A Superintendent Goes Without a Smartphone for the Summer

           In this article in School Administrator, Bryan Easter, a California superintendent (and board member in a different district), says he was in the habit of constantly checking e-mail – in meetings, on the road, during family time – believing that “productivity required constant availability.” 

            Last summer, Easter took the bold step of swapping his iPhone for a flip phone for 75 days. “The impact of being unplugged was profound,” he says. “My sleep quality improved significantly, my eye strain faded, and my stress levels noticeably decreased. Even more telling, my own children commented on my improved mood and presence. Without the constant pull of notifications, I found myself fully engaged with the people in front of me.”

            When Easter reactivated his smartphone at the end of the summer, he rethought his relationship with it – no social media, fewer apps, no watch notifications, no work e-mail – and tracked his daily screen time to hold himself accountable. “The result,” he says, “has been greater peace of mind, stronger relationships, and perhaps surprisingly, greater productivity.”

            Easter’s personal epiphany led him to rethink how his district’s students were using screens during school hours – in digital textbooks, learning management systems, assessments, and supplemental materials tied to devices. “Students spend hours hunched over screens, clicking and scrolling,” he says, “for what seems like three-quarters of the day at the secondary level. Conversations about writing drafts or problem solving are replaced by online comments and chat features. Face-to-face interactions have been replaced by more screen time… We must consider the physical and mental health implications.”

            During the 2025-26 school year, Easter’s district reduced classroom screen time by 20 percent and developed a goal for 2026-27:

• Prioritizing print reading;
• Eliminating unstructured use of devices;
• Expanding hands-on learning and student collaboration;
• Teachers using mini-grants to purchase non-digital materials;
• Trimming digital components in homework.

“As educational leaders, we must ensure that every decision about curriculum, devices, or policies centers on student health, development, and human connection,” Easter concludes. “The future of education will undoubtedly include more technology, but the future of our children depends on balancing traditional teaching pedagogy and educational technology.”

“Unplugged: A Superintendent’s Digital Detox” by Bryan Easter in School Administrator, June 2026 (Vol. 83, #6, p. 10); Easter can be reached at bryaneaster@mapleschool.org.

Please Note: This summary is reprinted with permission from issue #1142 of The Marshall Memo, an excellent resource for educators.

Award-Winning Books on the African American Experience

            In School Library Journal, Shelley Diaz spotlights children’s and YA books that affirm the richness, complexity, and global dimensions of the African American experience. Here is the winner and honor title for 2026 in each category (click here for cover images and short summaries): 

Non-fiction: 

• Go Tell It: How James Baldwin Became a Writer by Quartez Harris
• Bold Words from Black Men: Insights and Reflections from 50 Notable Trailblazers Who Influenced the World by Tamara Pizzoli 

Fiction:

• A Place for Us by James Ransome
• Under the Neon Lights by Arriel Vinson 

Debut: 

• Needy Little Things by Channelle Desamours
• City Summer, Country Summer by Kiese Laymon, illustrated by Alexis Franklin 

Graphic:

• All-Negro Comics: American’s First Black Comic Book by Chris Robinson and Orrin Evans

 “Honoring Black Stories” by Shelley Diaz in School Library Journal, June 2026 (Vol. 72, #6, pp. 32-39)

Please Note: This summary is reprinted with permission from issue #1141 of The Marshall Memo, an excellent resource for educators.

How Teacher Leaders Can Guide Professional Conversations

            In this Kappan article, instructional coach Connie Hamilton says the way teachers talk about their students’ work reveals beliefs about students’ capabilities and determines the kind of feedback and follow-up students get. “When one teacher names a problem in a way that invites solutions, others step in with ideas, adjustments, and possibilities,” she says. “The opposite is also true. When language closes the door or shifts blame, the conversation and progress stalls.” 

