Screens themselves aren’t the problem. It’s how they’re used, and how schools and families partner to guide that use. When parents and teachers are aligned and communicate effectively, students receive consistent support both at home and at school, creating a foundation for healthy development and learning.

My awareness of the gaps in student support became personal a few years ago, when my son was unfairly disciplined at school. That experience revealed two critical things: 1) children need preventive, personalized care to thrive; and 2) the adults in their lives, parents or caregivers and educators, must work closely together.

Yet what I observed was a fragmented system. Families wanted to collaborate with teachers, and teachers wanted to support parents in promoting their children’s overall wellbeing, but no unified approach to bridge the gap.

Hiring mental health professionals on-site is expensive, and many schools lack the resources to provide consistent support. The youth mental health crisis has left districts scrambling for scalable, effective solutions.

Many schools understandably respond by trying to restrict screen time. But technology is here to stay. The real challenge—and opportunity—lies in teaching students to use screen time for creativity, connection, and confidence.

What healthy screen time looks like

Reframing digital wellness means looking at screen time through the lens of active engagement. It’s about encouraging students to write, create, and share, rather than scroll passively.

Research supports this approach: by the Adobe Foundation and National Alliance on Mental Illness found that more than 60% of young people who engage in creative digital activities report lower stress and greater confidence.

For districts, the question becomes: How can we foster environments where students’ time online builds resilience instead of eroding it?

Healthy screen time is purposeful, creative, and connected. It might mean journaling, drawing, songwriting, sculpting or collaborating on storytelling projects.

It might also mean simply reframing everyday activities. For example, when my son plays a baseball game, I’ll ask him about his choices in the game: “Are you pitching here? What kind of bat are you using?� The idea is to turn screen time into a moment of connection.

Encouraging self-expression empowers students, allowing their digital experiences to spark conversation and confidence rather than isolation. Parents can support this at home, and educators can reinforce it by integrating digital creative expression into SEL or literacy work.

Design, don’t deny

Many districts treat screens as something to restrict, but banning them outright misses the chance to teach students balance and intentional use. Schools can instead adopt a “design, don’t deny� approach to guide them in creating digital experiences that model creativity, self-expression, and connection.

I imagine structured opportunities for students to create, reflect and share with their peers online, highlighting acts of respect and kindness, discussing what their favorite moments are during the week or specific activities, and encouraging their self-expression.

Framed within SEL or MTSS, these practices enhance self-awareness, build healthier digital habits, and give teachers and parents real-time insights into what students are truly thinking, strengthening the partnership between schools and families.

The district’s role is not just to regulate, but to set the tone. By adopting tools and practices that encourage , schools can give parents and educators a common language for supporting student well-being.

Building a holistic support system

Technology should not replace human connection—it should enhance it. The most promising solutions are those that make collaboration between parents and educators easier while offering students safe, preventive support every day. This means choosing tools that:

• Engage students creatively rather than focusing solely on productivity;
• Give teachers actionable insights into student well-being without adding to their workload;
• Keep parents connected to their child’s digital habits in a constructive, non-punitive way; and
• Integrates seamlessly into existing frameworks like SEL, MTSS, or whole-child approaches.

When the right tools are in place, they become bridges linking home and school, so support is consistent and holistic.

A call to district leaders

The conversation about screen time in schools needs to shift. Instead of asking, “How much is too much?� parents and educators should be asking what kind of screen time helps children thrive.

District leaders play a pivotal role in reframing this narrative. By equipping teachers and parents with technology that fosters creativity, connection, and emotional expression, schools can transform digital time from a source of concern into a source of strength.

Screens aren’t going away. The question is whether to continue treating it as a threat or to embrace the potential to unify home and school around the shared goal of raising emotionally healthy, resilient students.

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This summer, our team was particularly curious to see the results from our pilot of an English language arts support that combines the power of high-quality instructional materials and artificial intelligence to provide significantly more individualized feedback to students and real-time insights to teachers.

Even in the past year, the capabilities of AI have advanced by leaps and bounds, as has the hype. Leaders need to be rigorous in their evaluation of tools to see which ones meet their specific needs and align with their priorities. Failure to tune in and lean in could exacerbate existing inequities.

Our pilot of a new AI teaching assistant, , focused on sixth-grade classrooms across Sumner County Schools in Tennessee.

Half the students, totaling 1,043 children, were assigned to classrooms where the teachers had access to the tool, which is aligned to several top-rated ELA curricula to support students’ comprehension of the text they have read. The other half received standard instruction.

