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We and our partners process data to: Actively scan device characteristics for identification. In order for an institution to encourage higher learning, policies must be in place that establish goals as set forth by the school board. These policies establish standards and help hold schools and educators accountable to the public. This is important for relating education to the community and making it responsible to the larger world. Accountability through the use of goal-oriented policies ensures that students are receiving a valuable education.
Policies are important because they help a school establish rules and procedures and create standards of quality for learning and safety, as well as expectations and accountability.
Without these, schools would lack the structure and function necessary to provide the educational needs of students. Ultimately, policies are necessary to the success and safety of a school. Wong; Policies should lay out the steps for reporting bullying or harassment and specify that all allegations will be taken seriously. The policies should also define the procedures for investigating the claims, and the actions the school will take if the claims are found to be true.
Establishing clear, specific policies and procedures about bullying and harassment will not prevent all incidents, but they give a framework for all involved — taking the individual opinions or best guesses out of the equation. The exact details of the code of conduct will differ depending on the needs of the specific school.
But it should be as simple as possible, establishing guidelines for appropriate and inappropriate behavior. For example, a code of conduct for a middle school should use vocabulary and language that a 6th-8th grader will be able to easily read and understand. A good code of conduct helps students succeed by establishing expectations and boundaries. It brings clarity and consistency in practices across the school and helps teachers and administrators know how to address behavioral issues.
Like all school policies and procedures, the code of conduct should change and grow with the school community. The school should gather a team of administrators, teachers, and students to review and update the code of conduct every year.
School policies and procedures should provide definitions and examples of dangerous objects that are banned from campus. The policies should explain any state or local laws that govern weapons or violence in schools. It should also establish the consequences of bringing dangerous objects to school.
Having clear policies in place can prevent students from accidentally bringing dangerous objects to school. If a violent incident does occur, good school policies and procedures ensure that everyone knows what to do to stay safe. Many U. But a recent study showed that such policies may not be effective deterrents.
Instead, United Educators suggests:. They emphasize prevention and nondisciplinary intervention, as well as fair and consistent discipline, to hold students accountable for their behavior.
The United Educators report includes several helpful areas for schools to think through when creating school drug and alcohol policies.
Schools have many moving pieces that can make day-to-day operations complicated. Instead, they should proactively create school policies and procedures so teachers, administrators, and parents will know what to do if an issue arises. Most days, school dismissal and pickup will be fairly simple. However, schools should never find that they released a child to an unauthorized person or in a way in which the parent did not know where they are. Policies should cover authorized adults, early dismissal, inclement weather, changes in dismissal type, and how the school will handle dismissal in the event of an emergency.
This will prevent things from descending into chaos if there is an incident. It may be seen as a hassle to some, but will ultimately give parents peace of mind. School policies and procedures should lay out instructions for how to handle students caught cheating. It is consistent for everyone. It also makes students aware from day one what will happen if they choose to cheat — no talking their way out of the consequences.
Having clear guidelines in place for school clubs and athletics will prevent accusations of discrimination. Absent federal action, states could embrace this policy by supplementing federal funds with state dollars in order to implement a universal school meal program.
Not every student has the same academic needs, interests, and goals, but many schools still offer courses and provide instruction that treat students as if they are the same. Far too many schools are not preparing students for the world which they will enter after their K education, instead relying on sit-and-get direct instruction and leaving students feeling disengaged from the real-world contextual challenges that they will eventually face.
With each passing day, technology advances in previously inconceivable ways; climate change alters coastal lines; distant wars and international trade shape relationships with foreign governments. Yet many high schools are not preparing students for any of these realities or for professional experiences that could help them get jobs upon graduation.
Preparing students to confront and contribute to a rapidly changing world beyond their K schooling means providing coursework that addresses these challenges; allows students the space to uncover and express their interests; and then provides them with the necessary resources to tailor their educational experiences to those interests. CTE and dual enrollment programs, specifically, provide students with options for coursework that will best meet their postsecondary and career goals.
Under the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of , states are provided with funding to develop the technical skills of secondary and postsecondary students who elect to enroll in CTE programs.