            Hamilton suggests five ways teacher leaders can steer conversations in a positive, problem-solving direction:

• Tell specifically what students are doing. “The way we describe learning signals what we believe is causing it,” says Hamilton, “and that drives what we do next. Avoid statements like They don’t get it, This group is low, They’re confused, They can’t do this independently, instead using sentences like these:
• They are completing step one and missing step two.
• This group can identify the main idea and is challenged to support it with evidence.
• They are mixing up these two concepts.
• Look at the details of a learning breakdown. When students are stuck, dig into the causes of their confusion with questions like these:
• What do they already understand?
• Where do most students begin to get stuck?
• What are the students who are successful doing differently?
• Use language that invites solutions. “Some language closes the conversation,” says Hamilton, for example, This isn’t working. They should already know this. We tried that. We don’t have the resources. We don’t have time for that. We can’t force them to want to learn. We weren’t trained for this. Use language that opens up solutions, for example:
• What can we adjust to make this work?
• How can we build on prior knowledge?
• What part of that worked and what part needs to change? 
• Use the language of instructional ownership. Avoid laying blame – for example, They won’t do it. They are unmotivated. They didn’t learn it last year. – substituting questions that suggest possibility:
• What in this task might not be connecting yet?
• What do they need from us right now?
• What can we try differently? 
• Share experiences and reflections. “State what you notice,” says Hamilton. “It’s not necessary to have the answer” – for example:
• I noticed students could explain it verbally, but their writing wasn’t clear.
• When I added a model, more students were able to start.
• This question seemed to unlock their thinking. 

            “This is the kind of teacher leadership that builds a culture of efficacy, teamwork, and possibility,” Hamilton concludes. “The language we use makes it clear who is aligned with that culture and who is not.” 

 “Language Is Leadership: How Teacher Talk Shapes Team Thinking and Instructional Action” by Connie Hamilton in Kappan, Summer 2026 (Vol. 107, #8, pp. 71-73)

Please Note: This summary is reprinted with permission from issue #1140 of The Marshall Memo, an excellent resource for educators.

Partial Math Detracking in California High Schoolks

            In this American Educational Research Journal article, Thomas Dee (Stanford University) and Elizabeth Huffaker (University of Florida) say the gatekeeper role of algebra in students’ educational and life trajectories continues to spark high-profile attention on three decisions: when students should take Algebra I, how it is taught, and the mix of students in each classroom. Tracking for Algebra I, say Dee and Huffaker, “the practice of sorting students on the basis of prior achievement or perceived ability – has long been critiqued as an inherently unequal method for distributing educational opportunities.” 

            But de-tracking middle- and high-school math classes has also been controversial, they say, surfacing “vexing tensions for any effort that simultaneously seeks to support both mathematical excellence and broad opportunity.” Many schools have struggled with the challenge of differentiating instruction in heterogeneous groups and accelerating the skills and knowledge of students who do not seem ready for algebra.

            In this article, Dee and Huffaker report on an experiment in a diverse California district (Sequoia Union) that had big proficiency gaps in math: from 2017 to 2020, more than three-quarters of white and Asian graduates met University of California math admissions criteria compared with fewer than half of African-American and Latin students. To address this disparity, the district launched the A1 Initiative: Algebra I was taught to mixed groups of ninth graders, combining on-grade-level students with students who would normally have been in remedial pre-algebra classes. Higher-achieving ninth graders, who had taken Algebra I in middle school, were not part of the initiative and took geometry or other upper-level courses.

            The A1 Initiative provided significant resources to support high-quality instruction in heterogeneous classes, while the control group in the study had business-as-usual conditions and a standard textbook: 

• 15 full days of professional development, one released class period a day, four campus coaching days per semester, a districtwide PLC, and a partner teacher on each campus;
• A strong emphasis on high expectations and growth-mindset thinking, encouraging students to pursue the trajectory toward geometry;
• Teacher collaboration on unit planning and assessments and lesson study;
• Training in language routines that promoted math academic conversations;
• Emphasis on the importance of hearing and seeing student reasoning;
• Frequent assessment of students’ skills and knowledge;
• Flexibility with day-to-day pacing of the curriculum;
• Additional lesson plan resources. 

What were the results? Dee and Huffaker report the following:

• Improvements in student attendance and retention; 
• Improvement in Algebra I achievement in the treatment group;
• Significant improvement in Algebra II achievement two years later;
• No lowering of the achievement of classroom peers. 

“These results,” conclude the authors, “suggest that higher expectations for the lowest-performing students, coupled with aligned teacher supports, is a promising model for realizing students’ mathematical potential.” 

“Accelerating Opportunity: The Effects of Instructionally Supported Detracking” by Thomas Dee and Elizabeth Huffaker in American Educational Research Journal, April 2026 (Vol. 63, #2, pp. 307-350); the authors can be reached at tdee@stanford.edu and ehuffaker@ufl.edu.

Please Note: This summary is reprinted with permission from issue #1139 of The Marshall Memo, an excellent resource for educators.