TNReady performance among students who received the support increased 8 percentage points year over year, compared to essentially flat performance (-0.3%) for students who were not part of the pilot.

In education, we don’t often see dramatic, single-year gains that more than double the statewide average. We were especially encouraged by the narrowing of historically vexing achievement gaps.

Special education students using the tool narrowed the achievement gap by two-thirds from 16 points to just 5 points. Economically disadvantaged students who used it scored nearly 9 scale points higher.

As we reflect on these results, we have identified three distinctive factors about this and other AI-powered tools that will inform our approach going forward.

First, any solution we implement must foster both teacher effectiveness and student engagement. Many AI tools improve teacher efficiency.

We love saving teachers’ time, but we also want to focus on teacher efficacy and enjoyment. Like many educators and parents, we believe that meaningful innovations must create environments where students are active learners and teachers are facilitators.

Sumner’s teachers have always worked hard to understand how each student is doing, but giving in-the-moment feedback and differentiated support to 27 students in a class is not humanly possible.

Strategically-designed technology allows us to break out of that limitation and give individualized feedback consistently to all students as they need it, not days later when their paper is graded or months later when we get benchmark data.

The AI supports we implemented for the pilot created a safe space where students who are reluctant to ask questions in front of the class can grapple with the text, refine their thinking, learn vocabulary, and strengthen their comprehension. In the mid-year survey, 86% of students said they were more likely to participate in class after working with the AI supports.

Second, there is a tremendous push for schools to implement edtech powered by generative AI. While the original AI assistant was promising, our teachers could see in real time that the product got even stronger based on their feedback; 90% of our teachers reported that the tool made their jobs easier and more enjoyable.

Third, one of our most important considerations was limiting the edtech tools on our teachers’ already full plates. We wanted solutions that aligned with our goals and our high-quality curriculum.

When teachers find it seamless to embed a tool’s 20-minute lessons into their plans, they are more likely to adopt it. They can see students’ progress on the prompts in real time, and the tool suggests questions for the whole class to deepen collective understanding and ensure learning remains a social experience.

Having a starting point for discussion helps newer teachers anticipate what will best address the needs of each unique group of students. It also adds variety for longtime teachers who are always searching for powerful new approaches.

We will soon welcome new teachers and students to this ELA approach, and the positive results from the pilot have increased excitement among our staff about its expansion into more grades and schools for the 2025-26 school year.

We have learned so much and are moving forward to unlock more AI-powered possibilities, while always adhering to our district’s extensive protocol for data privacy, staying grounded in our values, committing to great teaching, and preparing our students for choice-filled lives.

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Improving teacher retention is critical for school and district leaders. To more effectively retain teachers in increasingly challenging circumstances, it is incumbent upon districts to establish a culture that supports educator well-being and a sustainable work-life balance for teachers—and leaders.

But how? Individual principals can, and do, make an incredible difference in supporting the well-being of the educators with whom they work. To really move the needle, sustainable, systemic change must start with district and school-based leaders.

91¿´Æ¬ Research Question: How are you using AI to make your district smarter?Ìý

There are several strategies that educational leaders can employ to support teacher well-being:

Building relationships

School leaders must start by building strong, authentic relationships with teachers and staff. Educator well-being cannot be addressed through a one-size-fits-all approach.

Every staff member brings different needs to work; without understanding each employee as an individual, leaders will not be able to effectively support their well-being. Beginning with the onboarding experience, administrators have the opportunity to build a relationship with every staff member.

Investing time getting to know a teacher—not just how they teach or how well they can write a learning objective—will pay off dividends in the future. School leaders should build structures during the onboarding process for learning who their teachers are as people.

This can be done through the creation of a welcome survey, where staff have the opportunity to share their favorite things, their birthdate, and what interests them outside of work. Leveraging the time in the workday before students arrive to be visible and present in the hallways will help administrators stay connected to their staff.

Asking simple questions about a teacher’s weekend or showing interest in how someone is really doing can open the door to more important conversations between administrators and teaching staff.

Leadership role-modeling

We have all heard the old saying, “Do as I say, not as I do.� Never has that saying been more relevant than in the context of workplace culture around teacher well-being.

Have you ever worked for a leader who never took a day off? Chances are, you felt guilty every time you took a personal day.

