5 ways to rest, reflect, and recharge this summer
Summer offers educators a chance to focus on self-care and gear up for another academic year
Summer break has finally arrived, and if you’re like most educators, you’re probably feeling a lot of conflicting emotions. There’s relief that the school year is behind you, pride in everything you’ve accomplished, but also exhaustion from months of pouring your time, energy, and heart into your students.
Top Stories
Most districts still struggle to fill specialist roles
As school districts prepare for the 2026–27 academic year, new national data from BlazerWorks reveals a growing staffing crisis across K–12 education, with more than 90% of district leaders reporting increased demand for specialist staff.
Rethinking employability skills in K–12 education
What does it actually mean to prepare students for the future? What skills do they need to succeed in tomorrow’s workforce?
Data-driven decision-making is the key to unlocking K-12 district success
Today’s K-12 school districts have numerous responsibilities, from managing staff resources, to ensuring student safety, to fostering a learning environment where all students flourish.
Science achievement is not a one-year event
District leaders are under increasing pressure to improve science achievement while balancing competing priorities, staffing challenges, instructional demands, and accountability expectations.
The hidden curriculum gap
A post-graduation readiness report by YouScience found that the majority of graduating high school seniors lack confidence in their post-graduation plans, including choosing a college, paying for it, pursuing a career pathway, evaluating a job offer, and assessing which risks are worth taking. These types of decisions affect all students, regardless of zip code, ethnicity, or gender.
Outcomes-based partnerships and accountability are the future of education
The answer to stagnating test scores is not adopting technology that has never demonstrated any ability to move test scores. Educators have to finally recognize that hope is not a strategy and cease rewarding vendors who show up without RCTs and rigorous validation.
We need accessible data and greater student agency
Students are more than letter grades and test scores. They are unique individuals with their own goals, skills, and needs–deserving an educational journey that supports all three.
Teacher burnout is at an all-time high
Teacher stress declined modestly in 2026, but teachers were still far more likely than similar working adults to report higher stress, worse well-being and greater financial strain, extending a pattern that has persisted since 2021, according to new RAND research.
EDUCATION RESOURCE CENTERS
Evaluations That Elevate: Moving Your District From Compliance to Growth
What if evaluation felt less like paperwork and more like progress? Observation cycles, rubric scoring, summative ratings, SLOs, and growth plans shouldn’t live in disconnected systems. Explore how one platform helps HR directors, superintendents, and instructional leaders bring it all together — for every employee, every role, every district.
Sponsored Content
Why interactive solutions are a smarter investment for schools
School IT leaders face a constant balancing act to deploy technology that enhances learning while keeping systems secure, manageable, and cost-effective.
Advancing digital equity through teacher leadership
Meaningful opportunities for teachers to build expertise and leadership beyond their classroom add to a sense of professionalism and fulfillment. In an age when the role of technology in education is rapidly changing, why not allow teachers to lead the way?
Why interactive solutions are a smarter investment for schools
School IT leaders face a constant balancing act to deploy technology that enhances learning while keeping systems secure, manageable, and cost-effective.
Wearable tech helps students overcome central vision challenges
Central vision loss–a condition that impairs the ability to see objects directly in front of the eyes–can have profound academic and social impacts on K-12 students.
