Tag: districts

  • Mis-identifying “504-only” students

    Mis-identifying “504-only” students

    Key points:

    Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which prohibits discrimination against students and other individuals with disabilities, is far less visible than the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in school districts.  Largely neglected in comparison to the IDEA, it poses growing problems and hidden costs on the general education side of the ledger.  In comparison to students with IEPs under the IDEA, students eligible under only the overlapping coverage of Section 504 are the responsibility of general education.

    The problems and costs start with mis-identification under Section 504’s definition of disability, which is broader than that under the IDEA.  Not limited to specified classifications, such as specific learning disability, or the need for special education, the requirements for Section 504 eligibility are (1) any physical or mental impairment that limits (2) a major life activity (3) substantially.  The students identified under Section 504 rather than the narrow eligibility definition of the IDEA are referred to as “504-only,” and they typically receive accommodations and services under a 504 plan as compared to an IEP.

    “504-only” rates

    The national rate of students with 504 plans has almost quadrupled in the past 15 years.  More specifically, in school year 2009–10, which was one year after Congress expanded the interpretive standards for determining eligibility under Section 504, the national percentage, according to data collected by the U.S. Department of Education, was 1.1 percent.  This percentage steadily increased, well beyond the effects of the Congressional amendments.  In 2021–22, which was the most recently released data from the Department, the national percentage was 3.9 percent.

    This growth is attributable in part to the increase in the identified incidence of not only ADHD, dyslexia, and anxiety but also various physical health issues, such as diabetes and food allergies.  However, another major reason is the loose identification practices for “504-only” students.

    Revealing not only resulting over- but also under-identification, for the most recent year of 2021–22, the rates varied at the state level from New Hampshire and Texas at almost double the national percentage to New Mexico and Mississippi at less than half that national rate.  California’s rate for that year was only 2.1 percent, but its variance was wide.  Its districts ranged from 0 percent to 13.9 percent, and schools ranged from 0 percent to 24.2 percent.  Districts and schools at the low end are particularly vulnerable to individual child find claim.  And one can only imagine what it’s like to be a general education teacher at a school for those at the high end in terms of paperwork, meetings, implementation, and resulting litigation.  Thus, both over- and under-identification warrant administrative attention.

    Mis-identification costs and consequences

    For over-identification, the hidden costs include not only providing related services, such as counseling and transportation, but also the time of teachers and administrators for meetings, forms, and potential complaint investigations, impartial hearings, and court proceedings.  Additionally, at a time of teacher shortage, high percentages of students with 504 plans contributes to current recruitment and attrition problems. Yet, unlike the IDEA, Section 504 provides no extra funding from either federal or state governments.  Thus, Section 504 implementation is part of the school district’s general education budget.  Moreover, along with under-identification, over-identification is a matter of social as well as legal justice, because it allocates limited school resources to students who do not really qualify and, thus, are false positives.  This hurts both the true positives (i.e., accurately identified) and the false negatives (i.e., should be identified).  The under-identified students pose a hidden cost of exposure to child find violations, which include attorneys’ fees and remedial orders.

    Quick tips for district consideration

    • Make sure that your administration annually collects and examines accurate information as to the percentage of students with 504 plans for the district as a whole and for the elementary, middle, and high school levels.  For percentages that are notably high or low in relation to extrapolated current national and state rates, extend the data collection and review to the identified impairments, major life activities, and the basis for the “substantial” connection between the impairment and major life activities
    • Under the leadership of a designated central administrator, make sure that each school has a carefully selected, officially designated, sufficiently trained, and solidly backed Section 504 coordinator  In general, the principal or an assistant principal is the presumptively correct choice; yet, principals too often delegate this key role to a relatively inexperienced school counselor or other staff member who lacks appropriate expertise and authority for proper 504-only identification.    
    • Make sure that the administration has uniform, effective, and legally defensible policies and practices that include:
      • Child find procedures parallel to those under the IDEA but keyed to the broader, three-part definition of disability under Section 504, which does not require educational impact or the need for special education.
      • Eligibility decision is by a team that meets the legal criteria of being reasonably knowledgeable about the child, evaluation data, and appropriate services/accommodations.
      • Regular training for the team, which includes legal updates on the identification procedures and criteria but also the longitudinal § 504-only rates for the district, school, and grade.
    • Invest general education resources on multi-tiered strategies and supports, differentiated instruction, and responsive accommodations for students that do not clearly qualify for either IEPs or 504 plans.  The more that districts meet student needs with such practices on a reliable and reasonable basis, the less that problems of over- and under-identification tend to arise.
    Latest posts by eSchool Media Contributors (see all)

    Source link

  • Cutting costs without cutting corners

    Cutting costs without cutting corners

    Key points:

    With the end of federal COVID-19 emergency funding and the inherent volatility of state income tax revenues, California school districts are in an era of financial uncertainty. Fortunately, Jurupa Unified School District is already several years into the process of finding ways to track and control expenses while still supporting teachers and staff so they can provide the best possible educational experience for our students. Here’s how we’re making staffing and payroll processes more efficient, starting with the perennially challenging extra duty.

    Getting a handle on extra duty

    In addition to our salaried staff, we have a number of part-time, hourly, and what we call “extra duty” assignments. Because a significant amount of our funding comes from grants, many of our assignments are temporary or one-time. We fill those positions with extra duty requests so we’re not committed to ongoing payroll obligations.

    For many years, those extra duty requests and time cards were on paper, which meant the payroll department was performing redundant work to enter the information in the payroll system. The request forms we used were also on paper, making it very difficult to track the actual time being used back to the request, so we could be sure that the hours being used were within the limitations of the request. We needed a better control mechanism that would help school sites stay within budget, as well as a more formal budget mechanism to encumber the department and site budgets to cover the extra duty requests.

    Budgeting can get very complicated because it’s cross-functional. It includes a position-control component, a payroll component, and a financial budgeting component. We needed a solution that could make all of those universes work together. The mission was either to find a system or build one. Our county office started a pilot program with our district to build a system, but ultimately decided against continuing with this effort due to the resources required to sustain such a system for 23 county districts. 

    Our district engaged in a competitive process and chose Helios Ed. Within six months, our team developed and launched a new system to address extra duty. Since then, we have saved more than $100,000 in staffing costs, time expenses, and budget overruns because of the stronger internal controls we now have in place.

    A more efficient (and satisfied) payroll department

    Eliminating redundant data entry and working with data instead of paper has allowed us to reduce staffing by two full-time equivalents–not through layoffs, but through attrition. And because they have a system that is handling data entry for them, our payroll department has more time to give quality to their work, and feel they are working at a level more aligned to their skills.

    Finding efficiencies in your district

    While Jurupa Unified has found efficiencies and savings in these specific areas, every school district is different. As many California district leaders like to say, we have 1,139 school districts –and just as many ways of doing things. With that in mind, there are some steps to the process of moving from paper to online systems (or using online systems more efficiently) that apply universally.

    1. Sit down and identify your objectives. What are the critical components that you must have? 
    2. Make the decision to make or buy. When COVID first hit, Jurupa Unified created its own invoice-routing system through SharePoint. We’ve also built an excursion request process in PowerApps that handles travel, conferences, and field trips. As our county office found out, though, when you’re bringing a number of functionalities together, it can make more sense to work with a vendor you trust.
    3. If you choose to buy software, be certain that it can do precisely what you need it to. If a vendor says they can develop a functionality along the way, ask to see the new feature before you buy.
    4. Be certain the vendor will be responsive. When it comes to a function such as payroll, you’re dealing with people’s livelihoods, and you need to know that if there’s something wrong with the system, or if you need help, that help is just a phone call away.

    Putting in a new payroll management system has made an enormous difference for our district, but it’s not the end of our cost-cutting process. We’re always looking at our different programs to see where we can cut back in ways that don’t impact the classroom. Ultimately, these changes are about ensuring that resources stay focused where they matter most. While budgets fluctuate and funding streams remain unpredictable, my team and I come to work every day because we believe in public education. I’m a product of public education myself, and I love waking up every day knowing that I can come back and support today’s students and teachers.

    Latest posts by eSchool Media Contributors (see all)

    Source link

  • How a legal group’s anti-LGBTQ policies took root in school districts across a state

    How a legal group’s anti-LGBTQ policies took root in school districts across a state

    by Kathryn Joyce, The Hechinger Report
    January 6, 2026

    The West Shore school board policy committee meeting came to a halt almost as soon as it began. As a board member started going over the agenda on July 17, local parent Danielle Gross rose to object to a last-minute addition she said hadn’t been on the district’s website the day before.

    By posting notice of the proposal so close to the meeting, charged Gross, who is also a partner at a communications and advocacy firm that works on state education policy, the board had violated Pennsylvania’s open meetings law, failing to provide the public at least 24 hours’ notice about a topic “this board knows is of great concern for many community members interested in the rights of our LGBTQ students.” 

    The committee chair, relentlessly banging her gavel, adjourned the meeting to a nonpublic “executive session.” When the committee reconvened, the policy was not mentioned again until the meeting’s end, when a lone public commenter, Heather Keller, invoked “Hamlet” to warn that something was rotten in the Harrisburg suburbs. 

    The proposed policy, which would bar trans students from using bathrooms and locker rooms aligned with their gender identity, was a nearly verbatim copy of one crafted by a group called the Independence Law Center — a Harrisburg-based Christian right legal advocacy group whose model policies have led to costly lawsuits in districts around the state.

    “Being concerned about that, I remembered that we don’t partner with the Independence Law Center,” Keller said. “We haven’t hired them as consultants. And they’re not our district solicitor.” 

    To those who’d followed education politics in the state, Keller’s comment would register as wry understatement. Over the past several years, ILC’s growing entanglement with dozens of Pennsylvania school boards has become a high-profile controversy. Through interviews, an extensive review of local reporting and public documents, In These Times and The Hechinger Report found that, of the state’s 500 school districts, at least 20 are known to have consulted with or signed formal contracts accepting ILC’s pro bono legal services — to advise on, draft and defend district policies, free of charge.* 

    But over the last year, it’s become clear ILC’s influence stretches beyond such formal partnerships, as school districts from Bucks County (outside Philadelphia) to Beaver County (west of Pittsburgh) have proposed or adopted virtually identical anti-LGBTQ and book ban policies that originated with ILC — sometimes without acknowledging any connection to the group or where the policies came from. 

    In districts without formal partnerships with ILC, such as West Shore, figuring out what, exactly, their board’s relationship is to the group has been a painfully assembled puzzle, thanks to school board obstruction, blocked open records requests and reports of backdoor dealing. 

    Although ILC has existed for nearly 20 years, its recent prominence began around 2021 with a surge of “parents’ rights” complaints about pandemic-era masking, teaching about racism, LGBTQ representation and how library books and curricula are selected. In many districts where such debates raged, calls to hire ILC soon followed. 

    In 2024 alone, ILC made inroads of one kind or another with roughly a dozen districts in central Pennsylvania, including West Shore, which proposed contracting ILC that March and invited the group to speak to the board in a closed-door meeting the public couldn’t attend. (ILC did not respond to multiple interview requests or emailed questions.)

    On the night of that March meeting, Gross organized a rally outside the school board building, drawing roughly 100 residents to protest, even as it snowed. The board backed down from hiring ILC, but that didn’t stop it from introducing ILC policies. In addition to the proposed bathroom policy, that May the board passed a ban on trans students joining girls’ athletics teams after they’ve started puberty and allowed district officials to request doctors’ notes and birth certificates to enforce it. 

