Web Resources: March/April 2014

Perspectives on Poverty—Ericka Guynes, Marc Jackson, Sam Mercer, and Tory Cox

• For a picture of what childhood poverty looks like on the national level, the Kids Count data center provides a tool to visualize differences between states and cities.
• Visit the Principal magazine archives to read articles about the achievement gap, including pieces on nutrition and the digital divide.

Spreading the Word on Early Education—Helen Blank and Karen Schulman

• Join the movement for accessible early childhood education by visiting NAESP’s advocacy page, where you can find P-3 resources and take action by contacting your legislative representative.
• Find tools for providing a seamless learning experience for pre-K-3 learners in the Principal archives. The Sept/Oct 2013 Early Learning issue features articles on play, alignment, and literacy.
• The National Center for Children in Poverty offers a guide on how to promote social and emotional health and school readiness in young children.

Open Doors for Students in Poverty—Regina Stewman

• Find strategies to implement a Breakfast in the Classroom program in Principal magazine’s “Food For Thought.” In this article, author Meredith Barnett discusses creative approaches to combat hunger after school and during the summer months.

Flipping Reading—Joe Corcoran

• The Flipped Learning Network provides a multitude of resources on flipped classrooms, such as archived webinars and examples of flipped videos.
• The TEDed website hosts specially designed flipped lessons, and offers teachers a tool to easily create their own by flipping TED Talks or YouTube videos.
• In “Flipped Classrooms 101” from the Principal magazine archives, author Jerry Overmyer provides tips for educators to “ease into flipping” classrooms.
• Empower parents to monitor their children’s increased technology use with “Safeguarding Kids’ Online Activities.” This Report to Parents news bulletin is available in English and Spanish, and is ready to distribute to parents in print or online.

Understanding Academic Growth Models—Raymond Yeagley

• Read Linda Darling-Hammond’s perspective on measuring school success in her Principal magazine article, “Testing To, and Beyond, the Common Core,” which led the special issue on Data and Evaluations.
• Also from the Principal archives, revisit the May/June 2012 special issue on Evaluation and Measurement, which features a principal’s view of value added assessments, as well as discussions of multiple measures and teacher and principal evaluations.
• Visit the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) website to learn more about teacher evaluation and effectiveness. You can also access their Achievement Status & Growth Calculator, which is an interactive spreadsheet that allows educators to measure achievement as well as to predict and evaluate growth.