If the principal never seems to log off of work email, fails to take even a few minutes for a midday lunch break, and expects responses to non-urgent inquiries after hours, teachers will notice… and not in a good way. To effectively cultivate a culture that supports teacher well-being, the principal (and ideally, the district leadership) must role model the behaviors that they are trying to support.

Technology has brought many wonderful advances to education, but it has also negatively contributed to a culture of constant availability. Email has become the norm for how we communicate, and the prevalence of smartphones and laptops means that we are never far from our inboxes.

District leaders can help foster a culture of educator well-being by role-modeling healthy boundaries around communication outside of the school day. Using tools such as the schedule send feature in email programs can help to create and maintain clear boundaries between work and home for teachers.

And, it’s not just teachers who will benefit. By only communicating about school matters during work hours (even if some of that communication is strategically scheduled outside of work hours), leaders can set much-needed boundaries with parents and district colleagues about when they should expect a response from school staff.

Preserve teacher autonomy and protect their time

To truly make teacher health and happiness a priority, we must increase teacher autonomy and decrease workload demands. Teachers feel empowered, engaged and energized when they have autonomy over their classrooms.

Districts and school leaders can support teacher autonomy by allowing flexibility in lesson planning, empowering teachers to implement innovative, creative ideas in their classrooms and facilitating opportunities for teachers to lead professional learning for their colleagues.

Time is a teacher’s most valuable tool. It is also a finite, and dwindling, resource for our teachers.

Reducing an already overwhelming workload by eliminating administrative tasks and duties, allocating staff appropriately to eliminate the need for teachers to cover for colleagues, and ending requirements for teachers to sponsor unpaid extracurricular activities are all steps that individual school leaders can take to move the needle on teacher workload concerns.

By taking a 360-degree view of workplace wellness for teachers, school districts and administrators can make an impact that will have a positive result on teacher retention, which ultimately supports our students. Less teacher turnover creates more consistency for children and supports positive student outcomes.

Strong leadership at both the district and school levels plays a vital role in supporting teacher retention by modeling and encouraging healthy work-life balance, fostering an inclusive and supportive workplace culture, and ensuring teachers have a voice in decision-making.

By prioritizing educator well-being, we will not only improve retention, we will ultimately provide a positive environment for our students and families.

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Recent reports show these severe shortages exist in urban, inner-city, suburban and rural school districts. They also report that the struggle of rural districts may be even more severe than in any other segment of the country.

Nichole Dobo, in , found that they are more likely to prefer to stay close to home when it comes time to consider college. She also asked, “What should people who work with rural students do if they find themselves in a higher education desert?�

A higher education desert refers to those rural students who are 50 or more miles away from a university:

“We have been doing a lot of coverage about rural higher education and how rural students graduate from high school at very high rates but go to college at low rates. Before 2016, issues like this that affect rural America tended not to get as much attention as they should have. Things have worsened as rural private colleges have disproportionately closed, and public universities have eliminated majors and programs.” (Dobo, 2024)

How would community and technical colleges provide the answer?

Community and technical colleges throughout the states can provide the most important option now and going forward to help break this rural education higher education gap. Several reasons follow:

• Accessibility and costs: Community and technical colleges are known for their accessibility and flexibility.
• The savings from less cost and debt would mean those expenses would not affect new teachers’ salaries.
• The cost of a baccalaureate in states offering these degrees at community colleges in fields other than education is in the $10,500-$12,000 range for four years. Further, students who take the dual-enrollment path could see that reduction from 25% to 50%.
• By offering degrees explicitly tailored for future educators, they can attract individuals who traditional four-year programs may have deterred due to financial constraints or other commitments such as work and families.
• This accessibility ensures that talented individuals with the passion and potential for teaching are not overlooked.

in the Community College Daily found that 67% of the community college students who obtained associate degrees in 2019-2020 did not borrow money to attend. Of baccalaureate degree graduates, 39% had not borrowed money.

In terms of tuition, this report listed $3,990 as the average for tuition and fees at public community colleges during the 2023-24 academic year. Again, this is compared to $11,260 at public four-year colleges (Dembicki, 2023).

What happens to ‘equity and equality’

The nation is short 55,000 teachers and another 270,000 persons teaching are underqualified. The terms “equity� and “equality� are sometimes used interchangeably. While these terms might sound alike, they refer to different concepts (National University (2023).

The National University clarification of equality and equity:

• Equality: All students get the same textbooks or other materials.
• Equity points to students’ learning needs—meaning their needs should differ. Therefore, their accommodation would also need to be different. The learning environment must accommodate the students’ educational learning needs.