    To Gross, it’s an example of how West Shore and other school boards without formal relationships with ILC have still found ways to advance the group’s agenda. “They’re waiting for other school boards to do all the controversial stuff with the ILC,” Gross said, then “taking the policies other districts have, running them through their solicitors, and implementing them that way.” (A spokesperson for West Shore stated that the district had not contracted with ILC and declined further comment.)

    “It’s like a hydra effect,” said Kait Linton of the grassroots community group Public Education Advocates of Lancaster. “They’ve planted seeds for a vine, and now the vine’s taking off in all the directions it wants to go.” 

    Related: Become a lifelong learner. Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter featuring the most important stories in education. 

    ILC was founded in the wake of a Pennsylvania lawsuit that drew nationwide attention and prompted significant local embarrassment. 

    In October 2004, the Dover Area School District — situated, like West Shore, in York County, south of Harrisburg — changed its biology curriculum to introduce the quasi-creationist theory of “intelligent design” as an alternative to evolution. Eleven families sued, arguing that intelligent design was “fundamentally a religious proposition rather than a scientific one.” In December 2005, a federal court agreed, ruling that public schools teaching the theory violated the U.S. Constitution’s establishment clause. 

    During the case, an attorney named Randall Wenger unsuccessfully tried to add the creationist Christian think tank he worked for — which published the book Dover sought to teach — to the suit as a defendant, and, failing that, filed an amicus brief instead. When the district lost and was ultimately left with $1 million in legal fees, Wenger found a lesson in it for conservatives moving forward.

    Speaking at a 2005 conference hosted by the Pennsylvania Family Institute — part of a national network of state-level “family councils” tied to the heavyweight Christian right organizations Family Research Council and Focus on the Family — Wenger suggested Dover could have avoided or won legal challenges if officials hadn’t mentioned their religious motivations during public school board meetings. 

    “Give us a call before you do something controversial like that,” Wenger said, according to LancasterOnline. Then, in a line that’s become infamous among ILC’s critics, Wenger invoked a biblical reference to add, “I think we need to do a better job at being clever as serpents.” (Wenger did not respond to multiple requests for comment.)

    The following year, in 2006, the Pennsylvania Family Institute launched ILC with Wenger as its chief counsel, a role he remains in today, in addition to serving as chief operating officer. ILC now has three other staff attorneys and has worked directly as plaintiff’s attorneys on two Supreme Court cases: one was part of the larger Hobby Lobby decision, which allows employers to opt out of employee health insurance plans that include contraception coverage; the other expanded religious exemptions for workers.

    ILC has financial ties and a history of collaborating with Christian right legal advocacy behemoth Alliance Defending Freedom, including on a 2017 lawsuit against a school district outside Philadelphia that allowed a trans student to use the locker room aligned with their gender. ILC has filed amicus briefs in support of numerous other Christian right causes, including two that led to major Supreme Court victories for the right in 2025: Mahmoud v. Taylor, which limited public schools’ ability to assign books with LGBTQ themes; and United States v. Skrmetti, which affirmed a Tennessee ban on gender-affirming care for minors. In recent months, the group filed two separate amicus briefs on behalf of Pennsylvania school board members in anti-trans cases in other states. In both cases, which were brought by Alliance Defending Freedom and concern school sports and pronoun usage, ILC urged the Supreme Court to “resolve the issue nationwide.”

    In lower courts, ILC has worked on or contributed briefs to lawsuits seeking to start public school board meetings with prayer and to allow religious groups to proselytize public school students, among other issues. More quietly, as the local blog Lancaster Examiner reported — and as one ILC attorney recounted at a conference in 2022 — ILC has defended “conversion therapy,” the broadly discredited theory that homosexuality is a disorder that can be cured.

    To critics, all of these efforts have helped systematically chip away at civil rights protections for LGBTQ students at the local level, seeding the policies that President Donald Trump’s administration is now trying to make ubiquitous through executive orders. And while local backlash is building in some areas, activists are hindered by the threat that the ILC’s efforts are ultimately aimed at laying the groundwork for a Supreme Court case that could formalize discrimination against transgender students into law nationwide. 

    But ILC’s greatest influence is arguably much closer to its Harrisburg home, in neighboring Lancaster and York counties, where nine districts have contracted ILC and at least three more have adopted its model policies. 

    • The rural hillside and farmland in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, are seen on Aug. 15, 2025. The local school district, Penn Manor, adopted anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ policies presented by the Independence Law Center, a Harrisburg-based Christian-right legal advocacy group.
    • A sign is seen in a residential neighborhood in Holtwood, Pennsylvania.

    In Lancaster’s Hempfield district, it started with a 2021 controversy over a trans student joining the girls’ track team. School board meetings that had already grown tense over pandemic masking requirements erupted in new fights about LGBTQ rights and visibility. In the middle of one meeting, recalled Hempfield parent and substitute teacher Erin Small, a board member abruptly suggested hiring ILC to write a new district policy. The suddenness of the proposal caused such public outcry, said Small, that the vote to hire ILC had to be postponed.

    But within a few months, the district signed a contract with ILC to write what became Pennsylvania’s first school district ban on trans students participating in sports teams aligned with their gender identity. Other ILC policy proposals followed, including a successful 2023 effort to bar the district from using books or materials that include sexual content, which immediately prompted an intensive review of books written by LGBTQ and non-white authors. (The Hempfield district did not respond to requests for comment.)

    In nearby Elizabethtown, the path to hiring ILC began with a fraudulent 2021 complaint, when a man claimed, during a school board meeting, that his middle schooler had checked out an inappropriate book from the school library. Although it later emerged that the man had reportedly used a fake name and officials found no evidence he had children attending the school, his claim nonetheless sparked a long debate over book policies, which eventually led to the district contracting ILC as special legal counsel in 2024. Two anti-trans policies were subsequently passed in January 2025, and a ban on “sexually explicit” books, also based on ILC’s models, was discussed this past spring but has not moved forward to date. (The Elizabethtown district did not respond to requests for comment.)

    Across the Susquehanna River in York County — where five districts have contracted ILC and two more have considered or passed its policies — the group’s influence has been broad and sometimes confounding. In one instance, as the York Dispatch discovered, ILC not only authored four policy proposals for the Red Lion Area School District, but ILC senior counsel Jeremy Samek, a registered Pennsylvania lobbyist, also drafted a speech for the board president to deliver in support of three anti-trans policies, all of which passed in 2024. (The Red Lion district did not respond to requests for comment.)

    The same year, South Western School District, reportedly acting on ILC advice, ordered a high school to cut large windows into the walls of two bathrooms that had been designated as “gender identity restrooms,” allowing passersby in the hallway to see inside, consequently discouraging students from using them. (The district did not respond to requests for comment, but in a statement to local paper the Evening Sun, school board President Matt Gelazela cited student safety and said the windows helped staff monitor for vaping, bullying and other prohibited activities.)

    ​​In many districts, said Lancaster parent Eric Fisher, ILC’s growing relationships with school boards has been eased by the ubiquitous presence around the state of its sister organizations within the Pennsylvania Family Institute, including the institute’s lobbying arm, voucher group, youth leadership conference and Church Ambassador Network, which brings pastors from across Pennsylvania to lobby lawmakers in the state Capitol. 

    As a result, said Fisher, when ILC shows up in a district, board members often are already familiar with them or other institute affiliates, “having met them at church and having their churches put their stamp of endorsement on them. I think it makes it really easy for [board members] to say yes.” 

    But in nearly every district that has considered working with ILC, wide-scale pushback has also followed — though often to no avail. In June 2024, in Elizabethtown — where school board fights have been so fractious that they inspired a full-length documentary — members of the public spoke in opposition to hiring ILC at a ratio of roughly 5 to 1 before the board voted unanimously to hire the group anyway. 

    In the Upper Adams district in Biglerville, southwest of Harrisburg, the school board voted to contract ILC despite a cacophony of public comments and a 500-signature petition in opposition. 

    In Lancaster’s Warwick district, the school board’s vote to hire ILC prompted the resignation of a superintendent who had served in her role for 15 years and who reported that the district’s insurance carrier had warned the district might not be covered in future lawsuits if it adopted ILC’s anti-trans policies. 

    Since then, Warwick resident Kayla Cook noted during a public presentation about ILC this past summer, the mood in the district has grown grim. “We do not have any students at the moment trying to participate [in sports] who are trans. However, we have students who simply have a short haircut being profiled as being trans,” Cook said. “It’s tipped far into fear-based behaviors, where we are dipping our toes into checking the student’s body to make sure that they’re identifying as the appropriate gender.” (A district spokesperson directed interview requests to the school board, which did not respond to requests for comment.)

    But perhaps nowhere was the fight as fraught as in Lancaster’s Penn Manor School District, which hired ILC to draft new policies about trans students just months after the suicide of a trans youth from Penn Manor — the fifth such suicide in the Lancaster community in less than two years. 

    Before the Penn Manor school board publicly proposed retaining ILC, in June 2024 — scheduling a presentation by and a vote on hiring ILC for the same meeting — district Superintendent Phil Gale wrote to the board about his misgivings. In an email obtained by LancasterOnline, Gale warned the board against policies “that will distinguish one group of students from another” and passed along a warning from the district’s insurance carrier that adopting potentially discriminatory policies might affect the district’s coverage if it were sued by students or staff.

    In a narrow 5-4 vote, the all-Republican board declined to hire ILC that June. But after one board member reconsidered, the matter was placed back on the agenda for two meetings that August. 

    Members of the community publicly presented an open letter, signed by roughly 80 Penn Manor residents, requesting that, if policies about trans students were truly needed, the district establish a task force of local experts to draft them rather than outsource policymaking to ILC. One of the letter’s organizers, Mark Clatterbuck, a religious studies professor at New Jersey’s Montclair State University, said the district never acknowledged it or responded. (Maddie Long, a spokesperson for Penn Manor, said the district could not comment because of the litigation.) 

    That February, Clatterbuck’s son, Ash — a college junior and transgender man who’d grown up in Penn Manor — had died by suicide, shortly after the nationally publicized death of Nex Benedict, a nonbinary 16-year-old in Oklahoma who died by suicide the day after being beaten unconscious in a high school girls’ bathroom.

    In the first August meeting to reconsider hiring ILC, Clatterbuck told the Penn Manor board, through tears, how “living in a hostile political environment that dehumanizes them at school, at home, at church and in the halls of Congress” was making “life unlivable for far too many of our trans children.”

    Two weeks later, at the second meeting, Ash’s mother, Malinda Harnish Clatterbuck, pleaded for board members talking about student safety to consider the children these policies actively harm. 

    “ILC does not even recognize trans and gender-nonconforming children as existing,” said Harnish Clatterbuck, a pastor whose family has lived in Lancaster for 10 generations. “That fact alone should preclude them from even being considered by the board.”

    • A painted portrait of Ash Clatterbuck in his parents’ home in Holtwood, Pennsylvania.
    • Malinda Harnish-Clatterbuck walks a labyrinth made in 2023 by her late son, Ash, on their property in Holtwood.
    • Hand-painted signs that once hung on the walls of Ash’s dorm room

    Her husband spoke again as well, telling the board how Ash had frequently warned about the spread of policies that stoke “irrational hysteria around” trans youth — “the kind of policies,” Mark Clatterbuck noted, “that the Pennsylvania-based Independence Law Center loves to draft.” 

    Reminding the board that five trans youth in the area had died by suicide within just 18 months, he continued, “Do not try to tell me that there is no connection between the kind of dehumanizing policies that the ILC drafts and the deaths of our trans children.” 

