In this session, Sangar Safi joined us to answer questions on cybersecurity for school leaders. So many important elements of cybersecurity were discussed, including safeguarding student data, attack prevention, data encryption, user behavior monitoring, and cyberattack response plans.

You can watch more videos like these on our YouTube channel: Grow Schools – YouTube

Read Full Transcript :

Michael B.:

Hi everybody and welcome to our Thursday Charter Chats on all Things, conversations with school leaders and challenges you might be facing. This week we are talking cybersecurity as a follow up from our webinar to Wednesdays or Thursdays ago. I can’t even remember the time between now and the national conference, so I forgive me for that. But I’m really pleased to welcome Sangar Safi from Software MSP and his team who contributed just so much knowledge and good info for school leaders related to cybersecurity today. So we’re going to kick off that conversation. First, I should say hello to Sangar and ask how you’re doing, my friend. How are things going?

Sangar S.:

Hello Michael and everyone else. I’m doing great, thank you very much. Looking forward to next week, get a week off. So excited to be here.

Michael B.:

Yeah, same for us as well. