Purchasing/Procurement
School & District Management
Districts' Back-to-School Shopping List: Masks, Gloves, Sanitizers and $25 Billion to Pay for It
When his staff’s tally for buying personal protective equipment reached $600,000, one superintendent said: “stop because we’re already bankrupt.”
Assessment
Inside a Procurement Dispute in North Carolina
North Carolina officials' switch in reading-test vendors just weeks before the new school year got underway is spotlighting the often murky process of contracts and procurements for K-12 services.
Budget & Finance
From Our Research Center
How Do Teachers Fund Their Classrooms? 6 Takeaways
Most teachers say they expect to contribute resources to their classrooms, but teachers aren’t only putting up the cash themselves. In addition to old standbys like grants and bake sales, many are turning to other fundraising opportunities, including online crowdfunding platforms like DonorsChoose.
School & District Management
Educators Wary of Ed-Tech Company Research
Seventy-six percent felt that ed-tech vendors were not qualified to conduct valid research about their own products, the analysis by ISTE and the Jefferson Education Exchange found.
School Climate & Safety
Firestorm Erupts as Betsy DeVos Weighs If Districts Can Buy Guns With Federal Money
News that the education secretary and her team are pondering whether school districts can spend federal money to buy guns to arm teachers and other school staff is drawing widespread condemnation.
School & District Management
Ed-Tech Leadership Is a Tough Task for Principals
School leaders face pressures about what digital learning approaches to take and what tech products to buy,
Curriculum
For Educators, Curriculum Choices Multiply, Evolve
How is a district to choose in a curriculum landscape that includes open educational resources, digital 'playlists,' teacher-designed lessons, and old-fashioned textbooks?
Personalized Learning
'Red Flags' to Look for When Evaluating Personalized Learning Products
Educators are asking tougher questions to sort the real personalized learning potential from the empty promises of some ed-tech products and services.
Classroom Technology
RFPs Reveal District, State Priorities
Interest in pursuing 'personalized learning'—however schools choose to define it—is evident in the language found in the requests for proposals and other solicitations put forward by K-12 systems around the country in recent years.
Curriculum
Quality Learning Materials Are Scarce for English-Language Learners
Teachers and ELL experts say there is an array of problems with curricula and learning materials meant for English-learners. But they all agree on two key points: The materials are usually too simple and too disconnected from grade-level goals.
Curriculum
Es difícil encontrar materiales de calidad para estudiantes de inglés como segundo idioma
Los maestros y los expertos en ELL afirman que existe una variedad de problemas con los planes de estudios y los materiales de enseñanza pensados para estudiantes de inglés como segundo idioma. Pero todos coinciden en dos puntos clave: Los materiales generalmente son muy simples y están muy desconectados de los objetivos del nivel de grado.
School & District Management
Opinion
How Should Schools Purchase Ed. Tech?
Schools often buy technology for the classroom on the basis of marketing rather than careful analysis, writes Harold O. Levy.
IT Infrastructure & Management
Group Probes Ed-Tech Pricing, Buying
A new nonprofit organization has set out to help school districts compare the prices they pay for education technology and examine the fairness and logic of their procurement practices and contracts with vendors.
IT Infrastructure & Management
Districts Struggle to Judge Ed-Tech Pilot Projects
A study suggests that school officials and technology developers often fail to set clear standards for gauging the success of those trial runs and for gathering teacher and student feedback.