    But the board voted to hire ILC anyway, 5-4, and in the following months adopted two of ILC’s anti-trans policies.

    Related: Red school boards in a blue state asked Trump for help — and got it

    In anticipation of such public outcry, some school boards around Pennsylvania have taken steps to obscure their interest in ILC’s agenda. 

    Kristina Moon, a senior attorney at the Education Law Center of Pennsylvania, a legal services nonprofit that advocates for public school students’ rights, has watched a progression in how school boards interact with ILC. 

    When her group first began receiving calls related to ILC, around 2021, alarmed parents told similar stories of boards proposing book bans targeting queer or trans students’ perspectives, or identical packages of policies that included restrictions about bathrooms, sports and pronouns. 

    “At first, we would see boards openly talking about their interest in contracting with ILC,” said Moon. But as local opposition began to grow, “board members stopped sharing so publicly.” 

    Instead, Moon said, reports began to emerge of school boards discussing or meeting with ILC in secret.

    In Hempfield, in 2022, the board moved some policy discussions into committee sessions less likely to be attended by the public, and held a vote on an anti-trans sports policy without announcing it publicly, possibly in violation of Pennsylvania’s Sunshine Act, as Mother Jones reported.

    In Warwick, in 2024, several board members admitted meeting privately with ILC’s Randall Wenger, according to LancasterOnline. 

    Across the state, in Bucks County, one Central Bucks school board member recounted in an op-ed for the Bucks County Beacon how her conservative colleagues had stonewalled her when she asked about the origins of a new book ban policy in 2022, only to have the board later admit ILC had performed a legal review of it “pro bono,” as PhillyBurbs reported.

    Subsequent reporting by the York Daily Record and Reuters revealed the board’s relationship with ILC was more involved and included discussions about other policies related to trans student athletes and pronoun policy. (Both Central Bucks’ books and anti-LGBTQ policies were later cited in an ACLU federal complaint that cost the district $1.75 million in legal fees, as well as in a related Education Department investigation into whether the district had created a hostile learning environment for LGBTQ students.)

    But the sense of backroom dealing reached an almost cartoonish level in York County, where, in March 2024, conservative board members from 12 county school districts were invited to a secret meeting hosted by a right-wing political action committee, along with specific instructions about how to keep their participation off the public radar. According to the York Dispatch, the invitation came from former Central York school board member Veronica Gemma, who (after losing her seat) was hired as education director for PA Economic Growth, a PAC that had helped elect 48 conservatives to York school boards the previous fall. (Gemma did not respond to interview requests.)

    Gemma’s invitation was accompanied by an agenda sent by the PAC, which included a discussion about ILC and how board members could “build a network of support” and “advance our shared goals more effectively countywide.” The invitation also included the admonition that “confidentiality is paramount” and that each district should only send four board members or fewer — to avoid the legal threshold for a quorum that would make the meeting a matter of public record. 

    “Remember, no more than 4 — sunshine laws,” Gemma wrote. 

    In the wake of stories like these, Wenger’s 2005 suggestion that conservatives “become as clever as serpents” in concealing their intentions became ubiquitous in coverage of and advocacy against ILC — showing up in newspaper articles, in editorials and even on a T-shirt for sale online. 

    “I think it’s very obvious,” reflected Moon, “but if something has to be taking place in secrecy, I’m not sure it can be good for our students.” 

    But the lack of transparency shows up in subtler ways too, in the spreading phenomenon of districts adopting ILC policies without admitting where the policies come from. That was the case in Eastern York in 2025, where board members who had previously lobbied for an ILC pronoun policy later directed their in-house attorney to write an original policy instead, following the same principles but avoiding the baggage an ILC connection would bring.

    In Elizabethtown (which did contract ILC), one policy was even introduced erroneously referencing clauses from another district’s code, in an indication of how directly districts are copy-pasting from one another.

    In 2025, ILC attorney Jeremy Samek even seemed to acknowledge the trend, predicting that fewer districts might contract ILC going forward, since the combination of Trump’s executive orders on trans students and the general spread of policies similar to ILC’s meant “it’s going to be a lot easier for other schools to do that without even talking to us.” 

    Related: Probes into racism in schools stall under Trump 

    In the face of what appears like a deliberate strategy of concealment, members of the public have increasingly turned to official channels to compel boards to disclose their dealings with ILC. Mark Clatterbuck did so in 2024 and 2025, filing 10 Right-to-Know requests with Penn Manor for all school board and administration communications with or about ILC and policies ILC consulted on and any records related to a set of specific keywords.

    Thirty miles north, three Elizabethtown parents sued their school board in the spring of 2025, alleging it deliberately met and conferred with ILC in nonpublic meetings and private communications to “circumvent the requirements of the Sunshine Act.”

    In both cases, and more broadly in the region, ILC critics are keenly aware that, by bringing complaints or lawsuits against the group or the school boards it works with, they might be doing exactly what ILC wants: furthering its chances to land another case before the Supreme Court, where a favorable ruling could set a dangerous national precedent, such as ruling that Title IX protections don’t cover trans students. 

    “They’re itching for a case,” said Clatterbuck. To that end, he added, his pro bono attorneys — at the law firm Gibbel Kraybill & Hess LLC, which also represents the Elizabethtown plaintiffs pro bono — have been careful not to do ILC’s work for it. 

    Largely, that has meant keeping the cases narrowly focused on Sunshine Act violations.

    But in both cases, there are also hints of the larger issue at hand — of whether, in a repeat of the old Dover “intelligent design” case, ILC’s policies represent school boards imposing inherently religious viewpoints on public schools. After all, ILC’s parent group, the Pennsylvania Family Institute, clearly states its mission is to make Pennsylvania “a place where God is honored” and to “strengthen families by restoring to public life the traditional, foundational principles and values essential for the well-being of society.” And in 2024, the institute’s president, Michael Geer, told a Christian TV audience that much of ILC’s work involves working with school boards “on the transgender issue, fighting that ideology that is pervasive in our society.” 

    In the Elizabethtown complaint, the plaintiffs argue that district residents must “have the opportunity to observe Board deliberations regarding policies that will affect their children in order to understand the Board members’ true motivation and rationale for adopting policies — particularly when policies are prepared by an outside organization seeking to advance a  particular religious viewpoint and agenda.” 

    The public has ample cause to suspect as much. Five current and former members of Elizabethtown’s school board are connected to a far-right church in town, where the pastor joined 150 other locals in traveling to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021. Among them were current board members Stephen Lindemuth — who once preached a sermon at the church arguing that “gender identity confusion” doesn’t “line up with what God desires” — and his wife, Danielle Lindemuth, who helped organize the caravan of buses that went to Washington. (Stephen Lindemuth replied by email, “I have no recollection of making any judgmental comments concerning LGBTQ in my most recent preaching the past few years.” Neither he nor his wife were accused of any unlawful acts on Jan. 6.)

    Another board member until this past December, James Emery, went through the church’s pastoral training program and in 2022 served as a member of the security detail of far-right Christian nationalist gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano. 

    School board meetings in Elizabethtown have also frequently devolved into religious battles, with one local mother, Amy Karr, board chair of Elizabethtown’s Church of the Brethren, recalling how local right-wing activists accused ILC’s opponents of being possessed by demonic spirits or a “vehicle of Satan.” 

    In Penn Manor, Clatterbuck similarly hoped to lay bare the “overtly religious nature” of the board’s motivation by including in his Right-to-Know requests a demand for all school board communications about ILC policies containing keywords like “God,” “Christian,” “Jesus,” “faith” and “biblical.” 

    For nearly a year, the district sought to avoid fulfilling the requests, with questionable invocations of attorney-client privilege (including one board member’s claim that she had “personally” retained ILC as counsel), sending back obviously incomplete records and protestations that Clatterbuck’s keyword request turned up so many results that it was too burdensome to fulfill. Ultimately, Clatterbuck appealed to the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records to compel the board to honor the request. 

    This fall, Clatterbuck received a 457-page document from the board containing dozens of messages that suggest his suspicions were correct. 

    In response to local constituents writing in support of ILC — decrying pronoun policies as a violation of religious liberty, claiming “the whole LGBTQ spectrum is rooted in the brokenness of sin” and calling for board members to rebuke teachers unions in “the precious blood of Jesus” — at least three board members wrote back with encouragement and thanks. In one example, board member Anthony Lombardo told a constituent who had written a 12-page message arguing that queer theory is “inherently atheistic” that “I completely agree with your analysis and conclusions.” 

    When another community member sent the board an article from an evangelical website arguing that using “transgendered pronouns … falsifies the gospel” and “tramples on the blood of Christ,” board member Donna Wert responded, “Please know that I firmly agree with the beliefs held in [this article]. And please know that heightened movement is finally being made concerning this, as you will see.” 

    To Clatterbuck, such messages demonstrate the school board’s religious sympathies, as well as how Christian nationalism plays out at the local level. While national examples of Christian right dominance, like Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Crusader tattoos or Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s “Appeal to Heaven” flag, get the most attention, Clatterbuck said, “this is what it looks like when you’re controlling local school boards and passing policies that affect people directly in their local community.” 

    But the local level might also be the place where advocates have the best chance of fighting back, said Kait Linton of Public Education Advocates of Lancaster.

    Speaking ahead of a panel discussion on ILC at Elizabethtown’s Church of the Brethren last June — one of several panels PEAL hosted around Lancaster in the run-up to November’s school board elections — Linton emphasized the importance of focusing on the “hyperlocal.”

    “With everything that’s happening at the national level,” Linton said, “we find a lot of folks get caught up in that, when really we have far less opportunity to make a difference up there than we do right here.”

    PEAL’s efforts have been matched by other groups at the district level, like Elizabethtown’s Etown Common Sense 2.0, which local parent and former president Alisha Runkle said advocates against the sort of policies ILC drafts and also seeks to support teachers “being beaten down and needing support” in an environment of relentless hostility and demands to police their lesson plans, libraries and language. 

    They’re also reflected in the work of statewide coalitions like Pennsylvanians for Welcoming and Inclusive Schools, which helps districts share information about ILC policies — including a searchable map of ILC’s presence around the state — and resources like the Education Law Center, which has sent detailed demand or advocacy letters to numerous school districts considering adopting ILC-inspired policies. 

    This past November, that local-level work resulted in some signs for cautious hope. In Lancaster County’s Hempfield School District — one of the first districts in the state to hire ILC — the school board flipped to Democratic control. Among the new board members are Kait Linton and fellow PEAL activist Erin Small. 

    Across the river, in West Shore, the departure of three right-wing board members — one who resigned and two who lost their elections — left the board with a new 5-4 majority of Democratic and centrist Republican members. After the election, the board promptly moved to table three contentious policy proposals, including the anti-trans bathroom policy the board had copied from ILC and a book ban policy that drew heavily on ILC’s work. 

    While in other Lancaster districts — including Elizabethtown, Warwick and Penn Manor — school boards remained firmly in conservative control, there are also signs of growing pushback, as in Elizabethtown, where Runkle noted the teachers union has recently begun challenging the board during public meetings and local students have gotten active protesting book bans.

    Similar trends have happened statewide, said the Education Law Center’s Kristina Moon, who noted that voters “were so concerned about the extremist action they saw on the boards that it was kind of a wake-up call: that we can’t sleep on school board elections, and we need to have boards that reflect a commitment to all of the students in our schools.” 

