Involvement by States in Principal Preparation

This survey is a first-of-its-kind effort to capture the current state of affairs in state principal preparation, licensure policy, principal tenure, and data collection on the output of these policies. This report explores how states are using their authority to increase the supply of effective principals focused on raising student achievement. The findings are based on self-reported data from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. This report includes state policy recommendations to drive needed reforms and gives the educational community new insights on promising efforts by states to improve the supply of high-quality principals. This report, supplemented by the individual state snapshots and the state database, details the findings. It is hoped that these will be used to drive needed reforms and give state policymakers new insights on what their peers are doing to improve the supply of high quality leaders.

Briggs, K., Cheney, G. R., Davis, J., & Moll, K. A. (2013). Operating in the dark: What outdated state policies and data gaps mean for effective school leadership. Dallas, TX: George W. Bush Institute. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED560209.pdf

Computer Science Eduation

This report surveys state-level efforts to improve access to K–12 computer science education opportunities in the United States. The report examines progress towards 10 policy priorities widely seen as central to broadening participation in K–12 computer science education and offers recommendations for advocates and policymakers on improving alignment of state-level efforts. Emerging best practices in scaling up computer science education opportunities are also addressed. Overall, this study highlights key strategies and issues state leaders must address regarding computer science education.

Key recommendations:

·       - Build a broad base of leadership and ownership among key stakeholders.

·       - Develop short-, medium-, and long-term strategies, with a view to coherence and sustainability.

·       - Use data to monitor progress, inform decision making, and drive continuous improvement.

·       - Use the growing talent pool of national expertise in national organizations and in leadership states.

Stanton, K., Goldsmith, L., Adrion, W. R., Dunton, S., Hendrickson, K. A., Peterfreund, A., Yongrpadit, P., Zarch, R., & Zinth, J. D. (2017). State of the states landscape report: State-level policies supporting equitable K-12 computer science education. New York City, NY: BNY Mellon. http://www.edc.org/sites/default/files/uploads/State-States-Landscape-Report.pdf

Education Leaders Have Concerns About Technology

According to a survey by Education Week Research Center, principals and other leaders in the field of education are concerned about technology’s potentially harmful effects.

Key findings include:

• Most leaders say that students spend the right amount of screen time in school. However, most are also concerned that students get too much screen time at home.

• A majority of leaders report that digital technologies are an important supplemental resource used to personalize the learning experience based on each student’s strengths, weaknesses, and preferences.   

• More than half of school leaders are extremely concerned about student social media use outside of school.

• Just under half of leaders are extremely concerned about cyber-bullying, and are also very concerned about students’ inability to gauge the reliability of online news.

• Compared to their elementary and high school peers, middle school leaders are most concerned about student sexting.

Overall, findings suggest that school-based leaders face multiple challenges as they educate children in an increasingly technology-focused world.

Education Week Research Center (2018). School leaders and technology: Results from a national survey. Bethesda, MD: Education Week Research Center. https://www.edweek.org/media/school-leaders-and-technology-education-week-research.pdf