3.2.1.
3-2-1: On living with lightness, the root cause of sin, and how to compete without losing yourself
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And now, here are 3 ideas, 2 quotes, and 1 question to consider this week…
Helping teachers with the workload
K-12 leaders and experts weigh in on whether AI tools have the potential to make teachers’ jobs more manageable and if that can ease staffing challenges.
Teachers are swamped.
They’re working longer hours compared to other professionals, and their job-related stress often comes from managing student behavior, earning low salaries, and performing administrative work that isn’t tied to instruction, according to an educator survey by Rand Corp. released in June.
Furthermore, an April study by Pew Research Center also found that 8 in 10 teachers don’t have enough time in the day to complete all of their work. And 81% of those teachers said a major reason for that is they “just have too much work.”
It’s more than social economic status
Data suggests socioeconomic factors play an important role in explaining the gaps in knowledge and skills that emerge between different racial groups as early as kindergarten—but that class doesn’t explain everything. That’s according to new research from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative Washington think tank.
The report, released Aug. 21, builds on extended research from two decades ago that analyzed the achievement gap between Black and Hispanic students and their white peers, which suggested that a family’s socioeconomic status accounts for a large swath of the achievement gap. But it also isn’t the whole story.
Enrollment Hikes
Dallas schools started classes with more students than expected this year, which leaders say is the first time in nearly a decade that enrollment has trended up.
Dallas Independent School District officials projected 137,500 students would enroll in the city’s schools this year. But about two weeks in, Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde reported that they’d blown past estimates with more than 139,000 children.
Avoiding resentment with your Teams
Subtle digs, snarky asides, and petty nitpicking — at first, you might have brushed off your team’s behavior as banter or harmless sarcasm. But as tensions mount, it’s clear that there’s a deeper issue at play: resentment is simmering. How should you address it with your team? How can you counteract the negative vibes? And what are some ways to create a supportive, healthier dynamic?
What the Experts Say
Employee discontent is on the rise: more workers today are thinking about quitting their jobs than during the Great Resignation in 2022, according to a June PwC report. And since the current job market is not as favorable as it was then, particularly for knowledge workers, many people feel “frustrated and trapped,” according to Anthony Klotz, associate professor of organizational behavior at UCL School of Management. This breeds resentment which can lead people to “act like jerks,” says Klotz, noting that they’re more likely to, for instance, “commit small acts of incivility or rudeness,” like excluding colleagues from group emails or interrupting others during meetings. It’s up to you, the manager, to take action, says Ron Carucci, co-founder and managing partner at Navalent, a consulting firm, and the author of the book, To Be Honest: Lead with the Power of Truth, Justice and Purpose. “Even if you’re the target of resentment, it’s your job to defuse it,” Carucci says. He advises approaching the situation with “curiosity, openness, and empathy to de-escalate emotions” and “engage constructively.” Here are some effective ways to do that.
Positive implications from Dual Language
Students in schools without such programs, that don’t offer meetings with English learner families, and that are overcrowded were associated with worse performance.
In the decade between 2010 and 2020, the English learner population grew by half a million, from 4.5 to about 5 million students, according to the report. While most English learners are born in the U.S., there has also since been an influx of refugee and asylum-seeking families.
Meanwhile, dual language immersion programs — found to significantly raise student achievement in core subjects for English learners — continue to grow in popularity nationwide.