    While reports of ILC’s direct involvement with school boards seem to have waned in recent months, said Moon, that “does not mean the threat to our public schools is over. We see continued use of those discriminatory policies by school boards just copying the policy exactly as it was adopted elsewhere. And it causes the same harm in a district, whether the district is publicly meeting with ILC or not.” 

    Plus there are now Trump’s anti-trans executive orders, which have spread confusion statewide. And just this December, a legal challenge brought by another Christian right law firm, the Thomas More Society, is challenging the authority of Pennsylvania’s civil rights commission to apply anti-discrimination protections to trans students in public schools. 

    As a consequence, the Education Law Center has spent much of the past year trying to educate school and community leaders that executive orders are not the law itself, and they cannot supersede case law supporting the rights of LGBTQ students. 

    “We’re trying to cut through the noise,” Moon said, “to ensure that schools remain clear about their legal obligations to provide safe environments for all students … so they can focus on learning and not worrying about identity-based attacks.”

    *Correction: At least 20 of Pennsylvania’s 500 school districts are known to have consulted with or signed formal contracts accepting the ILC’s pro bono legal services. This story previously reported 21.

    Contact editor Caroline Preston at 212-870-8965, via Signal at CarolineP.83 or on email at [email protected]. 

    This story about Independence Law Center was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education, in partnership with In These Times. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter. Sign up for the In These Times weekly newsletter.

    This <a target=”_blank” href=”https://hechingerreport.org/clever-as-serpents-how-a-legal-groups-anti-lgbtq-policies-took-root-in-school-districts-across-a-state/”>article</a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https://hechingerreport.org”>The Hechinger Report</a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.<img src=”https://i0.wp.com/hechingerreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/cropped-favicon.jpg?fit=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”>

    <img id=”republication-tracker-tool-source” src=”https://hechingerreport.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=114185&amp;ga4=G-03KPHXDF3H” style=”width:1px;height:1px;”><script> PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: “https://hechingerreport.org/clever-as-serpents-how-a-legal-groups-anti-lgbtq-policies-took-root-in-school-districts-across-a-state/”, urlref: window.location.href }); } } </script> <script id=”parsely-cfg” src=”//cdn.parsely.com/keys/hechingerreport.org/p.js”></script>

    Source link

  • What K-20 leaders should know about building resilient campuses

    What K-20 leaders should know about building resilient campuses

    Key Points:

    When a school building fails, everything it supports comes to a halt. Learning stops. Families scramble. Community stability is shaken. And while fire drills and lockdown procedures prepare students and staff for specific emergencies, the buildings themselves often fall short in facing the unexpected.

    Between extreme weather events, aging infrastructure, and rising operational demands, facility leaders face mounting pressure to think beyond routine upkeep. Resilience should guide every decision to help schools stay safe, meet compliance demands, and remain prepared for whatever lies ahead.

    According to a recent infrastructure report card from the American Society of Civil Engineers, the nation’s 98,000 PK-12 schools received a D+ for physical condition–a clear signal that more proactive design and maintenance strategies are urgently needed.

    Designing for resilience means planning for continuity. It’s about integrating smarter materials, better systems, and proactive partnerships so that learning environments can bounce back quickly–or never go down at all.

    Start with smarter material choices

    The durability of a school begins at ground level. Building materials that resist moisture, mold, impact, and corrosion play a critical role in long-term school resilience and functionality. For example, in flood-prone regions, concrete blocks and fiber-reinforced panels outperform drywall in both durability and recovery time. Surfaces that are easy to clean, dry quickly, and don’t retain contaminants can make the difference between reopening in days versus weeks.

    Limit downtime by planning ahead

    Downtime is costly, but it’s not always unavoidable. What is avoidable is the scramble that follows when there’s no plan in place. Developing a disaster-response protocol that includes vendors, contact trees, and restoration procedures can significantly reduce response time. Schools that partner with recovery experts before an event occurs often find themselves first in line when restoration resources are stretched thin.

    FEMA’s National Resilience Guidance stresses the need to integrate preparedness and long-term recovery planning at the facility level, particularly for schools that often serve as vital community hubs during emergencies.

    Maintenance as the first line of defense

    Preventative maintenance might not generate headlines, but it can prevent them. Regular inspections of roofing, HVAC, plumbing, and electrical systems help uncover vulnerabilities before they lead to shutdowns. Smart maintenance schedules can extend the lifespan of critical systems and reduce the risk of emergency failures, which are almost always more expensive.

    Build flexibility into the design

    Truly resilient spaces are defined by their ability to adapt, not just their physical strength. Multi-use rooms that can shift from classroom to shelter, or gymnasiums that double as community command centers, offer critical flexibility during emergencies. Facilities should also consider redundancies in HVAC and power systems to ensure critical areas like server rooms or nurse stations remain functional during outages.

    Include restoration experts early

    Design and construction teams are essential, but so are the people who will step in after a disaster. Involving restoration professionals during the planning or renovation phase helps ensure the layout and materials selected won’t hinder recovery later. Features like water-resistant flooring, interior drainage, and strategically placed shut-off valves can dramatically cut cleanup and repair times.

    Think beyond the building

    Resilient schools need more than solid walls. They need protected data, reliable communication systems, and clear procedures for remote learning if the physical space becomes temporarily inaccessible. Facility decisions should consider how technology, security, and backup systems intersect with the physical environment to maintain educational continuity.

    Schools are more than schools during a crisis

    In many communities, schools become the default support hub during a crisis. They house evacuees, store supplies, and provide a place for neighbors to connect. Resilient infrastructure supports student safety while also reinforcing a school’s role as a vital part of the community. Designs should support this extended role, with access-controlled entries, backup power, and health and sanitation considerations built in from the start.

    A resilient mindset starts with leadership

    Resilience begins with leadership and is reflected in the decisions that shape a school’s physical and operational readiness. Facility managers, superintendents, and administrative teams must advocate for resilient investments early in the planning process. This includes aligning capital improvement budgets, bond proposals, and RFP language with long-term resilience goals.

    There’s no such thing as a truly disaster-proof building. But there are schools that recover faster, withstand more, and serve their communities more effectively during crises. The difference is often found in early choices: what’s designed, built, and maintained before disaster strikes.

    When resilience guides every decision, school facilities are better prepared to safeguard students and maintain continuity through disruption.

    Latest posts by eSchool Media Contributors (see all)

    Source link

  • 49 predictions about edtech, innovation, and–yes–AI in 2026

    49 predictions about edtech, innovation, and–yes–AI in 2026

    As K-12 schools prepare for 2026, edtech and innovation are no longer driven by novelty–it’s driven by necessity. District leaders are navigating tighter budgets, shifting enrollment, rising cybersecurity threats, and an urgent demand for more personalized, future-ready learning.

    At the same time, AI, data analytics, and emerging classroom technologies are reshaping not only how students learn, but how educators teach, assess, and support every learner.

    The result is a defining moment for educational technology. From AI-powered tutoring and automated administrative workflows to immersive career-connected learning and expanded cybersecurity frameworks, 2026 is poised to mark a transition from experimental adoption to system-wide integration. The year ahead will test how effectively schools can balance innovation with equity, security with access, and automation with the irreplaceable role of human connection in education.

    Here’s what K-12 industry experts, stakeholders, and educators have to say about what 2026 will bring:

    AI becomes fully mainstream: With clearer guardrails and safety standards, AI will shift from pilot projects to a natural part of daily classroom experiences. AI tackles the biggest challenges: learning gaps and mental health: Chronic absenteeism, disengagement and widening readiness levels are creating urgent needs, and AI is one of the only tools that can scale support quickly. Hyper-personalized learning becomes standard: Students need tailored, real-time feedback more than ever, and AI will adapt instruction moment to moment based on individual readiness. AI tutoring expands without replacing teachers: Quick, focused bursts of AI-led practice and feedback can relieve overwhelmed teachers and give students support when they need it most. The novelty era of AI is over: In 2026, districts will prioritize solutions that measurably improve student outcomes, relevance and wellbeing, not just cool features.
    –Kris Astle, Education Expert and Manager of Learning and Adoption, SMART Technologies

    In 2026, workforce readiness will no longer be seen as someone else’s responsibility, but will become a collective mission. Schools, employers, families, and policymakers will increasingly work together to connect students’ strengths to real opportunities. Career and technical education (CTE) and industry certifications will move to the center of the conversation as districts rethink graduation requirements to prioritize alignment between student aptitudes and workforce demand. The goal will shift from ‘graduation’ to readiness. Students don’t lack ambition, they lack connection between what they’re good at and where those talents are needed. When education, industry, and community align, that connection becomes clear. The result? A generation that enters the world not just credentialed, but confident and capable.
    —Edson Barton, CEO & Co-Founder, YouScience

    As the number of edtech applications continues to surge across classrooms nationwide, teachers and administrators will need to become increasingly discerning consumers. The challenge for 2026 won’t be finding tools, it will be identifying which ones truly move the needle for teaching and learning. To maximize impact, district leaders should look for tools that demonstrate clear instructional value, support data-driven teaching, and extend what humans alone can accomplish. This includes intentionally selecting tools that embody strong learning science, effectively personalize the learning experience, empower teachers with meaningful data, and align tightly to instructional goals. If a tool doesn’t demonstrably provide purposeful practice to enhance student learning or make teachers’ work easier, it’s unlikely to earn a place in the modern classroom.
    –Dr. Carolyn Brown, Chief academic Officer & Co-Founder of Foundations in Learning, Creator of WordFlight

    In 2026, schools will continue to prioritize clear, consistent communication between families, students and staff. The expectations around what good communication looks like will rise significantly as communication modality preferences evolve and expand. Parents increasingly rely on digital tools to stay informed, and districts will feel growing pressure to ensure their online presence is not only accurate but intuitive, engaging, accessible and available in real time. New elements such as AI chatbots and GEO practices will shift from “nice-to-have” features to essential components of a modern school communication toolbox. These tools help families find answers quickly, reduce the burden on office staff and give schools a reliable, user-friendly way to reach every stakeholder with urgent updates or important news at a moment’s notice. Historically, digital methods of school-to-home communication have been overlooked or deprioritized in many districts. But as competition for students and teachers increases and family expectations continue to rise, schools will be forced to engage more intentionally through digital channels, which are often the only reliable way to reach families today. As a result, modernizing communications will become a core strategic priority rather than an operational afterthought.
    –Jim Calabrese, CEO, Finalsite

    Educator wellness programs will increasingly integrate with student well-being initiatives, creating a truly holistic school climate. Schools may roll out building-wide morning meditations, joint movement challenges, or shared mindfulness activities that engage both staff and students. By connecting teacher and student wellness, districts will foster healthier, more resilient communities while boosting engagement and morale across the school.
    —Niki Campbell, M.S., Founder/CEO, The Flourish Group

    In 2026, we will see more talk about the need for research and evidence to guide education decisions in K-12 education. Reports on student achievement continue to show that K-12 students are not where they need to be academically, while concerns about the impact of new technologies on student well-being are on the rise. Many in the education space are now asking what we can do differently to support student learning as AI solutions rapidly make their way into classrooms. Investing in research and development with a focus on understanding  teaching and learning in the age of AI will be vital to addressing current education issues.
    —Auditi Chakravarty, CEO, AERDF

    District leaders will harness school safety as a strategic advantage. In 2026, K-12 district leaders will increasingly see school safety as a key driver of their biggest goals–from increasing student achievement to keeping great teachers in the classroom. Safety will show up more naturally in everyday conversations with teachers, parents, and students, underscoring how a secure, supportive environment helps everyone do their best work. As districts point to the way safer campuses improve focus, attract strong educators, and build community trust, school safety will become a clear advantage that helps move the whole district forward.
    —Brent Cobb, CEO, CENTEGIX 

