Catapult Learning EduBlog

3 Keys to Teacher Retention

We’ve reached an inflection point regarding teacher retention, and education leaders must strategize on how to keep their best educators before it’s too late. Consider these 2022 statistics: 80% of teachers indicate that burnout is a serious problem.1 55% of educators now indicate that they are ready to leave the profession earlier than planned.2 76% of educators feel student behavioral issues are a serious problem.3 84% of educators support hiring more counselors and school psychologists.4 94% of educators want more student health and behavioral support.5 Only 10% of educators would strongly recommend the profession to a young adult.6 Only 30% [...]

2023-04-11T15:39:48-04:00April 11th, 2023|

Turning Summer Learning Loss into Learning Gains

Summer learning loss, summer slide—these familiar terms describe the loss of learning over the summer from the prior school year because of the lengthy absence from school. On top of that, we are now (unfortunately) dealing with COVID learning loss, which still lingers as a result of school disruptions and prolonged virtual learning. Combined, this loss of learning creates a dangerous and slippery slope that schools and students have been struggling to climb since the spring of 2020. But there is a way to combat summer slide and COVID learning loss. First, let’s look at some staggering data surrounding learning [...]

2023-04-11T15:08:58-04:00February 3rd, 2023|

How California Schools Can Best Use Their EANS Funds

California’s student literacy rates are low, teacher stress is high, learning gaps are expansive, and student mental health is nearing crisis levels. There is hope to be found in the form of California Emergency Assistance for Non-Public Schools (EANS) funding. And there are plenty of areas in which this federal funding can be spent, in ways that will make a true impact in the classroom. Let’s look at how California non-public schools can best use their EANS funds. Types of California EANS Funding Before we get into the best ways to invest the funds, we’ll take a quick look at [...]

2022-12-14T15:01:49-05:00December 14th, 2022|

The Only Real Way to Recover from Learning Loss

The devastating learning loss caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has been well-documented, and its effects still linger today. A recent survey shows that  59% of families are worried that their children will experience long-term academic struggles because of disruptions to their education (both academic and emotional) during the COVID-19 pandemic*. In addition, the most recent i-Ready assessments, for the 2021-22 school year, reveal that fewer children in the early grades (K-3) are developing essential phonics skills. Math scores aren’t much better; in grades 5 through 8, for example, fewer students than ever are developing essential math skills like understanding place [...]

2022-11-01T10:28:48-04:00November 1st, 2022|

Recent NAEP Test Scores Illustrate the Importance of High-Dosage Tutoring

Two decades’ worth of progress…gone. Just like that. Everyone was aware of the learning loss and intellectual damage done by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the recently released National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores offer grim, sobering insight on just how devastating the pandemic was to education—math and reading scores for 9-year-olds across the United States dropped dramatically between 2020 and 2022, resulting in performance in these subjects dropping to the levels of 20 years ago. NAEP Test Background and Insights For those unfamiliar, the NAEP test is a gold standard colloquially known as “the nation’s report card” and is [...]

2022-10-17T10:38:26-04:00October 4th, 2022|

Tips for bridging learning gaps and achieving positive student outcomes

Actionable strategies and solutions designed to prepare administrators for a successful new school year As the 2022-2023 school year kicks off, the obstacles facing faculty, staff, and students remain significant. In fact, the upcoming school year might be the most challenging yet. Administrators continue facing pandemic-induced hurdles such as substantial numbers of students struggling academically, emotionally, and behaviorally. Additional concerns include significant teacher and other school-staff shortages, teacher and staff retention and wellness, and overall widened achievement gaps. Now is a critical time for school leaders to further examine these issues and determine the best ways to meet students and [...]

2022-08-29T11:26:25-04:00August 29th, 2022|

Remedies for Disproportionality: It’s Time for a Root Cause Analysis

By: Edward Fergus  As a significant portion of my career has been dedicated to identifying the root causes of disproportionality through extensive research and observation, it became imperative to create an analysis of these root causes that is accessible and impactful for educators at all levels. Through my research, I created the Disproportionality Root Cause Analysis. When working with schools, a paramount question I consistently ask about the type and frequency of prior analysis on equity concerns is, “Has your school or district conducted a root cause analysis in the last two to three years?” The answers to this question [...]

2023-01-27T12:03:30-05:00August 2nd, 2022|

Interrupting Bias-Based Beliefs to Achieve Equity

By: Edward Fergus There are inherent challenges in creating a universal message of equity, particularly in an academic environment. Doing so requires leaders who are comfortable listening to others’ perspectives, considering those perspectives, and then making an equitable decision. Developing a universal message of equity is important – but it’s seldom that simple. In this article, we’ll look at some bias-based beliefs that are hurdles in the pursuit of equity as well as ways to interrupt those beliefs using a positive behavior interventions and supports (PBIS) framework that can help clear the way toward equity. How Bias-Based Beliefs Impact Equity [...]

2022-05-18T11:16:26-04:00May 18th, 2022|

Deficit-Thinking in Classrooms – and Four Steps to Interrupt It

By: Edward Fergus  Deficit-thinking, a common bias-based belief in the education field, is rooted in an ideology that explains academic performance by blaming individuals or groups for the conditions they find themselves experiencing. This type of thinking promotes the idea of cultural deficits in groups and discounts the presence of systemic inequalities that result from race-based processes, practices, and policies. Examples of Deficit-Thinking in the Classroom An unfortunate, yet common, example of deficit-thinking in today’s classrooms concerns low-income and racial/ethnic minority students. The effects can be devastating to these students because those on the receiving end of deficit-thinking beliefs are [...]

2022-04-20T09:51:06-04:00April 18th, 2022|

Three Ways to Mitigate Special Education Disproportionality

By: Dr. Edward Fergus Disproportionality within special education is not a recent trend. In fact, it was first identified and acknowledged in special education literature in 19681 and has increased in acknowledgement in the decades since. A report from the U.S. Department of Education in 2010 found that Black students were twice as likely to be identified with emotional disabilities and 2.7 times more likely to be identified as cognitively impaired than their white peers nationally. Similarly, Native American students were nearly twice as likely to be identified with specific learning disabilities and 60% more likely to be identified as [...]

2023-01-27T11:44:32-05:00March 15th, 2022|
Go to Top