• What could DC do to encourage diversity in schools?
• |The Special Education Problems We Aren’t Solving
• |Helping students deal with the Colo. shootings
• |Classroom teachers discuss the importance of being leaders
• |Where are those “complex texts” common core calls for?

What could DC do to encourage diversity in schools?
We’ve talked about how some DC public schools are becoming so desirable that they’re attracting in-boundary, wealthy families and pushing out the kids from elsewhere in the city who have gone to these schools in the past. This may create greater segregation in the public schools, where only well-off families can enjoy the good schools but can’t enjoy the benefits of diversity.

The Special Education Problems We Aren’t Solving
New York Times
I teach in a school where more than 30 percent of the students are classified as special education. We have classes that accommodate a wide range of student needs — classes of varying sizes and student-teacher ratios. Like most schools in New York City, we have been moving rapidly toward inclusion — moving children from more restrictive settings (smaller classes, less movement) to less restrictive ones.

Helping students deal with the Colo. shootings
Teachers can help students deal with their reactions to the deadly shootings July 20 at an Aurora, Colo., movie theater. Ideas include encouraging students to write about their reactions to the event, discussing the issue of gun rights and gun control, exploring Hollywood’s reaction and creating profiles of the victims of the shootings

Classroom teachers discuss the importance of being leaders
Seven classroom teachers reflect on the paths to becoming a teacher leader and share their own leadership experiences in this online roundtable discussion. Boston teacher Lillie Marshall explains why teacher leaders also must lead in areas outside of education, while Arkansas teacher Justin Minkel talks about collaboration and professional development. Several teachers mention the importance of advocating for their own profession. “If we don’t make teaching public and speak out on our behalf, someone else will,” writes first-grade teacher Jane Fung.

Where are those “complex texts” common core calls for?
The Common Core State Standards will require teachers to locate high-quality complex texts, writes school library coordinator Christopher Harris. In this blog post, he shares three tips for finding those texts quickly, including starting with known sources, rather than with a general search, and exploring online course materials to see what resources experts are using. He encourages other librarians to enrich