    Learning is no longer confined to a classroom, a schedule, or even a school building. New models are expanding what’s possible for students and prompting educators to reconsider the most effective strategies for learning. A key shift is asking students, “What is school doing for you?” Virtual and hybrid models provide students the space and time to reflect on this question, and these non-traditional approaches are expected to continue growing in 2026. Education is shifting from a focus on test-taking skills to an approach that helps students become well-rounded, self-directed learners who understand what motivates them and are better prepared for career readiness and long-term success. With that comes a need for a stronger emphasis on fostering independence. It’s equally important that students learn to build resilience themselves, and for parents and teachers to recognize that letting students stumble is part of helping them without life-altering consequences will support the best citizens of the future. Aligning education with these priorities is crucial to advancing learning for the next generation.
    –Dr. Cutler, Executive Director, Wisconsin Virtual Academy

    With reading skills continuing to lag, 2026 will be pivotal for improving K–12 literacy–especially for middle school students. Schools must double down on evidence-based strategies that foster engagement and achievement, such as targeted reading interventions that help students build confidence and reconnect with reading. We’ll likely see a strong push for tools like digital libraries and personalized reading programs to help learners gain ground before entering high school. Audiobooks and other accessible digital formats can play a key role in supporting comprehension and fluency, particularly when paired with interactive resources and educator guidance. Middle school remains a crucial stage for developing lifelong reading habits that extend beyond the classroom. The top priority will be closing learning gaps by cultivating meaningful, enjoyable reading experiences for students both in and out of school.
    –Renee Davenport, Vice President of North American Schools, OverDrive

    Virtual set design, which is popular in professional theaters and higher education institutions, is now making its way into K-12 theaters. It allows schools to use the technologies they are familiar with such as short-throw projection technology, and combine it with computer graphics, 3D modeling, real-time rendering, and projection mapping technologies to create visually-stunning sets that could not be created by building traditional sets. A great example of this is highlighted in this eSchool News’ article. Overall, virtual sets elevate theater productions at a fraction of the cost and time of building physical sets, and when students are involved in creating the virtual sets, they learn a variety of tech-related skills that will help them in future careers.
    –Remi Del Mar, Group Product Manager, Epson America, Inc.

    In 2026, more school districts will take deliberate steps to integrate career-connected learning into the K–12 experience. As the workforce continues to evolve, educators recognize that students need more than academic mastery – they need technical fluency, transferable skills, and the confidence to navigate unfamiliar challenges. Districts will increasingly turn to curricula that blend rigorous instruction with meaningful, hands-on experiences, helping students understand how what they learn in the classroom connects to real opportunities beyond it. In turn, we’ll see a growing emphasis on activity-, project-, and problem-based learning that promotes relevance, exploration, and purposeful engagement. This shift will also deepen partnerships between schools, local industries, and higher education to help ensure learning experiences reflect real workforce expectations and expose students to future pathways. By embedding these experiences into daily learning, schools can help students develop a strong foundation for lifelong learning and adaptability–redefining educational success to include readiness for life and work.
    –David Dimmett, President & CEO, Project Lead the Way

    AI will push America’s century-old education system to a breaking point. AI will make it impossible to ignore that our current education priorities are obsolete and, for millions, downright harmful. The root cause? Education’s very failed ‘success’ metrics. At long last, high-school math will get its day of reckoning, with growing calls for redirecting focus toward the ideas that matter, not micro-tidbits that adults never use and smartphones perform flawlessly. Society is in a technology revolution, but how we teach our youth hasn’t changed. Frustration is growing. Students are bored and disengaged. Parents are fearful for their children’s future. Career centers will soon become ghost towns as young people question the relevance of what and how they’re being prepared for the future. The schools that rebuild around problem-solving, reasoning, and genuine human creativity will thrive, while the rest stagnate in unavoidable debate about whether their model has any real-world value.
    —Ted Dintersmith, Founder, What School Could Be

    In 2026, I anticipate several meaningful shifts in early childhood education. First, with growing recognition of the academic, social-emotional, and physical benefits of outdoor learning, more schools will prioritize creating intentional outdoor learning environments. More than just recess time, this means bringing indoor activities outdoors, so children have the chance to not only learn in nature but about nature. Additionally, as we see expansion in early childhood programs across the nation, I expect a continued focus on play-based learning. Research indicates that is how children learn best, and while there is pressure for academics and rigor, early childhood educators know play can provide that very thing. Lastly, while it’s widely known that children use their senses to learn about the world around them, I see educators being more intentional about meeting the sensory needs of all learners in their classrooms. We’ll continue to see a quest to provide environments that truly differentiate to meet individual needs in an effort to help everyone learn in the way that works best for them.
    –Jennifer Fernandez, Education Strategist, School Specialty

    As district leaders look ahead to 2026, there is a widening gap between growing special ed referrals and limited resources. With referrals now reaching more than 15 percent of all U.S. public school students, schools are under increasing pressure to make high-stakes decisions with limited staff and resources. The challenge is no longer just volume–it’s accuracy. Too often, students–especially multilingual learners–are placed in special ed not because of disability, but because their learning needs are misunderstood. Ensuring that every student receives the right support begins with getting identification right from the start. The districts that will make the most progress in the new year will focus more on improving assessment quality, not speed. This means leveraging digital tools that ease the strain on special ed teachers and school psychologists, streamlining efficiency while keeping their expert judgment at the heart of support. When accuracy becomes the foundation of special ed decision-making, schools can reallocate resources where they’re needed most and ensure that every learner is understood, supported, and given the opportunity to thrive.
    —Dr. Katy Genseke, Psy.D., Director of Clinical Product Management, Riverside Insights

    In the coming year, we’ll see more districts formalize removing cell phone access in classrooms and during the school day, along with reducing passive screen time, as educators grapple with student disengagement and rising concerns about attention, learning, and well-being. This shift will spark a renewed emphasis on real-world, hands-on learning where students can physically explore scientific principles and understand where mathematical and scientific ideas come from. Schools will increasingly prioritize experiences that connect scientific concepts to the real world, helping students build curiosity and confidence in their science and math skills. Ultimately, these changes will result in learners seeing themselves in roles connected to these experiences, such as health sciences, bio tech, engineering, agricultural science, and many more, as a way to engage and prepare them for meaningful and in-demand postsecondary professions or further education.
    –Jill Hedrick, CEO, Vernier Science Education

    Across the country, I’m inspired by how many districts are embracing evidence-based literacy practices and seeking stronger alignment in their approach. At the same time, I see areas where teachers require more consistent training, tools, and support to implement these practices effectively. This moment presents a genuine opportunity for leaders to foster greater coherence and enhance implementation in meaningful ways. Looking toward 2026, my hope is that district leaders embrace a comprehensive, long-term vision for literacy and commit to true alignment across classrooms and grade levels. That means giving teachers the time, structure, and support required for effective implementation; leading with empathy as educators adopt new practices; and recognizing that real change doesn’t come from training alone but from ongoing coaching, collaboration, and commitment from leadership. National data make the urgency clear: reading gaps persist in the early grades and beyond, and too many students enter adolescence without the foundational literacy skills they need. It’s time to change the story by building teacher capacity, strengthening implementation, and ensuring every learner at every level in every classroom has access to high-quality, science-backed reading instruction.
    —Jeanne Jeup, CEO & Founder, IMSE

    If 2023-2025 were the “panic and pilot” years for AI in schools, 2026 will be the year habits harden. The policies, tools, and norms districts choose now will set the defaults for how a generation learns, works, and thinks with AI. The surprise: students use AI less to shortcut work and more to stretch their thinking. In 2023 the fear was simple: “Kids will use AI to cheat.” By the end of 2026, the bigger surprise will be how many students use AI to do more thinking, not less, in schools that teach them how. We already see students drafting on their own, then using AI for formative feedback aligned to the teacher’s rubric. They ask “Why is this a weak thesis?” or “How could I make this clearer?” instead of “Write this for me.” Where adults set clear expectations, AI becomes a studio, not a vending machine. Students write first, then ask AI to critique, explain, or suggest revisions. They compare suggestions to the rubric and explain how they used AI as part of the assignment, instead of hiding it. The technology didn’t change. The adult framing did.
    –Adeel Khan, CEO, MagicSchool

    School safety conversations will include more types of emergencies. In a 2025 School Safety Trends Report that analyzed 265,000+ alerts, 99 percent of alerts were for everyday emergencies, including medical incidents and behavioral issues, while only 1 percent involved campus-wide events, such as lockdowns. Effective school safety planning must include a variety of types of emergencies, not just the extreme. While most people think of lockdowns when they hear “school safety,” it’s critical that schools have plans in place for situations like seizures or cardiac arrest. In these scenarios, the right protocols and technology save lives–in fact, approximately 1 in 25 high schools have a sudden cardiac arrest incident each year. In 2026, I believe wearable panic buttons and technology that maps the locations of medical devices, like AEDs, will become the standard for responding to these incidents.
    —Jill Klausing, Teacher, School District of Lee County 

    One quarter of high seniors say they have no plans for the future, and that percentage will only grow. Educators, nonprofits, and policymakers must work to connect learning with real world skills and experiences because most kids don’t know where to start. DIY digital career exploration and navigation tools are dramatically shaping kids’ futures. High quality platforms that kids can access on their phones and mobile devices are exploding, showing options far beyond a college degree.
    –Julie Lammers, CEO, American Student Assistance

    A significant trend emerging for 2026 is the focus on evidence-based learning strategies that directly address cognitive load and instructional equity. For example, as districts implement the Science of Reading, it will become even more imperative for every student to audibly distinguish soft consonant sounds and phonemes. The hidden challenge is ambient classroom noise, which increases extraneous cognitive load, forcing students to expend unnecessary mental energy just trying to hear the lesson, and diverting their focus away from processing the actual content. Therefore, instructional audio must be treated as foundational infrastructure—as essential to learning as curriculum itself. By delivering the teacher’s voice to every student in the classroom, this technology minimizes the hearing hurdle, enabling all learners to fully engage their brains in the lesson and effectively close achievement gaps rooted in communication barriers.
    –Nathan Lang-Raad, VP of Business, Lightspeed

    AI-driven automation will help schools reclaim time and clarity from chaos: School districts will finally gain control over decades of ghost and redundant data, from student records to HR files through AI-powered content management. AI will simplify compliance, communication, and collaboration: By embedding AI tools directly into content systems, schools will streamline compliance tracking, improve data accuracy, and speed up communication between departments and families. Accessible, data-driven experiences will redefine engagement: Parents and students will expect school systems to deliver personalized, seamless experiences powered by clean, connected data.
    –Andy MacIsaac, Senior Strategic Solutions Manager for Education, Laserfiche

    In the K-12 sector, we are moving away from a ‘content delivery’ model, and toward what I call ‘The Augmented Educator.’ We know that AI and predictive algorithms are improving on the technical side of learning. They can analyze student performance data to spot micro-gaps in knowledge – like identifying that a student is struggling with calculus today because they missed a specific concept in geometry three years ago. That is predictive personalization, and it creates a perfect roadmap for what a student needs to learn. However, a roadmap is useless if the student isn’t fully on board. This is where human-connection becomes irreplaceable. AI cannot empathize with a frustrated 10-year-old. It cannot look a student in the eye and build the psychological safety required to fail and try again. The future of our industry isn’t about choosing between AI or humans; it’s about this specific synergy: Technology provides the diagnostic precision, but the human provides the emotional horsepower. I predict that the most successful tutors of the next decade will be ‘coaches’ first and ‘teachers’ second. They will use technology to handle curriculum planning, allowing them to focus 100 percent of their energy on motivation, pedagogy, and building confidence. That is the only way to keep K-12 students engaged in a digital-first world.
    —Gaspard Maldonado, Head of SEO, Superprof

