Author Archives: U.S. Department of Education

Career and College Pathways in Action: Top Takeaways from Experts in the Field

By: Amy Loyd, Assistant Secretary for the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education

Career and college pathways in action

Our nation’s future depends upon an educated and skilled workforce—especially as economic mobility is in decline and the world of work is rapidly shifting. The preparation of young people through career and college pathways is a powerful, evidence- and research-based approach to provide students with the education and experience they need and deserve to participate in our democracy and thrive in our economy. In a recent “Pathways in Action” webinar, we heard from leading experts whose work centers on young people and employers within an education-to-employment system. These experts represent several key stakeholders who are central to this work, including high schools, community colleges, workforce development, nonprofits, chambers of commerce, business and industry, and philanthropy. They also represent exemplars of cross-sector partnerships that span our nation, from California to Boston, in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, and in Dallas. In this dynamic discussion, these experts shared how they engage with diverse stakeholders to drive collaboration and build systems that support all students to earn postsecondary credentials and fulfill their endless potential.

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Hearing the Voices of Parents, Families, and Caregivers

Hearing the Voices of Parents, Families, and Caregivers

By: Dawn Ellis, PhD, Liaison to Parents and Families, National Engagement Team, Office of Communication and Outreach

In January 2022, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona shared his vision for education in America, which addressed the need for more meaningful and authentic parent and family engagement. Sara Morrison, a mother of five living in New York, has experienced parent and family advocacy on different levels and knows the importance of meaningful and authentic family engagement. She has always been involved with her children’s education but shares more recent experiences with her younger two children. In an interview with the Department’s national liaison to parents and families, Dawn Ellis, Sara shared, “…as a mother who is legally disabled, raising two children who need supports through an IEP is no easy task. At times, I felt guilty as though I failed my children, not recognizing that their frustration was a cry for help. Once I stepped back and began to understand what they were experiencing through observing their learning process at home, having them explain their thought process behind a response to a homework assignment or connecting with teachers to see what they saw in my children, I became more active in their education, and within the school district. This served as a foundation for my advocacy for both my children and the families I advocate for. That is where I found true value in parent voice.”

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Academic Success for Students in Foster Care Begins with Strong Partnerships Between Child Welfare and Education Systems

Academic Success for Students in Foster Care Begins with Strong Partnerships Between Child Welfare and Education Systems

By: Aysha E. Schomburg, Associate Commissioner of the Children’s Bureau in the Administration on Children, Youth and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Ruth Ryder, Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE), U.S. Department of Education

The 2021-2022 school year has come to a close. As students begin their summer break, the U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Health and Human Services (HHS) come together to highlight the significant work that American educators and child welfare professionals have done to support students in foster care; to provide information about resources available for schools to support students in foster care; and to provide information about federal collaboration and efforts in this space.

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Supporting High Quality Charter Schools and Their Success

Supporting high quality charter schools and their success

By: Anna Hinton, PhD, Director, Charter Schools Program, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education

The U.S. Department of Education is committed to ensuring that all its programs are implemented in ways that increase educational opportunity for students and address inequities in our education system. In keeping with this commitment, today, the Department issued notices inviting applications for two programs authorized under the Expanding Opportunity Through Quality Charter School Programs (CSP) – the Grants to State Entities and the Grants to Charter School Developers for the Opening of New Charter Schools and for the Replication and Expansion of High-Quality Charter Schools programs. Together, these programs will provide an estimated $77 million in new funds to support high-quality charter schools. Every student should have access to a high-quality public education, and we believe high-quality public charter schools play an important role in that access.

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Helping Students, Families, and Communities Access the Internet and Technology-Enabled Learning Opportunities

Helping Students, Families, and Communities Access the Internet and Technology-Enabled Learning Opportunities

By: Office of Educational Technology

One of the most critical challenges illuminated by the recent period of emergency remote learning has been providing access to reliable, high-speed internet and connected devices to facilitate everywhere, all-the-time learning. Data clearly show the lack of these essential technologies impact communities of color and low-income communities to a disproportionate extent. As schools recover from the pandemic, several federal agencies and the Office of Educational Technology (OET) are stepping up to provide resources to close the digital divide.

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Changing Perspectives: How I Define Myself as a Teacher Leader

Changing Perspectives: How I Define Myself As A Teacher Leader

By: Misael Gonzalez, High School English Language Arts teacher, Miami, Florida

In many ways, my definition of teacher leadership was shaped by dramatized Hollywood portrayals of real accounts: a heroic singular leader fighting the system to make a change, a school in a “rough part of town” with a high minority-student population, and a challenge that had been thought a lost cause by everyone else I have come to realize that teacher leadership is not a case of catching lighting in a bottle. Through research, reading, and learning in my doctoral program, I’ve come to understand teacher leadership relies on collaborative efforts in and out of the classroom, requires a unique set of skills, and needs the right culture to truly grow. Here is what I’ve learned:

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Concentrar Los Esfuerzos Para Mejorar El Sistema Educativo De Puerto Rico

Concentrar Los Esfuerzos Para Mejorar El Sistema Educativo De Puerto Rico

Por Chris Soto, asesor principal, Oficina del Secretario

Esto es un momento crucial para el sistema educativo de Puerto Rico con muchas influencias que convergen para ayudar a acelerar un cambio positivo para el Departamento de Educación de Puerto Rico y, sobre todo, para los estudiantes de la Isla. La combinación de los fondos federales de ayuda, una relación fortalecida con el Departamento de Educación de EE.UU., y un reconocimiento en toda la Isla de la urgencia de cambios estructurales que abarcan a los orígenes de los problemas y que dan prioridad a los resultados estudiantiles, da una oportunidad para tomar un enfoque proactivo para abordar los retos de hace muchos años.

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Funding Available to Support Native Language Revitalization

Funding Available To Support Native Language Revitalization

By: Julian Guerrero, Director, Office of Indian Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education

Haa Maruaweka (“Hello everyone,” in Comanche language)

Advancing its commitment to maintaining, protecting, and revitalizing Native American languages – the U.S. Department of Education has announced approximately $1 million in grant funding available for Native American Language (NAL@ED) projects. Native American language learning is fundamentally connected to the well-being and sustainability of Tribal sovereignty and self-determination. A major emphasis of this program is to fund both partial and full immersion programs in addition to developing new or expanding existing language programs.

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CCAMPIS: Investing in the Futures of Student Parents in Higher Education

By: Michelle Asha Cooper, Ph.D., Acting Assistant Secretary, Office of Postsecondary Education

The COVID-19 pandemic proved to all of us just how important access to childcare and early childhood education is not only for children, but for parents and caretakers. I know I felt that tension, personally, as I too juggled childcare responsibilities for my daughter and work at the beginning of the pandemic. Eventually, I was able to enroll her in a universal pre-K program. However, due to pandemic policies, that was only four hours per day, and balancing work, virtual school, and the need for additional childcare was a complicated mix.

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The Power Moves to Retain Teachers Amid the Pandemic

The Power Moves to Retain Teachers Amid the Pandemic

By: Neven Holland, Treadwell Elementary, Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS), Tennessee

“It’s the difficulty that keeps me here. It’s the opportunity to give my students in an underserved neighborhood with limited resources the high-quality teachers they deserve,” says my teacher colleague Armani Alexander. Despite all the difficulties of pandemic teaching, there is still this culture to grit and grind like our hometown Memphis Grizzlies in the profession we love with respect and knowledge of our urban community (Emdin, 2016).

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