The following resources focus on the educational climate and betterment of those serving the K–12 educational community.

Self-Regulated Strategy Development   Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) is an intervention designed to improve students’ academic skills through a six-step process that teaches students specific academic strategies and self-regulation skills. The practice is especially appropriate for students with learning disabilities. The intervention begins with teacher direction and ends with students independently applying the strategy, such as planning and organizing ideas before writing an essay. The authors analyzed the results of 10 studies of SRSD and found that SRSD had potentially positive effects on writing achievement for students with a specific learning disability. There was insufficient evidence from the studies to determine the effectiveness of SRSD in mathematics instruction. (Institution of Education Sciences)

Seeking Feedback on Agriculture Education Programs  The Illinois State Board of Education is seeking your opinions regarding agriculture education programs within your district. Your responses will provide key feedback to the state’s Agriculture Education Shortage task force and help inform its recommendations to the State Board. Please take time to complete the 10-question survey. Estimated completion time is less than three minutes. Please complete the survey on or before December 7.

Creating Preventative, Rather Than Reactive, Policies to Boost Third-Grade Literacy  In this Ed Note blog post, Louisa Diffey examines early interventions and supports in states like Arizona and Oregon that are aimed at boosting third-grade reading proficiency.