3-2-1: On balancing gratitude and ambition, the best things in life, and feeling like you have enough
3 Ideas From Me
I.
“Each day, spend some time on two things:
working toward something that will pay off years from now
appreciating something that is happening right now”
II.
“Do not fear what you can address. What should worry
Why education leaders must highlight their people
When I asked my executive assistant to proof my first superintendent’s report for the public board packet, she came back and said that she was surprised that I gave so much credit to others for the work being completed by the district. A simple leadership lesson I learned from David Fridlington, my favorite battalion commander in the military, was to use your position to take care of your people and support them. He told everyone that when he presided over a promotion ceremony, he said: “Use this rank to take care of your soldiers.”
4 ways to improve the work-life balance for teachers
The work-life balance for teachers has become increasingly skewed, especially for female teachers, new research confirms. Here are four solutions for making the profession more flexible.
Teachers in 2025 feel they have less job flexibility than similar working adults, according to a RAND Corporation study released this week. In fact, three times as many teachers as other professionals said it’s difficult to change their work schedule or attend to personal matters.
Teachers’ lack of flexibility stems from several job-related and personal obligations, including logging longer hours than similar working adults and devoting time to household chores and child care.
Nearly half of the teachers surveyed also said that their jobs make them too tired for activities unrelated to work.
Why cell phone bans are worth the pushback
Cellphone bans lead to improved academic outcomes once schools get past the disciplinary phase, which typically lasts a year after enforcement begins.
Researchers from the National Bureau of Economic Research examined the effects of cell phone bans on test scores, suspensions and absences in Florida, which implemented a statewide ban in May 2023.
Here’s what the researchers found.
Exclusive: As Feds Step Back, States Step Up Sharing Ways to Boost Student Achievement
For almost a quarter of a century — as far back as the 2001 passage of No Child Left Behind — states have been required under federal law to identify and focus intense support on their poorest-performing schools.
What that means, practically speaking, is that the most targeted and resource-heavy programs are poured into turning around the bottom 5% of schools in every state, including those with chronically bad graduation rates and those where certain subgroups of students languish below grade-level.
On its face, that’s not a bad priority — though being identified as such has historically meant being targeted with drastic policy changes, including state takeovers. But in many ways, the COVID-19 pandemic scrambled the traditional school landscape: Suddenly, math and reading scores plummeted across the board for students in every school, and chronic absenteeism soared. Four years later, the U.S. education system is still trying to claw its way back to pre-pandemic achievement levels.
Why teaching is a team sport and every school needs a playbook
Teaching is often called a noble profession, but it can also be a lonely one. Unlike most workplaces where adults collaborate daily with colleagues, many teachers spend the majority of their time in classrooms with students, having little contact with other adults. That isolation contributes not only to feelings of loneliness but also to burnout and compassion fatigue, the emotional exhaustion that comes from carrying student challenges alone. But what if we stopped treating teaching as an individual pursuit and started treating it like what it truly is: a team sport?