    If there’s one thing we see every day in classrooms, it’s that students learn differently and at their own pace, which is why committing to personalized learning is the next big step in education. This means moving beyond the old “one-size-fits-all” model and finally embracing what we’ve always known about how learning actually works. Personalization gives students something incredibly powerful: a clear sense of their own learning journey. When the curriculum, instruction, and pacing are tailored to their strengths, interests, and needs, students have better clarity and allow them to engage with their education in a way that they wouldn’t be able to in other ways. And for teachers, this shift doesn’t have to mean more complexity. With the support of smarter tools, especially AI-driven insights, the administrative burden lightens, making space for what matters most: mentoring, connecting, and building meaningful relationships with students. But personalization isn’t just about improving academic outcomes. It’s about helping students grow into resilient, self-directed thinkers who understand how to navigate their own path. When we move from generalized instruction to student-centered learning, we take a real step toward ensuring that every student has the chance to thrive.
    –Lynna Martinez-Khalilian, Chief Academic Officer, Fusion Academy

    The conversation around AI in education won’t be about replacement, it will be about renaissance. The most forward-thinking schools will use AI to automate the mundane so teachers can focus on what only humans can do: connect, inspire, and challenge students to think critically and create boldly. The future belongs to those who can harness both computational power and human imagination.
    –Jason McKenna, VP of Global Educational Strategy, VEX Robotics

    Across sectors, educational ecosystems are rapidly evolving toward skills-focused, technology-enabled, models that prepare students for a dynamic future of work. Learners are using online platforms such as iCEV to access course work, create artifacts, and share their knowledge of the subject in a creative and improved manner. Platforms like this will be utilized by CTE teachers to assist learners in building technical competencies by implementing a variety of learning models.
    –Dr. Richard McPherson, Agricultural Science Teacher, Rio Rico High School in the Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District

    In 2026, districts will confront a widening gap between the growing number of students diagnosed with specialized needs and the limited pool of clinicians available to support them. Schools will continue to face budget constraints and rising demand, which will push the field toward greater consolidation and more strategic partnerships that expand access, especially in regions that have long lacked adequate services. The organizations that succeed will be those able to scale nationally while still delivering localized, student-first support. We expect to see more attention focused on the realities of special education needs: the increasing number of students who require services, the truly limited resources, and the essential investment required in high-quality, integrated support systems that improve outcomes and make a measurable difference in students’ lives.
    –Chris Miller, CEO, Point Quest Group

    The future of K-12 projectors lies in integrated, high-performance chipsets that embed a dedicated Small Language Model (SLM), transforming the device into an AI Instructor Assistant. This powerful, low-latency silicon supports native platforms like Apple TV while primarily enabling real-time, on-board AI functions. Instructors can use simple voice commands to ask the projector to perform complex tasks: running real-time AI searches and summarization, instantly generating contextual quizzes, and providing live transcription and translation for accessibility. Additionally, specialized AI handles automated tasks like instant image auto-correction and adaptive light adjustment for student eye health. This integration turns the projector into a responsive, autonomous edge computing device, simplifying workflows and delivering instant, AI-augmented lessons in the classroom. Epson makes a great ultra short throw product that is well suited for a chipset such as this in the future.
    –Nate Moore, Executive Director of Technology, Kearsley Community Schools

    I anticipate a renewed focus on the classroom technologies that most directly strengthen student engagement. In recent research, 81 percent of K–12 IT leaders reported that student engagement is their primary measure of success, and 91 percent expect interactive tools like interactive displays, classroom cameras, and headsets to increase classroom participation in the coming year. This signals a shift toward investing in tools that enable every student to see and be seen, and hear and be heard across all learning environments. Rather than investing in the next big trend, I believe districts will prioritize technologies that consistently help learners stay focused and engaged. The year ahead will be defined not by rapid experimentation, but by the thoughtful adoption of tools that make learning more immersive, inclusive, and meaningful.
    —Madeleine Mortimore, Global Education Innovation and Research Lead, Logitech

    Technology advancements will continue to accelerate in 2026 which will have a direct impact on teaching and learning. As schools seek out new and innovative ways to engage students and support deeper learning, I predict immersive technologies such as VR (virtual reality), XR (extended reality), and hybrid learning models which integrate traditional in-person teaching and online learning with VR experiences, will become more mainstream.
    –Ulysses Navarrete, Executive Director, Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (ALAS)

    In 2026, mathematics education will continue to shift toward teaching math the way the brain learns, prioritizing visual and meaningful context over rote memorization. By presenting concepts visually and embedding them in engaging, real-world context first, students can better understand the structure of problems, build reasoning skills, and develop confidence in their abilities. Districts that implement research-backed, neuroscience-informed approaches at scale will help students tackle increasingly complex challenges, develop critical thinking, and approach math with curiosity rather than anxiety—preparing them for a future where problem-solving and adaptive thinking are essential.
    –Nigel Nisbet, Vice President of Content Creation, MIND Education

    My prediction for 2026 is that as more people start to recognize the value of career and technical education (CTE), enrollment in CTE programs will increase, prompting schools to expand them. Technology will enhance curricula through tools such as virtual reality and artificial intelligence, while partnerships with industry will provide students with essential, real-world experiences. Moreover, there will be a greater emphasis on both technical and soft skills, ensuring graduates are well-prepared for the workforce.
    –Patti O’Maley, Vice Principal & CTE Coordinator, Payette River Tech Academy & Recently Profiled in Building High-Impact CTE Centers: Lessons from District Leaders

    In 2026, schools are poised to shift from using AI mainly as a time saver to using it as a genuine driver of better teaching and learning. Educators will still value tools that streamline tasks, but the real momentum will come from applications that sharpen instructional practice and strengthen coaching conversations. Observation Copilot is already giving a glimpse of this future. It has changed the way I conduct classroom observations by capturing evidence with clarity and aligning feedback to both district and state evaluation frameworks. As tools like this continue to evolve, the focus will move toward deeper instructional insight, more precise feedback, and richer professional growth for teachers.
    –Brent Perdue, Principal, Jefferson Elementary School in Spokane Public Schools

    The upper grades intervention crisis demands action. Most science of reading policies focus on K-3, but the recent NAEP scores showing historically low literacy among graduating seniors signal where policy will move next. States like Virginia are already expanding requirements to serve older students, and I expect this to be a major legislative focus in 2026. The pandemic-impacted students are now in seventh grade and still struggling. We can’t ignore them any longer.
    –Juliette Reid, Director of Market Research, Reading Horizons

    High schools and career and technical education (CTE) centers are increasingly seeking out opportunities to provide immersive, hands-on experiences that prepare students for the workforce. In 2026, we will see a surge in demand for virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) tools to fill this need. VR/AR experiences promote deeper understanding, better knowledge retention and faster skills acquisition, giving students a realistic way to experience different careers, understand job expectations, and learn transferable skills like communication and teamwork. Whether it’s by letting students virtually step into the role of a nurse, welder, or chef; or enabling them to participate in a VR simulated job interview, VR/AR helps students build knowledge, skills and confidence as they explore career paths and it will be a critical technology for workforce development in 2026 and beyond.
    –Gillian Rhodes, Chief Marketing Officer, Avantis Education, Creators of ClassVR

    In 2026, expect growing urgency around middle school literacy. The students who were in K–3 during the pandemic are now in middle school, and many still haven’t caught up–only 30 percent of eighth graders are reading proficiently, with no state showing gains since 2022. While there is a myth that students transition from learning to read to reading to learn after third grade, the reality is that many older students need ongoing reading support as they take on more complex texts. Years of testing pressure, fragmented time for reading instruction, and limited focus on adolescent literacy have left students underprepared for complex, content-rich texts. In 2026, expect more states and districts to invest in systemic literacy supports that extend beyond elementary school: embedding reading across subjects, rethinking instructional time, and rebuilding students’ stamina and confidence to tackle challenging material. The middle school reading crisis is as much about mindset as mechanics – and solving it will require both.
    —Julie Richardson, Principal Content Designer for Literacy, NWEA

    In 2026, I expect AI in education to shift from novelty to essential infrastructure, provided we keep human involvement and student safety at the center. Across districts we’ve worked with, we consistently see that the  real value of AI is not just in creating faster workflows, but in providing students and teachers with personalized support to result in more effective teaching and learning outcomes. Research and pilot programs show the strongest gains when AI augments human teaching, offering individualized feedback and tailored practice while educators focus on higher-order instruction and student connection. As adoption accelerates, the work ahead is less about whether to use AI and more about building systems that ensure it’s safe, equitable, and pedagogically sound. Beyond just product development,  means districts will need AI strategies that center governance, privacy protections, and investing in professional development so educators have the tools and confidence they need to use AI responsibly.
    —Sara Romero-Heaps, Chief Operating Officer, SchoolAI

    In 2026, K–12 education will reach a critical moment as students navigate an increasingly complex, AI-enabled world. The widening gap between the skills students develop in school and the demands of tomorrow’s workforce will draw growing attention, underscoring the need for Decision Education in classrooms nationwide. Students, parents, teachers, and education leaders are all experiencing uncertainty about the future. Schools and districts will need to integrate Decision Education more systematically so students build the dispositions and skills to make informed choices about their learning, careers, and lives. Strengthening decision-making skills gives students greater agency and helps them navigate uncertainty more effectively. Education leaders who prioritize practical approaches to closing this skills gap will be best positioned to help students thrive in a rapidly changing world.
    –David Samuelson, Executive Director, Alliance for Decision Education

    I believe 2026 will be defined by the power of local communities stepping up. We’ll see grassroots networks of educators, families, and community organizations building new models of support at the city, state, and regional levels. There will be even greater local reliance on family engagement organizations and public-private partnerships ensuring no learner gets left behind. The resilience and creativity of local communities will be education’s greatest strength in the year ahead.
    —Julia Shatilo, Senior Director, SXSW EDU

    Chronic absenteeism hasn’t eased as districts hoped–it’s proving sticky. At the same time, families are exploring and normalizing hybrid and home learning models. These two patterns may share roots in flexibility, agency, and the search for alignment between how students learn and how schools operate. Taken together, they suggest ​​significant changes in how families relate to school. In response, we’ll likely see districts and states focus on earlier, more flexible outreach and clearer visibility into alternative learning pathways–not sweeping reform, but steady adjustments aimed at keeping students connected, however and wherever learning happens.
    —Dr. Joy Smithson, Data Science Manager, SchoolStatus

    The goal for literacy remains the same: Every child deserves to become a capable, confident reader. But our understanding has deepened, and this will shape conversations and best practices ahead. Too often, we’ve examined each dimension of literacy in isolation–studying how children decode words without considering how teachers learn to teach those skills; creating research-backed interventions without addressing how schools can implement them with integrity; and celebrating individual student breakthroughs while overlooking systemic changes needed for ALL students to succeed. We now recognize that achieving literacy goals requires more than good intentions or strong programs. It demands clarity about what to teach, how to teach, how students learn, and how schools sustain success. The future of literacy isn’t about choosing sides between competing approaches, but about understanding how multiple sciences and disciplines can work together through an interdependent, systems-thinking approach to create transformative change. We must strengthen pathways into the profession, provide high-quality teacher preparation programs, support strong leadership, and focus on effective implementation that facilitates high-impact instruction at scale. These aren’t technical challenges but human ones that require solutions that emerge when multiple sciences and systems-thinking converge to drive lasting literacy change–and educational change more broadly.
    –Laura Stewart, Chief Academic Officer, 95 Percent Group

    In 2026, K-12 leaders are done tolerating fragmented data. Budgets are tightening, every dollar is under a microscope, and districts can’t keep making uninformed decisions while insights sit scattered across disconnected systems. When 80 percent of spending goes to people and programs, guesswork isn’t an option. This is the year districts flip the script. Leaders will want all their insights in one place–financial, staffing, and student data together–eliminating silos that obscure the ROI of their initiatives. Centralized visibility will be essential for confident decision-making, enabling districts to spot ineffective spending, remove redundant technology, and strategically redirect resources to interventions that demonstrably improve student outcomes.
    –James Stoffer, CEO, Abre

    America’s 250th anniversary this year will offer an opportunity to connect students with history and civic learning in more interactive and engaging ways. Educators will increasingly rely on approaches that help students explore the stories behind our nation’s landmarks, engage with historical events, and develop a deeper understanding of civic life. By creating hands-on and immersive learning experiences–both in-person and virtually–schools can help students build connections to history and foster the skills and curiosity that support informed citizenship.
    –Catherine Townsend, President & CEO, Trust for the National Mall

    In 2026, AI will move beyond static personalization to create truly adaptive learning paths that adjust in real time. We’ll see systems that can read engagement, emotional tone, and comprehension using signals like voice cues, interaction data, or optional camera-enabled insights. These systems will then adjust difficulty, modality, and pacing in response. The result will be the early stages of a personal tutor experience at scale, where learning feels less like a fixed curriculum and more like a responsive conversation that evolves with the learner. We are going to increasingly see the exploration of immersive learning, and how we can use VR or XR to create tailored experiences to meet specific learning goals. The real potential comes from immersive learning which is backed by learning science and has clear pedagogical patterns: brief, targeted activities that reinforce concepts, whether through gamified exploration or realistic skill-building. The market will mature into offering both creative conceptual journeys and hands-on practice, making immersive learning a strategy for deepening understanding and building real-world skills.
    —Dave Treat, Global CTO, Pearson

    In 2026, edtech will move decisively beyond digital worksheets toward tools that truly enrich the teaching experience. Educators will increasingly expect platforms that integrate curriculum, pedagogy, and professional learning–supporting them in real time, not adding to their workload. With AI and better learning design, edtech will help teachers focus more on student inquiry and collaboration, igniting deeper learning rather than just digitizing old practices.
    —Chris Walsh, Chief Technology & Product Officer, PBLWorks

    This year, a major pivot point will be how schools choose to allocate funding—toward emerging AI programs like ChatGPT’s education initiatives or toward hands-on materials and science equipment that ground learning in the physical world. Determining how we leverage edtech and AI without sacrificing teacher expertise, nuance, or the human connection that makes classrooms thrive will be especially important.
    –Nick Watkins, Science Teacher, Franklin Pierce School District & Vernier Trendsetters Community Member

    In 2026, independent schools will continue to navigate a period of momentum, with many experiencing rising applications and stronger retention. At the same time, leaders will face ongoing challenges: managing tighter staffing ratios, rising operational costs, and the growing gap between financial aid need and available resources; schools that prioritize strategic and nimble framing of the school’s future, innovative partnerships and programs, and intentional community engagement will be best positioned to support their students and families effectively. Independent schools will also face new opportunities and challenges that come from external forces such as the expansion of school choice and the growth of artificial intelligence. Their overall focus will continue to be on creating sustainable, student-centered environments that balance academic excellence and engagement with social-emotional care and access, ensuring independent schools remain resilient, inclusive, and impactful in a rapidly evolving educational landscape.
    –Debra P. Wilson, President, National Association of Independent Schools

    In 2026, technological advancements will continue to transform test preparation, making learning more accessible, personalized, and efficient. AI, adaptive learning, and optimized UI/UX will enable students to focus on mastering content rather than managing resources or navigating cognitive overload. These tools allow learners to target areas of improvement with precision, creating study experiences tailored to individual strengths, weaknesses, and learning styles. AI will play an increasingly central role in personalizing education, such as smarter study plans that adapt in real time, instant explanations that accelerate comprehension, and 24/7 AI tutoring that provides continuous support outside the classroom. As these technologies evolve, test prep will shift from a one-size-fits-all approach to highly customized learning journeys, enabling students to optimize their preparation and achieve measurable outcomes more efficiently. The next wave of AI-driven tools will not just assist learning, they will redefine it, empowering students to engage more deeply and achieve higher results with greater confidence.
    –Scott Woodbury-Stewart, Founder & CEO, Target Test Prep

    Edtech is advancing at an extremely rapid pace, driven by the proliferation of AI and immersive tools. In the next year, there will be leaps in how these technologies are integrated into personalized learning pathways. Specifically, schools will be able to utilize technology to make education much smarter and more personalized via AI, and more immersive and experiential via augmented and virtual reality. Additionally, the integration of gamification and true learning science is likely to broaden the ways students will engage with complex material. With these advancements, educators can expect the emergence of holistic and integrated ecosystems that go beyond just teaching academic content to ones that monitor and support mental health and well-being, build work-applicable skills, offer college and career guidance, develop peer communities, and follow students throughout their academic careers.
    –Dr. A. Jordan Wright, Chief Clinical Officer, Parallel Learning

    In 2026, meaningful progress in math education will depend less on chasing the next new idea and more on implementing proven instructional practices with consistency and coherence. Schools and districts will need to move beyond fragmented reforms and align leadership, curriculum, and instruction around a shared vision of high‑quality math learning. This includes cultivating strong math identity for learners and educators, balancing conceptual understanding with procedural fluency, and ensuring learning builds logically and cumulatively over time. When systems commit to these evidence‑based principles and support teachers with aligned professional learning, the conditions are set for sustained improvements in student math outcomes nationwide.
    –Beth Zhang, Co‑President of Lavinia Group, K12 Coalition

    Laura Ascione
    Latest posts by Laura Ascione (see all)

    Source link

  • Chronic absenteeism could derail K-12 education

    Chronic absenteeism could derail K-12 education

    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 solutions, kids are falling further behind.

    Why chronic absenteeism is hard to solve

    In 2019, only 13 percent of students in the U.S. were chronically absent. Typically, these students missed school because of significant personal reasons–long-term illness, gang involvement, clinical depression, working jobs to support their families, lacking transportation, drug use, unplanned pregnancy, etc.–that aren’t easily fixed.

    However, since the pandemic, the rate of chronic absenteeism has doubled from 13 percent to 26 percent.

    The change is cultural. For the last hundred years, it was drilled into the American psyche that “school is important.” A great effort was made to provide bussing to any child who lived too far to walk, and the expectation was that every child should come to school every day. Cutting class was sure to land you in the principal’s office or potentially even lead to police showing up at your door.

    During the Covid-19 pandemic, this narrative flipped. As parents began working from home, their kids sat beside them. With lectures recorded and assignments posted online, attending class began to feel optional. When school doors reopened, many families didn’t fully come back. Common excuses like being tired, missing the bus, or simply not feeling like going were validated and excused rather than admonished. While students who skip school were once seen as delinquent, for many families it has become culturally acceptable–almost even expected–for kids to stay home whenever they or their parents want.

    Overwhelmed by the drastic rise in absenteeism, school staff are unable to revert cultural norms about attendance. And it’s not their fault.

    The root of the problem

    Each student’s situation is unique. Some students may struggle with reliable transportation, while others skip certain classes they don’t like, and others still are disengaged with school entirely. Without knowing why students are missing school, staff cannot make progress addressing the root cause of chronic absenteeism.

    Today, nearly 75 percent of student absences are “unexplained,” meaning that no authorized parent called or emailed the school to say where their children are and why they aren’t in class. This lack of clarity makes it impossible for schools to offer personalized solutions and keep students engaged. Unexplained absences only deepen the disconnect and limit schools’ ability to tackle absenteeism effectively.

    Knowing why students are missing school is critical, but also very difficult to uncover. At a high school of 2,000 students with 85 percent average daily attendance, 225 students will be absent each day without providing any explanation. In an ideal world, schools would speak with every parent to find out the reason their child wasn’t in class–but schools can’t possibly make 225 additional phone calls without 3-5 additional staff. Instead, they rely on robocalls and absence letters, and those methods don’t work nearly well enough.

    Normalize attendance again: It takes a village

    Improving attendance is about more than just allocating additional resources. It’s about shifting the mindset and fostering a culture that prioritizes presence. This starts with schools and communities making attendance a shared responsibility, not just a policy.

    First, schools must take the initiative to understand why students are missing school. Whether through modern AI-driven attendance systems or with more traditional methods like phone calls, understanding the root causes is critical to addressing the issue.

    Next, categorize and recognize patterns. Small adjustments can have big impacts. One district noticed that students who were 0.9 miles away from school were much more likely to not show up because their bussing policy was for families living 1 mile away from school or further. By changing their policy, they saw a surge in attendance. Similarly, pinpointing specific classes that students are skipping can help tailor interventions, whether through teacher engagement or offering additional support.

    Lastly, schools should focus resources on students facing the most severe challenges. These students often require personalized solutions, such as home visits for unresponsive parents or help with transportation. Targeted efforts like these create a direct impact on reducing absenteeism and improving overall attendance.

    When communities unite to make school attendance a priority, students receive the support they need to succeed. Tackling chronic absenteeism is not an easy task, but with focused effort and a culture of engagement, we can reverse this troubling trend and give students the foundation they deserve for future success.

    Latest posts by eSchool Media Contributors (see all)

    Source link

  • 3 threats putting student safety at risk

    3 threats putting student safety at risk

    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 admissions to synthetic students infiltrating online portals and threatening high-value research information, AI-powered identity fraud is rising fast, and our educational institutions are alarmingly underprepared.

    As identity fraud tactics become more scalable and convincing, districts are now racing to deploy modern tools to catch fake students before they slip through the cracks. Three fraud trends keep IT and security leaders in education up at night–and AI is supercharging their impact.

    1. Fraud rings targeting education

    Here’s the hard truth: Fraudsters operate in networks, but most schools fight fraud alone.

    Coordinated rings can deploy hundreds of synthetic identities across schools or districts. These groups recycle biometric data, reuse fake documents, and share attack methods on dark web forums.

    To stand a fair chance in the fight, educational institutions must work with identity verification experts that enable a holistic view of the threat landscape through cross-transactional risk assessments. These assessments spot risk patterns across devices, IP addresses, and user behavior, helping institutions uncover fraud clusters that would be invisible in isolation.

    2. Deepfakes and injected selfies in remote enrollment

    Facial recognition was once a trusted line of defense for remote learning and test proctoring. But fraudsters can now use emulators and virtual cameras to bypass those checks, inserting AI-generated faces into the stream to impersonate students. In education, where student data is a goldmine and systems are increasingly remote, the risk is even more pronounced.

    In virtual work environments, for example, enterprises are already seeing an uptick in the use of deepfakes during job interviews. By 2028, Gartner predicts 1 in 4 job candidates worldwide will be fake. The same applies to the education sector. We’re now seeing fake students, complete with forged government IDs and a convincing selfie, slide past systems and into financial aid pipelines.

    So, what’s the fix? Biometric identity intelligence, trusted by a growing number of students, can verify micro-movements, lighting, and facial depth, and confirm whether a real human is behind the screen. Multimodal checks (combining visual, motion, and even audio data) are critical for stopping AI-powered identity fraud.

    3. Synthetic students in your systems

    Unlike stolen identities, synthetic identities are crafted from real–and fake–fragments, such as a legit SSN combined with a fake name. These “students” can pass enrollment checks, get campus credentials, and even apply for financial aid.

    Traditional document checks aren’t enough to catch them. Today’s identity verification tools must use AI to detect missing elements, like holograms or watermarks, and flag patterns including identical document backgrounds, which is a key sign of industrial-scale fraud.

     AI-powered identity intelligence for education

    As digital learning becomes the norm and AI accelerates, identity fraud will only get more sophisticated. However, AI also offers educators a solution.

    By layering biometrics, behavioral analytics, and cross-platform data, schools can verify student identities at scale and in real time, keeping pace with advancing threats, and even staying one step ahead.

    Latest posts by eSchool Media Contributors (see all)

    Source link

  • How Superior Public Schools united curriculum and data

    How Superior Public Schools united curriculum and data

    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 design to classroom action was a smooth one for teachers, school leaders, and students alike.

    Facing the challenge of a new curriculum

    For years, teachers in SPS were working autonomously in the classroom. Without a district-wide curriculum in place, they used textbooks to guide their instruction and designed lesson plans around what they valued as important. In addition, grading was performed on a normative curve that compared a student’s performance against the performance of their peers rather than in relation to a mastery of content.

    As other educators have discovered, the traditional approach to teaching may be effective for some students, but is inequitable overall when preparing all students for their next step, whether moving on to more complex material or preparing for the grade ahead. Kids were falling through the cracks, and existing opportunity gaps only began to grow.

    SPS set out to help our students by instituting standards-referenced instruction at both the elementary and secondary levels, allowing us to better identify each child’s progress toward set learning standards and deliver immediate feedback and intervention services to keep them on the path toward success.

    Take it slow and start with collaboration

    From day one, school leaders understood the transition to the new curriculum needed to be intentional and collaborative. 

    Rather than demand immediate buy-in from teachers, administrators and the curriculum team dedicated the time to help them understand the value of a new learning process. Together, we took a deep dive into traditional education practices, identifying which set students up for success and which actually detoured their progress. Recognizing that everyone–teachers included–learns in different ways, administrators also provided educators with a wide range of resources, such as book studies, podcasts, and articles, to help them grow professionally.

    In addition, SPS partnered with the Curriculum Leadership Institute (CLI) to align curriculum, instruction, and assessment practices across all content areas, schools, and grade levels. On-site CLI coaches worked directly with teachers to interpret standards and incorporate their unique teaching styles into new instructional strategies, helping to ensure the new curriculum translated seamlessly into daily classroom practice.

    To bring standards-referenced curriculum to life with meaningful insights and reporting, SPS integrated the Otus platform into our Student Information System. By collecting and analyzing data in a concise manner, teachers could measure student performance against specific learning targets, determining if content needed to be re-taught to the whole class or if specific students required one-on-one guidance.

    With the support of our teachers, SPS was able to launch the new curriculum and assessment writing process district-wide, reaching students in pre-K through 12th grade. However, standards-reference grading was a slower process, starting with one subject area at a time at the elementary level. Teachers who were initially uncomfortable with the new grading system were able to see the benefits firsthand, allowing them to ease into the transition rather than jump in headfirst. 

    Empowering educators, inspiring students

    By uniting curriculum and data, SPS has set a stronger foundation of success for every student. Progress is no longer measured by compliance but by a true mastery of classroom concepts.

    Teachers have become intentional with their lesson plans, ensuring that classroom content is directly linked to the curriculum. The framework also gives them actionable insights to better identify the skills students have mastered and the content areas where they need extra support. Teachers can adjust instruction as needed, better communicate with parents on their students’ progress, and connect struggling students to intervention services.

    Principals also look at student progress from a building level, identifying commonalities across multiple grades. For instance, if different grade levels struggle with geometry concepts, we can revisit the curriculum to see where improvements should be made. Conversely, we can better determine if SPS needs to increase the rigor in one grade to better prepare students for the next grade level.

    While the road toward standards-referenced curriculum had its challenges, the destination was worth the journey for everyone at SPS. By the end of the 2024-2025 school year, 84 percent of K-5 students were at or above the 41st percentile in math, and 79 percent were at or above the 41st percentile in reading based on NWEA MAP results. In addition, teachers now have a complete picture of every student to track individual progress toward academic standards, and students receive the feedback, support, and insights that inspire them to become active participants in their learning.

    Latest posts by eSchool Media Contributors (see all)

    Source link

  • Modernizing the special education workforce is a national imperative

    Modernizing the special education workforce is a national imperative

    Key points:

    America’s special education system is facing a slow-motion collapse. Nearly 8 million students now receive services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), but the number of qualified teachers and related service providers continues to shrink. Districts from California to Maine report the same story: unfilled positions, overworked staff, and students missing the services they’re legally entitled to receive.

    “The promise of IDEA means little if there’s no one left to deliver it.”

    The data tell a clear story. Since 2013, the number of children ages 3–21 served under IDEA has grown from 6.4 million to roughly 7.5 million. Yet the teacher pipeline has moved in the opposite direction. According to Title II reports, teacher-preparation enrollments dropped 6 percent over the last decade and program completions plunged 27 percent. At the same time, nearly half of special educators leave the field within their first five years.

    By 2023, 45 percent of public schools were operating without a full teaching staff. Vacancies were most acute in special education. Attrition, burnout, and early retirements outpace new entrants by a wide margin.

    Why the traditional model no longer works

    For decades, schools and staffing firms have fought over the same dwindling pool of licensed providers. Recruiting cycles stretch for months, while students wait for evaluations, therapies, or IEP services.

    Traditional staffing firms focus on long-term contracts lasting six months or more, which makes sense for stability, but ignores an enormous, untapped workforce: thousands of credentialed professionals who could contribute a few extra hours each week if the system made it easy.

    Meanwhile, the process of credentialing, vetting, and matching candidates remains slow and manual, reliant on spreadsheets, email, and recruiters juggling dozens of openings. The result is predictable: delayed assessments, compliance risk, and burned-out staff covering for unfilled roles.

    “Districts and recruiters compete for the same people, when they could be expanding the pool instead.”

    The hidden workforce hiding in plain sight

    Across the country, tens of thousands of licensed professionals–speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, school psychologists, special educators–are under-employed. Many have stepped back from full-time work to care for families or pursue private practice. Others left the classroom but still want to contribute.

    Imagine if districts could tap those “extra hours” through a vetted, AI-powered marketplace. A system that matched real-time school requests with qualified providers in their state. A model like this wouldn’t replace full-time roles; it would expand capacity, reduce burnout, and bring talent back into the system.

    This isn’t theoretical. The same “on-demand” concept has already modernized industries from medicine to media. Education is long overdue for the same reinvention.

    What modernization looks like

    1. AI-driven matching: Districts post specific service needs (evaluations, IEP meetings, therapy hours). Licensed providers choose opportunities that fit their schedule.
    2. Verified credentials and provider profiles: Platforms integrate state licensure databases and background checks to ensure compliance and provide profiles with all candidate information including on-demand, video interviews so schools can make informed hiring decisions immediately.
    3. Smart staffing metrics: Schools track fill-rates, provider utilization, and service delays in real time.
    4. Integrated workflows: The system plugs into existing special education management tools. No new learning curve for administrators.

    A moment of urgency

    The shortage isn’t just inconvenient; it’s systemic. Each unfilled position represents students who lose therapy hours, districts risking due-process complaints, and educators pushed closer to burnout.

    With IDEA students now representing nearly 15 percent of all public school enrollment, the nation can’t afford to let a twentieth-century staffing model dictate twenty-first-century outcomes.

    We have the technology. We have the workforce. What we need is the will to connect them.

    “Modernizing special education staffing isn’t innovation for innovation’s sake, it’s survival.”

    Latest posts by eSchool Media Contributors (see all)

    Source link

  • Some districts reverse school closures despite declining enrollment

    Some districts reverse school closures despite declining enrollment

    This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback.

    Some school boards have recently rejected their districts’ school closure plans at a time when declining student enrollment continues to plague district budgets nationwide. As districts push for closures amid the dwindling enrollment numbers and budget deficits, board members say they need more time to consider plans that would cause major disruptions to their communities. 

    In Pennsylvania, for instance, 6 of 9 board members at Pittsburgh Public Schools voted on Nov. 25 against the district’s proposal to close nine schools by the end of the 2027-28 school year. The vote came a day after the school board held a three-hour public hearing on the possible closures with a majority of speakers denouncing the district’s plan, according to CBS Pittsburgh.

    Gene Walker, the board’s president, said during a Nov. 25 meeting that “in the short-term” he would vote against the closures after hearing public feedback on the issue. Walker added that he thinks the board will need more time to decide on closures, especially as several new board members were set to be sworn in the coming days.

    “It’s my personal opinion that we are not in a space where we can properly support the superintendent and his team in this work,” Walker said. 

    The district recommended the school closures as it faces a projected budget deficit of nearly $11.4 million for the 2025-26 school year. Pittsburgh Public Schools also expects its total expenditures to continue to outpace its total revenue in the coming years. If the district closed the nine schools, Pittsburgh Public School administrators said it could have also saved nearly $103 million by 2031. 

    The district’s enrollment has steadily decreased over the past five years, dipping from 19,159 students to 17,937 between the 2021-22 and 2025-26 school years. Two decades ago, the number of enrolled students was much higher at 32,529, according to the Allegheny Institute, a nonprofit research and education organization.  

    Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent Wayne Walters said in a Wednesday statement to K-12 Dive that he does not fully agree with the “path” the district’s school board is on right now, but he respects its decision and is committed to finding a “responsible, equitable path forward” with board members. 

    “Without action, we remain a system unable to deliver the consistent academic and enrichment opportunities our children deserve — one where access too often depends on the building a student attends,” Walters said. “At the same time, our financial stability continues to decline as we stretch limited resources across too many buildings.”

    Elsewhere, the school board for Alaska’s Anchorage School District rejected plans on Nov. 18 to close two elementary schools. In a board recap post, the district noted that it’s already had to close five schools since 2015 due to lowering student enrollment. While Anchorage School District has the capacity to serve 50,000 students, only 42,000 are currently enrolled, according to the district.  

    In Wisconsin, the Eau Claire Area School District said in November that it was no longer considering a proposal to consolidate several elementary schools, according to WEAU 13 News. 

    The district said on its website that it was planning to consolidate the schools as it continues to see elementary enrollment decline because of lower birthrates and demographic shifts.That planning process began earlier this year. An October report from the district’s Superintendent Mike Johnson shows student enrollment has dropped from 10,267 to 9,910 students between the 2017-18 and 2025-26 school years. 

    Still, Johnson told WEAU 13 News that the enrollment challenges aren’t going away. “For next year, our second largest class in the district is our 5th grade class,” Johnson said. “If the trends occur the way they have been, when those students exit and go to middle school, we’ll be down 110 students.”

    The changed course for Eau Claire Area School District came after families organized to push back against the proposed consolidation plans through a “Save Our Neighborhood Schools” campaign. 

    Source link