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U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona laid out his vision for the direction the Department will follow in 2023 to promote academic excellence, improve learning conditions, and prepare our students for a world where global engagement is critical to our nation’s standing. In his address, Secretary Cardona remarked that “Raise the Bar: Lead the World” is not a list of new priorities but a call to strengthen our will to transform education for the better, building on approaches that we know work in education. Raise the Bar incorporates three pillars and two strategies within each pillar:
We know that as States and districts pursue the strategies within each pillar, they seek opportunities to share with and learn from each other. The Best Practices Clearinghouse serves as one mechanism for them to do so. The Best Practices Clearinghouse remains focused on student well-being and now aligns that focus with the Raise the Bar pillars.
Over the next year, the Department will provide tools, resources, and assistance to States, districts, and schools to advance the strategies in the Raise the Bar pillars. We invite you as well to submit your best practices related to the Raise the Bar pillars and visit the Best Practices Clearinghouse to find current resources and information on how other States and districts are Raising the Bar to advance educational equity and excellence for all students.
As we move this work forward together, the Department will engage directly with parents and families about what’s working, what’s not, and what they want to see for their children’s education, and we will work to help parents and families be true partners with their child’s school. There has never been a more important time for us to intentionally collaborate so that, together, we can prepare our students to truly thrive.
The U.S. Department of Education recently released this new, informational video about the Best Practices Clearinghouse. Take a look and share with other education practitioners.
The Department supports state and local efforts to accelerate learning and deliver a comprehensive and rigorous education for every student, including through innovative teaching and learning models; high-quality individual and small-group support for students; increased access to STEM and arts programming; improved funding for education; more equitable student disciplinary practices; and expanded access to out-of-school learning and enrichment programs.
There are a variety of strategies and best practices to support student learning acceleration.
The Department supports state and local efforts to eliminate the teacher shortage and invest in every student's mental health and well-being, including by promoting better pay, working conditions, retention strategies, and professional development for educators; increasing student access to school-based mental health professionals; and making available community schools that address holistic student needs.
There are a variety of strategies and best practices for addressing the teacher shortage.
The Department supports state and local efforts to create pathways for global competitiveness and engagement by reimagining college and career pathways and providing more and better opportunities for students to become multilingual, including by offering career and college pathways that provide for students to earn industry-recognized credentials and secure in-demand jobs.
There are a variety of strategies and best practices to create pathways for global engagement by unlocking career success.
Secretary Cardona meets Matt, a student studying automotives (as Secretary Cardona once did) in a career technical program at Hudson Valley Community College. Hear from Matt about how providing opportunities to earn industry-recognized credentials that lead to in-demand jobs positively impacts him. Such opportunities for hands-on learning experiences Raise the Bar for students.
Secretary Cardona visits Bryan High School in Omaha Public Schools to learn how they provide career-connected educational opportunities to Raise the Bar for students. Through the school’s Construction Academy and other programming, students gain valuable real work experience.
Hear Assistant Deputy Secretary and Director of the Office of English Language Acquisition, Montserrat Garibay, discuss the importance of preparing students for success in a globally competitive world by expanding opportunities for multilingualism.
Learn about school, early childhood program, and campus approaches to implementing guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as well as other strategies for sustaining safe in-person operations with ARP funds. The recovery resources include all grades and ages. Teachers, early childhood providers, faculty, staff, schools, districts, early childhood programs, institutions of higher education, other educational institutions, and States can use these lessons learned, best practices, and Federal and State guidelines to plan and implement health and safety strategies with their local and State governments and community partners.
Learn how communities and schools use ARP funds to support the social, emotional, mental health, academic, developmental, and basic needs of all learners. This includes providing access to food and other basic needs, with a specific focus on the most vulnerable learners and ensuring that resources provided by schools and campuses will be able to connect with and meet the needs of those disconnected from learning and those whose communities have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
Learn how to better address the well-being and professional needs of teachers, early childhood providers, faculty, and staff, including strategies to address their social, emotional, health, and other needs, with ARP funds. Teachers, early childhood education providers, faculty, staff, schools, districts, institutions of higher education, other places of educational instruction, and States may use these lessons learned, best practices, and Federal resources to create plans of action.
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