#tellEWA Member Stories (February 24-March 2)
Here’s what we’re reading by EWA members this week.
Here’s what we’re reading by EWA members this week.
Past President Jimmy Carter got his start as a school board member for a Georgia school district, where his legacy lingers. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Vanessa McCray details Carter’s career in and commitment to public education, from his first political defeat to his insistence on enrolling his daughter into public school rather than private school. McCray also gives background on the predominantly Black Sumter County School District in which Carter served as a board member for seven years.
I’m in Plains, Georgia, and, of course, I found an education story.
Did you know Jimmy Carter started his political career as a school board member? And when he moved into the White House, he sent his daughter to a public school. https://t.co/fXaHvlbx13 #gapol #tellEWA— Vanessa McCray (@vanmccray) February 23, 2023
“Don’t come to school tomorrow.” A 13-year-old Black girl in Texas tried reporting another student’s comment, believing it to be a potential school-safety threat. Because the girl didn’t report the comment in a way the district deemed appropriate, school administrators severely punished the girl and accused her of reporting false information. Talia Richman of The Dallas Morning News examines the repercussions of doling out severe discipline in response to school-violence fears and highlights research that shows biases against Black girls in student discipline.
A Black middle schooler was frightened abt a possible school shooting. She confided in friends. Then her mom. But as Texas grapples w safety after Uvalde, administrators decided to kick her out of school instead. @TaliRichman reports #tellEWA #txlege https://t.co/TEjPvJj9YI
— Eva-Marie Ayala (@EvaMarieAyala) March 2, 2023
A San Antonio school district will pilot a controversial artificial intelligence-based student surveillance tool called Gaggle for 90 days. Some school leaders say the tool is necessary amid growing concern about school violence and students’ mental health, but others argue the tool violates students’ privacy and could exacerbate long-standing disparities in school discipline. San Antonio Report’s Isaac Windes dives into research about the effects of surveillance tools and explains which student groups are most affected.
.@CenDemTech found tht 29% of LGBTQ students had been ‘outed’ by monitoring software. @SAISD is piloting @Gaggle_K12, which prev. filtered for words incl. “gay” /”lesbian”. Company + district reps say the tool is to save lives https://t.co/BVNCovWnyv #tellEWA
— Isaac Windes ☀️ (@isaacdwindes) March 1, 2023
Al.com Education Lab reporters are covering a rise in student-behavior issues in Alabama. In the most recent story, Savannah Tryens-Fernandes found that students can face harsh punishments for minor or first-time offenses. Citing a policy he admitted wasn’t explicitly written in the school’s code of conduct, a Tuscaloosa City principal ordered one such student to spend 90 days at an alternative school. Tryens-Fernandes digs into how the principal classified the incident and explains why this classification is problematic when examining the state’s student-discipline data.
— Ruth Serven Smith (@RuthServenSmith) March 1, 2023
Kansas City school boards are faced with high-stakes decisions, such as whether to close schools or hear challenges to controversial books. Yet, some local school districts canceled their April school board elections because community members didn’t bother to run for seats. Maria Benevento of The Kansas City Beacon analyzes school board trends, showing where races are canceled and explaining how this year compares to the 2022 elections.
#tellEWA https://t.co/RMrUBlnxCu
— Kavitha Cardoza (@KavithaCardoza) February 28, 2023
Because of the shift to remote learning, many educators became more purposeful and resourceful when promoting literacy and reading during the pandemic. Teachers moved away from didactic, dry approaches to more engaging lessons that use body movements and sounds to demonstrate reading patterns. Teachers also encouraged their students to read aloud to pets and video record themselves reading, Kara Arundel reports for K-12 Dive.
Thank you @K12DiveNews for preciously covering our annual #TackleReading event. We are back again this Thursday in person in schools coast to coast. @thomaswhiz #tellEWA https://t.co/Bs94ZjfuLR
— Kathryn Starke, Urban Literacy Consultant/Author (@KathrynStarke) February 27, 2023
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