Peter DeWitt, author of Dignity for All: Safeguarding LGBT Students, is a nationally renowned advocate for student rights. As an elementary school principal, Peter is passionate about empowering teachers and administrators to protect vulnerable students, particularly the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community. Through a culture of acceptance and a firm stance against bullying, schools can make all students feel safe so they can maximize their full potential.

In the not so distant past, students dragged home backpacks that could easily match half their own body weight. Textbooks have traditionally been dense and comprehensive, expected to last several years or even decades due to the exorbitant costs of providing districts with comprehensive curriculum.

Enter the Kindle, Nook, iPad and free or inexpensive digital information. Textbook publishing has always been big business, and the “big three” publishers (Pearson, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and McGraw-Hill) have been scrambling to stay ahead of the digital curve. The accessibility of technology and availability of educational curriculum on the Internet has caused these publishers to rethin…

This blog was originally published on Finding Common Ground at Education Week by Peter DeWitt on February 14th, 2013 6:08 AM.

Professional Development is not defined by what someone else provides for us.

Twitter is creating a natural shift in professional thinking for connected educators and administrators. They are finding their own professional development (PD) through their Professional Learning Networks (PLN). There are other educators who don't use Twitter but th…

Located in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, the Prince George’s County School District has named many of their schools after important innovative leaders, such as Barack Obama, Cesar Chavez, Martin Luther King Jr. and Frederick Douglass, among others. The district’s mission statement reads, “The Prince George’s County Board of Education will advance the achievement of its diverse student body through community engagement, sound policy governance, accountability and fiscal responsibility.”

While the district prides itself on the celebration of diversity and student achievement, its ability to practice “sound policy governance” has come under intense scrutiny by a n…

Today’s high school students hardly remember the days before Twitter and Google entered our vocabulary, and they’re preparing to enter a job market where technological skill is a basic requirement for a rapidly increasing number of jobs. So why do only a fraction of American high schools offer computer science courses?

While the necessity for high school STEM education has steadily gained attention in recent years, the field of computer science is relatively neglected. Perhaps the most obvious reason for the lack of high school computer science programs is the challenge of attracting and retaining teachers who are qualified to teach computer science. In a