI song went viral, but in my classroom, it did something even more powerful: it unlocked student voice. When teachers discuss AI in education, the conversation often focuses on risk: plagiarism, misinformation, or over-reliance on tools. But in my English Language Learners (ELL) classroom, a simple AI-generated song unexpectedly became the catalyst for one of the most joyful, culturally rich, and academically productive lessons of the year. It began with a trending headline about an AI-created song that topped a music chart metric. The story was interesting, but what truly captured my attention was its potential…

Key points: In today’s schools, whether K-12 or higher education, AI is powering smarter classrooms. There’s more personalized learning and faster administrative tasks. And students themselves are engaging with AI more than ever before, as 70 percent say they’ve used an AI tool to alter or create completely new images. But while educators and students are embracing the promise of AI, cybercriminals are exploiting it. In 2025, the U.S. Department of Education reported that nearly 150,000 suspect identities were flagged in recent federal student-aid forms, contributing to $90 million in financial aid losses tied to ineligible applicants. From deepfakes in…

eSchool News is counting down the 10 most-read stories of 2025. Story #10 focuses on teaching strategies around AI. Key points: In the last year, we’ve seen an extraordinary push toward integrating artificial intelligence in classrooms. Among educators, that trend has evoked responses from optimism to opposition. “Will AI replace educators?” “Can it really help kids?” “Is it safe?” Just a few years ago, these questions were unthinkable, and now they’re in every K-12 school, hanging in the air. Given the pace at which AI technologies are changing, there’s a lot still to be determined, and I won’t pretend to…

eSchool News is counting down the 10 most-read stories of 2025. Story #9 focuses on chronic absenteeism. Key points: The biggest problem in education is that kids aren’t showing up to school. Last year, 26 percent of students missed a month of class or more, leading to dramatic declines in academic performance. Chronic absenteeism accounted for 27 percent of the drop in math scores and 45 percent of the decline in reading scores from 2019 to 2022. Students who are chronically absent are 7x more likely to drop out before graduating, and while state and district leaders are scrambling for…

eSchool News is counting down the 10 most-read stories of 2025. Story #8 focuses on the debate around teachers vs. AI. Key points: A colleague of ours recently attended an AI training where the opening slide featured a list of all the ways AI can revolutionize our classrooms. Grading was listed at the top. Sure, AI can grade papers in mere seconds, but should it? As one of our students, Jane, stated: “It has a rubric and can quantify it. It has benchmarks. But that is not what actually goes into writing.” Our students recognize that AI cannot replace the…

eSchool News is counting down the 10 most-read stories of 2025. Story #7 focuses on sustainability in edtech. Key points: Educational technology, or edtech, has reshaped how educators teach, offering opportunities to create more sustainable and impactful learning environments. Using edtech in teaching, educators and school leaders can reduce environmental impact while enhancing student engagement and creativity. The key is recognizing how to effectively leverage edtech learning strategies, from digitized lesson plans to virtual collaboration, and keeping an open mind while embracing new instructional methods. Rethinking teaching methods in the digital age Teaching methods have undergone significant transformation with the…