Virginia Department of Education’s Post

"When we provide students with high-quality public education, we provide them with the power to follow and achieve their dreams." This powerful quote underscores the critical role of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) in our educational landscape. MTSS isn't just about academic intervention; it's about creating an environment where every student can thrive, regardless of their starting point. By implementing robust systems work, we ensure that our schools are not just places of learning, but places of opportunity and hope. Every child deserves the chance to succeed, and through MTSS, we can tailor support to meet the diverse needs of our students, paving the way for their future success. Let’s continue to champion high-quality public education and robust systems that empower every student to reach their full potential. Together, we can make dreams a reality! #Education #MTSS #SystemsWork #StudentSuccess #PublicEducation #ESD105 #OSPI

This is a profound truth that is not yet a reality for many of our marginalized and underrepresented populations. More often than not, public schools are are pigeon-holed into meaningless evaluations based on metrics that don’t make sense, which perpetuates a negative paradigm going that schools are failing. (which, by the way, we aren’t-come in my class/school and I’ll show you 🥰) And then, during reform, we keep repeating this process with a new letter acronym attached to it. It’s time to shift our thinking to make this goal a reality for ALL through actual reform using a strengths-based and interest approach to teaching and learning. Instead of paying for the newest program or boxed kit, let’s work together to develop reforms that center on relationship building and making learning FUN again.

Opportunities for all in our sector to come together and make these promises a reality for the communities we work in Future First

Sincere Congratulations to the Secretary of State for Education. It is heartening to see that virtually all members of the new Cabinet attended state schools. Rachel Reeves the Chancellor was a pupil at the comprehensive where I held my first teaching post! This school had a fair proportion of vulnerable and disadvantaged children; many with low aspirations . I honestly believe that Bridget Phillipson vision of change in education is grounded in reality as the school she attended most certainly would also have had its share of ‘vulnerable and disadvantaged children’. I suggest that attracting teachers into the profession and retaining them can only happen by a focus on some key priorities: 1) creating a work life balance through taking the fear and punitive onerous burden of Ofsted inspection out of the school environment; 2) retaining professional accountability through an inspectorate that evaluates effectiveness in collaboration with schools and offers support to those who need it rather than a ‘judge’ that leaves schools to the mercy of consultants when the going gets tough 3) a secondary curriculum that recognises a one size academic EBACC does not fit all; a curriculum that offers adaptability and autonomy for schools to provide their unique diverse range of children with subject choice including creative technical and vocational routes. 4) Respect for children’s learning needs especially SEND will result in more positive attitudes to learning, reignite enjoyment in learning and therefore less need for draconian punitive behaviour policies 5) an early years curriculum with greater focus on learning through play and a primary curriculum with less focus on subject silos and more interdisciplinary learning; 7) SATs exams to be reviewed as their value is highly debatable as a true indicator of children’s ability and whether they are secondary ready literate /numerate. 8) the use of AI as a teaching aid to assist teachers with a range of admin, assessment and lesson planning tasks I have not mentioned funding but these 8 changes would be very welcome to the profession and I believe raise morale while attracting new recruits and retaining those who are currently disillusioned. The impact of happier teachers and curriculum changes can only impact positively on students through raising aspirations. Department for Education

The University of Wisconsin-Madison has recently announced that it will offer financial support to cover the full cost of pursuing an undergraduate degree for Wisconsin residents who are enrolled members of federally recognized #Wisconsin Indian tribes. This is a significant step towards advancing critical capacity needs of Tribal Nations, shared workforce development, and contributes also to the intellectual growth of higher education institutions. By following the footsteps of UW-Madison and Director Vigue’s leadership, other states, especially Washington State, should take a cue and implement similar initiatives to support Native and Indigenous Peoples. Coupled with robust student support services for Indigenous students, this may highlight the next step of higher education institutions being a true partner in respectful government-to-government relationships and advancing #TribalSovereignty. #HigherEducationLeadership #AmericanIndianEducation

Sorry to be a buzzkill, I see this as a nice, yet overdue, step in the right direction to increase accountability for special education program effectiveness, however, I must note two things that stand out to me. 1. The academic proficiency targets seem astoundingly low. For Reading, the goals for 4th grade, 8th grade, and HS are 8%, 9%, and 7%, respectively, and 10%, 5%, and 1% for math. This can’t be right. 🚩This sounds like extremely low expectations and again sends the message that we are okay with failing students with disabilities. Am I wrong? Someone please correct me here. 2. LEAs can end up in the highest category even if they get 0 points on the academic outcomes targets. Why is this okay? Again, I would love someone to check my math and tell me that I’m wrong here too. If I am right, this is not going to advance outcomes for students with disabilities. Lauren Morando Rhim and Lindsay Kubatzky I imagine your research teams are going to dig into this at some point, please share your findings and conclusions if and when you do. I’m tagging some of my current and former LEA leader and director peers because I would love to hear your thoughts. Myron Long Shawn Hardnett Daniela Anello Rachel Crouch Rachel Tommelleo, Ed.D. Charlene Roach-Glymph, Ed.D. Michelle Gail Shannon T. Hodge Holly McBride

At the 2023 Comparative and International Education Society (#CIES) conference, our education experts shared our experience partnering with governments to design effective teacher policies and support. Why teacher-powered, system-level action is needed: https://bit.ly/3EjbxEK

The 50 Very Different States of American Public Education https://buff.ly/48xNjUi

Shining the SOE spotlight!!

Explaining our research project about school principals' emotional labour to the Principals' Association of Specialist Schools (PASS) yesterday. Thanks for having us, PASS! Read more about our research here: https://lnkd.in/gfgfukf5