As school districts across the country kick off the new academic year, superintendents have been taking to Twitter to document, inform, and pontificate on all manner of education issues in this back-to-school season.
Superintendents are increasingly relying on social media tools like Twitter to communicate with their communities and connect with colleagues. One Twitter list of school district superintendents tallies the number of district chiefs who are tweeting at more than 500.
So just what are these district leaders tweeting about?
Many of them are showcasing the first days of school in their visits to classrooms, such as Hillsborough County, Fla., Superintendent MaryEllen Elia.
It’s great to visit with the districts new principals @BTWashington with Principal Montoto pic.twitter.com/wAT1CFbHz2
— Supt. MaryEllen Elia (@HCPSSuptElia) August 20, 2013
Others were using it as a platform to inform parents of changes or new services coming to the district this year. In Jefferson County schools in Louisville, Ky., Superintendent Donna Hargens tweeted about bus transportation.
JCPS bus hotline is open 5 to 7 p.m. Sunday. Call 485-7433 (RIDE) to check bus stops and times. //t.co/nZxXq3K1Fj #beprepared
— Dr. Donna Hargens (@JCPSSuper) August 18, 2013
Jim McIntyre, the superintendent of Knox County schools in Knoxville, Tenn., was tweeting to keep his district informed on the new common core standards that will be entering the curriculum this year and to express his support. Those tweets could be especially important in light of new polls revealing the public’s relative lack of awareness of the standards.
Appreciate collaboration & leadership of my East Tennessee Superintendent colleagues as we stood together for #CommonCore standards today.
— Jim McIntyre (@knoxschoolsupt) August 16, 2013
In a follow-up tweet, he showed the standards already at work in the new school year.
Music to my ears in school visits this week: “Can you cite evidence?” “Please justify your answer...” #CommonCore //t.co/aEq7ilzttO
— Jim McIntyre (@knoxschoolsupt) August 21, 2013
In Miami-Dade County schools in Fla., Superintendent Alberto Carvalho was using Twitter recently to address the sensitive issue of testing. He told his Twitter followers that testing alone can’t be the centerpiece for education reform.
On Ed #accountability; you cannot manage what you cannot measure. However, numbers alone cannot define educational #reform in America.
— Alberto M. Carvalho (@MiamiSup) August 21, 2013
And Joshua Starr—Montgomery County Md.'s superintendent and one of the first big-district chiefs to use Twitter regularly—was tweeting that schools need more positive supports, in addition to documenting scenes from classrooms as the new year got underway.
Why not spend a week talking about what leaders teachers students staff parents r good at rather than what’s wrong with US public Ed?
— Joshua Starr (@mcpssuper) August 21, 2013
Houston superintendent Terry Grier also drew attention to an issue concerning all districts: waivers from the No Child Left Behind law. He tweeted his support for the eight California districts receiving NCLB waivers this coming school year, allowing them to pull the plug on outside tutoring companies.
Yes!!! -- San Francisco, Oakland schools cut off tutoring companies //t.co/wgX1ScC0kg via @SFBusinessTimes
— Terry Grier (@tgrierhisd) August 21, 2013