District Dossier
The District Dossier blog explored issues behind leading and managing the nation’s schools and school districts and provided analysis of trends, controversies, and good ideas in school and district leadership. This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: school & district management, district leadership, and school leadership.
Curriculum
California State University Puts Off Decision to Require 4 Years of Math for Admissions
Pushing the final vote until 2022 will allow CSU trustees to study the impact of requiring four years of math or math-focused coursework for university admissions.
Education
Settlement Reached in Colorado Case Over Students' Constitutional Rights
Students engaged in a protest against a culture they saw as punitive; their principal suspended them. What did a court say?
School & District Management
Black and Hispanic Students Are Succeeding in Hard Courses. So What's Keeping Many of Them Out?
Schools serving a predominantly minority population have fewer seats in advanced classes, and black and Hispanic students face barriers within schools when it comes to enrolling in harder courses, says a new Education Trust report.
School & District Management
What This Principal Learned—and Changed—After His Day as a 'Student'
A principal spent a day as a 9th grader to get a more authentic view of students' experience. Here's what he learned and what he's changed.
Education
Wonder How Districts' Decisions on Curriculum and Instruction Change Over Time? We'll Soon Have Answers
A new survey of school districts and CMOs will provide new insights into trends, and complement other data on teachers and principals.
Equity & Diversity
District Should Clear Record of Staffer Who Said 'N-Word,' Hearing Officer Finds
The discipline of Madison schools social worker Sandra Rivera might have gone unnoticed, if not for the furor over the firing of a black school security officer who used a racial slur in its entirely when telling another student not to call him that name.
School & District Management
9 of the Year's Best Reads for Principals
Evaluations, cell phones, career advice, and more. Catch up on 9 essential stories for principals and school leaders that will take you into 2020.
School Climate & Safety
A Memorial Honoring School Employees Killed on the Job Has 37 New Names
Ten educators—half of whom had been killed in school shootings in the 2017-18 academic year—were honored during last year's memorial rededication. Of the 37 names that were added this year, only one death was from the 2018-19 school year.
Education
Michael Casserly, Longstanding Urban Schools Advocate, to Pass the Baton
Michael Casserly, who has led the Council of the Great City Schools since 1992, will step down next year and become an adviser to the group.
Education
Here Are the Cities Where Pre-K Earns High Marks
A new report from CityHealth finds that 12 of the nation's biggest cities are meeting multiple standards of quality in their prekindergarten programs, including licensed teachers, wraparound services for children, and ongoing professional development for early-childhood educators.
Education
Three Ways District CFOs Can Directly Improve Academic Outcomes
While research has concluded that money can indeed improve academic outcomes, two advocacy groups say it's up to school districts' chief financial officers to make sure that happens.
Education
Virus Outbreaks Lead to Closure of Two Colorado School Districts
All 46 schools in the Mesa County Valley School District closed last Thursday and Friday after students and staff at more than a dozen schools experienced norovirus-like symptoms.
School & District Management
10 Insights Principals Gained From Working in Central Office
Central office is sometimes cast as the 'dark side' by principals who may see people with good intentions who have lost touch with the day-to-day operations of schools. These three principals are using what they know from both sides to benefit their schools.
Federal
Trump Backs Off His Pledge to Ban Flavored Vapes. What It Means for Schools
President Trump has backtracked on a plan to ban flavored e-cigarette sales, to the dismay of some education and health professionals worried about effects on children.