Conference Daily Online

AASA's award-winning newsletter, providing daily coverage of events, photos and video clips of the conference.

Video: Ann Levett on Social Media in a School Crisis (1:02)

Video: Ann Levett on Social Media in a School Crisis (1:02)

Ann Levett, superintendent of Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools in Savannah, Ga., discusses in a one-minute video why social media is a critical strategy for a school district when sharing important information to the community, especially in crisis situations.

Building ‘A Nation at Hope’ Requires Extra Emphasis on Social and Emotional Learning

Our education system is on the right track but still falling short in meeting the social-emotional needs of students, a panel of education leaders said at AASA’s national conference on Thursday. Educators from across the nation packed the Knowledge Exchange Theater for “A Nation of Hope: Social and Emotional Learning Success,” with a panel composed […]

Video: Susan Cole on the impact of trauma on student learning (2:33)

Harvard educator Susan Cole discusses the serious issue of student trauma and the primary characteristics of what she calls “trauma-sensitive schools” in a 2½-minute video produced at the AASA national conference in San Diego, where she was a presenter on Feb. 13. Cole is the project director for the trauma and learning policy initiative, a joint collaboration between the Harvard Law School and the Massachusetts Advocates for Children. For more information, visit aasa.org.

Panel Focuses on Strategies to Stem Failure Among Middle School Students

Audience members laughed when Laurie Barron, superintendent of Evergreen School District 50 in Kalispell, Mont. joked about the struggles of keeping up with outdated technology before she made the claim that many educators are “almost as outdated as the Chromebooks used in classrooms.” From that point on during the AASA conference session “Prevent Failure” on […]

Experts: Keep Students in Focus When Addressing Safety, Mental Health Issues

Schools are increasingly invested in not just their student’s academic scores, but their overall mental health. New resources, strategies, and organizations are emerging to assist these schools in their mission to better the lives of the community around them. Studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put the issue in perspective. In some […]

Amid a Rise in Cyberattacks, Panel Tells Districts to Prioritize Cyber Security

Superintendent Donna Wright recalls last year when one of her financial team members at Wilson County Schools in Tennessee opened an e-mail. It looked like yet another request for payment to a construction firm building schools in the booming school district. But then the staff member noticed the signature. “It looked very authentic,” said Wright […]

School Leaders Urged to Brand the Distinctive Story Behind Their Districts

Negative news. Diversity, equity and inclusion. Bond measures. Budget constraints. Chances are good most school system leaders have had to deal with at least one of these issues already during this school year.  The story was the same for a group of administrators from the 2018 cohort of AASA’s Urban Superintendent Academy. Renae Bryant, Valencia […]