Blog

The outbreak of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) is a rapidly evolving public health situation. State and local PTAs must follow the direction and guidance of their respective health and education departments. In order to assist and support the most vulnerable children and families, PTAs should reach out to their local school districts...

Updated April 7, 2020 School districts across the country are rushing to implement online learning and grapple with a sudden and uncharted course to respond to COVID-19 (novel Coronavirus). Currently, nearly all of U.S. schools are closed, some indefinitely, as the nation attempts to wait out the spread of the...

Ever notice that the kids don’t come with instructions? We say that as parents, but I also was told that joke as I became a counselor for students with social and emotional challenges. I once was asked to work with four middle school boys who were not interacting well with...

Public Schools Week 2020 is hosted by the Learning First Alliance (LFA) to remind our communities about the importance of public schools and the integral role public education plays in providing for the future of our students, ourselves, and our country. Our third annual event will be held Feb. 24-28...

In the past 50 years, public schools have seen graduation rates have gone up while standards have been improved, the demand for higher-level skills has skyrocketed and the challenges have only gotten more profound. The National Superintendents Roundtable and the Horace Mann League released this infographic, "Giving Schools an Honest...

Apprenticeships are one way to bring together education interests and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle. An apprenticeship, which offers students and new graduates training for a trade or profession, includes on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Since January 1, 2017, there are over 583,000 new apprentices in...

Last summer, a young welder invited me to evaluate apprenticeships at Newport News Shipbuilding, where students train to work on nuclear aircraft carriers and submarines. As I watched this woman and others engaged in apprenticeships using a torch while getting instruction from a tablet, it was immediately clear that this...

The annual Phi Delta Kappa International poll gives policymakers a valuable tool: Reliable data on teachers, one of the most critical parts of the education equation. The question is, how should this tool now be used? The title, Frustration in the Schools: Teachers speak out on pay, funding, and feeling...

As Discovery Education’s Director of Global STEM Initiatives, I’ve had the unique opportunity to travel the world and see literally hundreds of examples of school systems implementing powerful STEM education programs. In talking with school leaders about their initiatives, one common refrain I’ve heard is that students need to witness...

Employers are now looking for a variety of talents, skills and personality traits in job candidates. These attributes need to be developed at each level of education, whether it is for traditional professional-level jobs or blue-collar jobs. But even this division is changing. In the manufacturing community, we are looking...