The efforts by the districts recognized by Learning Counsel reflect a variety of trends taking place in K-12 as schools and districts work to leave behind the industrial model of the past century and move toward "School 2.0." Personalization, device deployments, digital resources and shifts in thought about what environments are most conducive to learning have played a heavy hand in the shift to a new model of teaching and learning.
Education Dive also recently came up with a list of the best-of-the-best in the K-12 world in 2016, using input from educators and industry experts to dole out 10 awards. We named New Hampshire’s Sanborn Regional, Rochester, Epping and Souhegan School Districts the co-districts of the year for their work rethinking assessment. Educators in these New Hampshire districts have put in an immense amount of time and effort to develop a competency-based approach to assessing student achievement and progress.
Jessica Ainsworth, former assistant principal at Lithia Springs High School in Georgia and the current assistant director of assessment for the Douglas County School System, won the administrator of the year award. At Lithia Springs, she developed the “MANE Thing” initiative, which created a shared vision of academic success and helped turned around the at-risk school.