This clarification showed that the learning environment should be both just and impartial. The outcomes should be as close as possible regardless of race, gender, disability, language, income and other factors that make the students’ backgrounds different.

The goal of equity in K12 schools in the United States and most other countries cannot happen with severe teacher shortages. Far too many of the unqualified people filling classrooms have not received the background necessary to accommodate the unique needs of many of the students in their classrooms.

This slows down the progress many students would otherwise be able to achieve. Most of these persons will not have developed an understanding of teaching pedagogy necessary for a competent teacher.

Rural teacher shortages in a sample of several states:

• Texas has been hiring 55% of its rural area teacher positions filled with unqualified or underqualified hires.
• California continues to have many hundreds of non-credentialed teachers. Nine counties in the rural areas of California are facing a crisis in obtaining and retaining qualified teachers. As a result, they have been hiring a higher number of underprepared teachers and those who have been assigned to teach outside of their fields of preparation.
• Arizona continues to have approximately 25% of its teacher positions open.
• West Virginia has 59 teacher vacancies for every 10,000 students. This is the highest in the U.S.

Do community and technical colleges offer baccalaureate degrees?

The American Association of Community Colleges, in its 2017-2018 report, listed 186 of its association colleges that awarded some 19,000 baccalaureate degrees. Today, 25 states have passed legislation allowing their community and technical colleges to offer baccalaureate degrees.

The following community college baccalaureate degrees in 2023 provide the following statistics on their enrolled students:

• A 32% national increase in public community colleges approved to confer baccalaureate degrees, from 132 in 2021 to 187 in 2023.
• Half of all baccalaureate degree-conferring community colleges in the country are minority-serving institutions. Three-quarters of those are Hispanic-serving institutions.
• Nearly half of community college baccalaureate graduates are students of color, with 24% of graduating CCB students identified as Hispanic/Latino and 13% as Black.
• Nationally, about two-thirds of community college baccalaureate graduates are women.
• California and Texas also experienced significant growth, with 32 community colleges in California and 21 in Texas now conferring degrees.
• Florida has led the way with 27 of their community colleges offering baccalaureate degrees in educational areas most in need (Bragg, 2024),

Summary

Rural schools throughout the United States have been hardest hit by the decade-long teacher shortages. While these schools have a higher graduation rate than urban, inner-city and suburban school districts, there is a major problem of finding college programs within close proximity to attend.

Doesn’t it seem almost past time for K12 school boards and community and technical college trustees to merge their efforts to get legislation passed? Such a merger and legislation would allow these colleges to offer the necessary baccalaureate degrees in the areas of education most in need.

References

Bragg, D.Ìý (2024, May 6).Ìý Watch Them Grow: The Evolution of Community College Baccalaureate Degrees.Ìý CCBA & Bragg & Associates.Ìý Retrieved February 8, 2025, at

Education Insights (2024, April 8).Ìý Teacher Shortages in the US.:Ìý Challenges, solutions & Initiatives in 2024.Ìý Teachers of Tomorrow.Ìý Retrieved September 30, 2024 at

Dembicki, M.Ìý (2023, Nov. 1).Ìý Two-thirds of two-year grads do not borrow.Ìý Community College Daily.Ìý Retrieved February 19, 2024, at

Dobo, N.Ìý (2024, December 5).Ìý What happens to students when rural colleges cut programs and majors? The Hechinger Report.Ìý Retrieved December 8, 2024, at

Mahowald, C. ( 2022). Equality vs. Equity in Education: What is the Difference and Why Does It Matter? Parent Powered. Retrieved January 27, 2004 atUnderstand Equality vs. Equity in Education – ParentPowered®

National University (2023, September 20). Equity in Education: Understanding Equity in the Classroom. Retrieved October 2, 2024, at Equality vs Equity in education national university – Search (bing.com)

ÌýPatte Barth (2016, January 7).Ìý Educational Equity – What does it mean?Ìý How do we know when we reach it?Ìý Center for Public Education, an initiative of the National School Boards Association.Ìý Retrieved September 26, 2024, at rief

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Amidst these demands, the notion of joy can seem almost frivolous. Why waste school time on dance parties and field days when we struggle to close learning gaps?