Linked Learning students also reported better jobs that were more likely to offer paid vacation, sick time, and health insurance. Black students who completed the program were also more likely than their traditional high school peers to enroll in a four-year college. Another example of a program that successfully combines academic and real-world experiences comes from DuVal High School in Maryland. There, students are enrolled in an aerospace engineering and aviation technology course in partnership with NASA and the College Park Aviation Museum, giving them exposure to exciting career options.
In order to increase the number of schools willing to experiment with such programs, states should incentivize school districts by creating or expanding grant programs that offer flexibility for students to learn outside of traditional school hours and beyond school buildings.
States should also provide additional funding for apprenticeships and use grant programs to incentivize districts to form partnerships with local employers to offer summer internships or a semester of credit.
Blending traditional instruction with advanced postsecondary courses and real-world career preparation prepares high school students for their next steps and helps them gain practical skills in growing fields. Innovation status, which provides a package of waivers to public schools to implement new school designs, has been enacted through legislation in states such as Colorado and Massachusetts. Such reform could also require local school boards to adopt graduation requirements that better reflect college and career-ready standards and provide credit for nontraditional courses.
Lastly but critically, the federal government should increase its support for states in this work and leverage improvements to the quality of CTE programs through Perkins Act reauthorization.
Federal policymakers should also allow for the integrated use of funding streams and incentivize states to target federal funding toward communities that are unable to provide these options through other means. Currently, the average school day is less than seven hours and the median school day ends at p. Nearly half of all U. Between school vacations, professional development days, summer recess, and after-school time, most working parents who have school-age children face many gaps in child care and may even be forced to leave their children in unsafe care.
According to a Center for American Progress report examining the largest school districts in the country, schools are closed for an average of 29 days each school year—not including summer recess—which is 13 days longer than the average private sector worker has in paid leave. The length of the school day is also an equity concern. Only around 45 percent of all public elementary schools offer before- and after-school care, and low-income schools are actually less likely to offer after-school programs.
Access to after-school programs improves academic performance, decreases dropout rates, reduces drug use, and improves classroom behavior. Academic gains, economic productivity, and equity concerns should incentivize the federal and state governments to better align work and school schedules.
However, teachers, already strapped for time and pressured by myriad responsibilities, cannot be expected to work several extra hours each day for nothing in return. Changing school schedules will require new and creative uses of time, personnel, and money.
At the federal level, the Department of Education could promote the use of ESSA funding for expanded school schedules, encouraging high-poverty schools to use funds from Title I, Part A to pay for longer school days as part of a larger effort to boost student achievement.
Congress could also increase funding for programs—such as Promise Neighborhoods, 21st Century Community Learning Centers, and AmeriCorps—that provide students with longer school days and access to after-school programs. Furthermore, the federal government could implement a pilot program under the university-assisted community model in order to partner graduate schools in social work with neighboring public school districts to develop a 9-to-5 schedule.
Lower teacher pay is not the only factor contributing to disinterest in or attrition from the teaching profession.
New teachers too often feel unprepared to teach and manage a classroom of their own when they graduate from their preparation program and enter their first experience as a full-time teacher.
Teacher residency models—not dissimilar to those in the medical profession—provide emerging teachers with an opportunity to experience for a set period of time what leading a classroom of their own would be like. When new teachers receive this type of support, their students gain months of additional learning. Teachers who are not adequately prepared to teach and who are not paid professionally may decide to leave the profession.
Steps, therefore, should be taken to improve the professional work environment for teachers where possible. Federal and state policymakers should make legislative changes that put an end to the huge gap in earnings between the teaching workforce and other college-educated professionals. States could implement a similar policy, with the tax credit adjusted to close the gap between teachers and other college-educated professionals in their state, particularly for teachers in high-need schools or subjects.
Teachers—like all new employees—improve their practice after being in the profession for a few years. A new federal program could be funded through the Department of Education and administered by AmeriCorps, which already provides grants to residency programs run by nonprofit organizations, such as the Memphis Teacher Residency and Urban Teachers.
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