How an Iowa school district confronted its challenges, made significant changes, and worked its way to improved student achievement

Although all educators acknowledge the importance of literacy for student success, schools have a long way to go in implementing consistent, high-quality literacy programs.

Taking notes on laptops rather than in longhand is increasingly common. Many researchers have suggested that laptop note taking is less effective than longhand note taking for learning.

Is cursive important anymore? By dismissing handwriting, we diminish student confidence and fluency and risk dire consequences for skills in other areas.

One of the most difficult challenges in any school reform proposal is the local context.

Budget cuts are forcing writing out of the classroom, but it remains the foundation of strong literacy and achievement. Is it a focus in your district?

Districts are making huge investments in testing and assessments, but make sure you are using insight to act on the results instead of just looking at the data

A strategy for building a strong collegial culture while taking student learning into account in assessing teachers.

An experienced educator provides a literacy protocol for interpreting scientific complex texts.

Board members must separate fact from fiction when trying to figure out the real expectations their community has for the school district and from public education as a whole

Douglas Reeves is the founder of The Center for Successful Leadership (www.ChangeLeaders.com).

Learn how to engage the disengaged learner as Dr. Douglas Reeves shares evidence based practices. Dr. Reeves builds a case using evidence of engagement, causes of disengagement, and practical solutions. Finally, he addresses envisioning a better world for students, facility, and communities.

The New Model of Educational Change focuses on action before buy-in. What does the 21st century say about educational change? One to one, peer to peer and non evaluative coaching has more impact than traditional evaluation systems.