The United States Department of Education (DOE) has been a cornerstone of federal education policy for decades, shaping everything from funding allocations to civil rights protections in schools. But with the current U.S. president openly pushing to dismantle the department, the future of American education is facing unprecedented uncertainty.

While the legal feasibility of such a move remains in question, the ripple effects are already being felt—massive layoffs, funding shifts, and policy rollbacks are disrupting classrooms across the country. As educators, students, and policymakers grapple with these changes, one critical question remains: What happens next?

The post The Uncertain Future of U.S. Education: What Happens If the DOE Disappears? appeared first on TEACH Magazine.

The number of books targeted for censorship in America increased by 65 percent in 2023, with 4,240 titles targeted for removal from schools and libraries, the American Library Association (ALA) reports. That’s the highest level ever documented in more than 20 years of tracking.

There’s a clear agenda here. “Recent censorship data are evidence of a growing, well-organized, conservative political movement, the goals of which include removing books about race, history, gender identity, sexuality, and reproductive health from America’s public and school libraries that do not meet their approval,” according to ALA.

In this environment, librarians—and school librarians in particular—find themselves on the front lines of the culture wars.

The post Librarians vs. Book Bans: In Defense of Literature appeared first on TEACH Magazine.

By Adam Stone

At McClintock Middle School in Charlotte, NC, eighth-grade English Language Arts teacher Eric Gaestel knows first-hand the importance of classroom management, and just how hard it can be to achieve.

“The purpose of us being in the classroom together is to create an environment where everybody has a fair chance of learning the material. If you have students who are being disruptive to that plan, you’re doing a disservice to everyone in the room,” he says.

The post Taming the Chaos: 10 Tips for Classroom Management appeared first on TEACH Magazine.

At Willingboro Public Schools in New Jersey, Assistant Principal Bobby Morgan expresses increasing concern about kids’ safety online. “On the heels of distance learning, our students’ screen times have increased astronomically,” he says. “Children are immersed in a world that they are ill-prepared for.”

Morgan and others in K–12 have good reason to worry. Some 72% of tweens and 85% of teens say they have experienced online bullying, according to the Internet-safety advocacy group Enough Is Enough. One in five teens say they’ve encountered predatory behaviours online and over 90% have encountered nudity or sexual content.

There’s much that can be done to help keep kids safe online. Parents and students can work together on this, and there’s a role for teachers and school administrators as well.

The post 10 Tips for Keeping Kids Safe Online appeared first on TEACH Magazine.

By Adam Stone

At KIPP BOLD Academy, a school for Grades 5–8 in Newark, NJ, educator Winston Roberts teaches financial literacy. Lately he’s been using a new tool to get the job done—Artificial Intelligence (AI).

“I wanted [students] to research a bunch of different businesses that have made questionable business-ethics decisions,” he says. “I had ChatGPT generate a list of some of the most infamous business scandals that were instigated by profit motives, and also had it suggest Google search terms so kids could look up more information.”

In about 15 minutes he had generated a list of examples that would have taken him many hours to compile by hand. That was enough to get the kids off and running on their research.

The post Revolutionizing Education: How AI Can Empower Teachers in the Classroom appeared first on TEACH Magazine.

Specialized instruction in speech and language used to take place outside the classroom. The speech-language pathologist (SLP) would pull the student aside periodically for training in a range of skills.

That might include “sound, speech, expression, feeding and swallowing, voice, fluency, and even social skills as it relates to self-expression and interpersonal relationship skills,” says Armida Carr, SLP and owner of the Arizona-based speech therapy centre New Horizon Therapy. Overall, “the role of the speech-language pathologist is to evaluate, diagnose, and treat language.”

The post A Cooperative Approach: SLPs Turn to Classroom Teachers for Support appeared first on TEACH Magazine.

By Adam Stone

Marching band is a thing unto itself. What other school activity brings together dozens or even hundreds of students for regular practice, creative and collaborative work, public performance, and national competition?

There are hundreds of high school marching bands, and scores of famous alumni: Alanis Morissette, Halle Berry, Bill Clinton, Drew Carey, and Aretha Franklin, to name just a few. Marching bands travel the nation and take part in high-profile competitions. Band also offers college scholarship opportunities, and the chance for national recognition at events like the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

We talked to leaders at some of the top marching band schools in the United States, to get a sense of why band matters and what it takes to run a successful program.

The post Marching to the Beat of Their Own Drum: The Magic of High School Bands  appeared first on TEACH Magazine.

By Adam Stone

The tide of intolerance is rising, and once again the reactionary camp wants to throw literature on the pyre, at least metaphorically.

As director of library services at Mercersburg Academy, a private high school in Pennsylvania, Alexandra Patterson worries about the long-term social impact of book banning. “Books can be a wonderful way to build empathy, and when we are cutting off access to voices from particular groups, we are creating larger divisions,” she says.

The post How Educators Can Respond to Book Banning  appeared first on TEACH Magazine.

By Adam Stone

Even before COVID, school counsellors had their hands full trying to steer students toward future success in a rapidly evolving workforce. Now, in the wake of the pandemic, society as a whole is rethinking what it even means to have a job (witness the Great Resignation!) At the same time, students perceive college and future employment as highly competitive.

“They are feeling a lot more pressure. Students put a lot of pressure on themselves, and they feel pressure from their families to succeed,” says Matthew Berry. A counsellor at Husky Academy in Overland, MO, and a 2022 American School Counselor Association (ASCA) School Counselor of the Year finalist, Berry notes that COVID has further complicated the counsellor’s task by limiting opportunities to engage face-to-face with students.

Counsellors’ efforts are also hindered by a staggering workload. ASCA recommends that schools maintain a ratio of 250 students per school counsellor. Yet across all schools, the average student-to-counsellor ratio is 415-to-1, the association reports.

The post Career Counselling Strategies for a Changing World of Work  appeared first on TEACH Magazine.

By Adam Stone

Physical education is on the decline. A mere 15% of elementary, 9% of middle, and 6% of high school students in the U.S. are required to take Physical Education (PE) classes three or more times a week, according to Washington University in St. Louis. Only six states require physical education in every grade, and just 20% of school districts require daily recess, the advocacy group Active Schools reports.

That means kids are increasingly sedentary. Nationwide, only 27% of high school students say they are physically active every day for at least 60 minutes, according to the non-profit Springboard to Active Schools.

The post Get Moving: Helping to Close the Phys Ed. Gap appeared first on TEACH Magazine.