If leaders expect the feedback they give to translate to improved results, they need to practice delivering it in such a way that others are willing to receive it and act on it, writes school principal Sanée Bell. Here, Bell provides three ingredients for feedback that resonates.

Authors and education consultants Jane Kise and Ann C. Holm explore how teachers and leaders can treat challenges facing their schools as "polarities" which require regular work and attention to the needs of the entire community, as opposed to quick, one-time fixes. This approach not only provides more effective solutions to ingrained…

Many Black female educators feel pressure to be super-strong. They neglect self-care, often leading to serious health problems (what one psychologist has termed the StrongBlackWoman cycle). Hughes Jones shares her story of denying work-related stress and breaking down, and suggests ways leaders can create more supportive work environments for…

If leaders want to support and retain--not just hire--Black educators, they must understand what it means to be a Black educator now. El-Mekki, a veteran educator and founder of the Center for Black Educator Development, shares realities Black teachers face, from the fact that schools don't always feel safe to them to the responsibility they feel…

In the past two years, schools have faced the herculean task of attending to students' physical and mental well-being while attempting to engage them in meaningful learning. An important aspect of improving and sustaining the well-being of an entire school community is to make changes at the system level. In times of chaos and uncertainty, people…

In looking at four broad factors related to teacher assignments in the Los Angeles School District--instructional load, homophily, colleague qualifications, and professional culture--researchers of urban education policy at the University of Southern California discovered three main lessons for practice: First, that teacher working conditions are…

Tough teaching conditions affect us. But they don't define us, says teacher Chase Mielke, author of The Burnout Cure (ASCD, 2019). In this heartfelt letter to new teachers, Mielke shares five "Passion Stokers" to keep the teaching fire alive. Some of these he learned from research in positive psychology. Others he learned the hard way,…