Washington Post--Minority teachers in U.S. more than doubled over 25 years — but still fewer than 20 percent of educators, study shows

The number of minority teachers more than doubled in the United States over a 25-year period but still represent less than 20 percent of the country’s elementary and secondary school teaching force, a new statistical analysis of data shows. And black teachers, while seeing an increase in the number of teachers, saw a decline in the percentage they make up of the overall teaching force.

From 1987 to 1988 and 2011 to 2012, researchers found that the teaching force became much larger, by 46 percent; more diverse, though minority teachers remain underrepresented; and less experienced.  There were, however, large differences among different types of schools and academic subjects.

For example, the number of teachers in English as a second language, English/language arts, math, foreign language, natural science and special education all grew at above-average rates, while the fields of general elementary, vocational-technical education and art/music each had below-average growth.

By Valerie Strauss April 14

Education Week--Read Fine Print on Learning Apps, Experts Warn

To safeguard student data privacy, districts need to pay more attention to the service agreements for educational online applications.

From math games to study skills, the potential use of educational online applications has exploded in schools—but so has the potential for problems if school staff members don't read the fine print on the service agreements.

The industry-analyst firm Technavio predicts the education app market will continue to grow at a compound annual rate of more than 28 percent through 2020, to nearly $6 billion. A 2016 survey by the Consortium for School Networking found nearly all its members (mostly school district education-technology officials) are using or plan to use digital open educational resources in the next three years, but fewer than half have clear policies on how apps are selected and used to safeguard students' privacy and teachers' intellectual property.

Sarah D. Sparks|March 28, 2017