However, the promise of joy in schools is not merely an idealistic dream; it’s a foundational element that drives our students’ academic success. As wrote in the “Neuroscience of Joyful Education�: “The truth is that when we scrub joy and comfort from the classroom, we distance our students from effective information processing and long-term memory storage.�

Education becomes significantly easier when students, educators and staff are genuinely happy to be at school. Joy makes the work lighter, the challenges surmountable and the community stronger. Sometimes, this joy emerges from whimsical activities—high fives, pajama days and spirit weeks—while other times, it’s built into the classroom curriculum through learning games and art activities.

When we invite our staff and students to experience joy, they move closer to finding deeper levels in three critical areas: connection, growth, and success.

‘Known, supported and successful’

One of the primary reasons students look forward to going to school is the opportunity to spend time with peers and mentors in a place of belonging. Joy is easier to find when people feel connected, safe and appreciated.

Educators and administrators must ensure everyone in the school community feels known and valued—by name, strengths, interests, hopes and dreams, inspired by Susan Enfield’s promise to her students through her roles as superintendent. of the North Carolina State College of Education found that students whose schools embrace their individuality are more energized, less likely to be absent and more engaged with their school environment.

This connection encourages collaboration, empathy and mutual respect, creating a fertile ground for growing joy. Additionally, connection helps make the other two critical areas of fostering growth more possible.

At Eastern Hancock Schools, we prioritize connecting with students as individuals through dedicated advisory class periods. Each student is paired with an advisor who looks after their well-being, ensuring they are known, supported and successful in school. This time fosters meaningful relationships where students can discuss their strengths, interests and future plans in a safe and supportive environment.

Additionally, the superintendent and high school principal meet individually with each junior and senior to discuss their post-high school plans, ensuring every student has a clear path forward. For those who don’t, we provide personalized guidance and support to help them create one. This personalized approach ensures no student feels left behind, fostering a deeper sense of belonging and connection within our school community.

Experiencing the joy of growth

Learning is a simple concept that is complex in practice. Traditional education models focus on repetition and routine in the hope that the content will stick.

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In reality, our students’ minds are designed to enjoy a challenge and hardwired to thrive in new situations. This is evident in how students persist with video games despite frequent failures. No kid would buy a game they could conquer in minutes; the joy comes from the challenge and the growth it fosters.

When educators engage students in arts and music, role-play lessons and challenging curriculum, we help construct new neural pathways and activate different areas of the brain. So when you incorporate joy into the classroom, you’re not just an educator—you’re a neuroscientist.

The biggest obstacle to learning is the fear of vulnerability. Most students come to school with the mindset of showcasing what they already know rather than embracing the opportunity to learn. The fear of being judged by their classmates can overshadow their love of learning.

To maximize joy in our schools, we must create a safe environment where taking risks and experiencing growth are celebrated. When students feel safe to be vulnerable, they are more likely to embrace challenges, learn from failures and experience the joy of growth.

Today’s effort, tomorrow’s success

For joy at school to be maximized, students must understand the purpose of their actions and see themselves as capable of achieving that purpose. They need to see their learning as a relevant pursuit that leads to preparation for post-high school success.

For example, at Eastern Hancock, students engage in work-based learning programs where they spend part of their day in industries like manufacturing, healthcare and education. By applying what they learn in the classroom to real-world environments, students gain practical skills and see firsthand how their education prepares them for future careers.

This connection between their current work and future aspirations fosters a sense of accomplishment, helping them find joy in learning because it feels relevant and purposeful. When students realize their effort today is directly linked to their success tomorrow, they are more motivated and engaged.

Students’ engagement and motivation increase when they see a clear connection between their school efforts and future aspirations. Joy comes from the sense of accomplishment and the confidence that their hard work is paving the way for future success. Educators must help students see the bigger picture and the long-term benefits of their education, thus instilling a sense of purpose and joy in their daily activities.

‘Emotion cements learning’

The promise of joy at school is not just a lofty ideal; it’s a necessary pursuit that can transform the educational experience for students, educators and the entire school community.

As education thought leader Kevin Honeycutt often says, “Emotion cements learning.” In other words, how we feel while learning is just as important as what we learn. Tying a fun or emotional experience to learning increases retention and engagement. When a parent asks their student, “What did you do at school today?â€� and receives a response of “I don’t knowâ€� or “nothing,â€� it’s a sign that joy and excitement are missing in the classroom.

Let’s embrace the promise of joy and make it a central part of our mission as school leaders.

By intentionally incorporating whimsical joy through fun and emotionally engaging activities, we create memorable learning experiences that anchor academic content in the minds of our students and make our schools happier and more effective in achieving our educational goals.

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