Tag Archives: k-12

We’re not in Kansas Anymore

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Every year at this time, the AASA International Seminar takes superintendents and other interested parties to other parts of the world. The intent is to learn about the educational systems and cultures in the places we visit. These trips never fail to make an impression on the participants.

This year’s trip to Morocco is no exception. It’s an hour bus ride through arid, desolate land to our first school visit to a tribal school in the remote hills outside of Marrakech. A brown landscape is sprinkled with the occasional green of scrub vegetation.

We learn from our guide that the school is very excited about our visit and that they have been preparing for it for days. This will not be a typical school visit. We are in a remote area that is home to one of the many isolated tribes that have occupied the territory for hundreds of years.

AASA President Deb Kerr smiles for a selfie with school students.
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A Special Kind of Love for Children in Morocco

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This year, the AASA International Seminar takes us to Morocco. The education system here provides free schooling that includes six years of a primary education, three years of middle and intermediate schooling and three years of secondary. School attendance is compulsory up to the age of 13. The system focuses on erasing illiteracy and the languages of instruction are Arabic and French. Pre-primary programs are also available to children of ages 4-6.

Students in class at Ecole Lhadchat, a tribal school outside the city of Merrakech.

This year’s  Delegation includes 22 participants. AASA President Deb Kerr and AASA President-elect Kristi Sandvik are part of the group along with three AASA Past-Presidents. Our first school visit was to the Ecole Lhadchat, a tribal school outside the city of Merrakech. It is a school of 110 students at the primary level. The school operates a daily split session with half of them attending in the morning and the other half in the afternoon.

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Six Questions to Ask when Choosing a CCR Platform

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When students have a plan, they are more likely to execute on it and align their postsecondary path with their life goals. And when students are engaged in school, they are more likely to persist, get better grades and stay out of trouble. An increased focus on college, career and life readiness for K-12 schools has created an urgency for districts to implement, track and report outcomes related to college and career readiness.

Because of this, we are seeing an emergence of tools designed to help districts with their CCLR initiatives. These products come at various price points and assist with a variety of readiness needs. When evaluating a CCLR solution, it is important to know what you are getting, what you are measuring, and how your student data will be used.

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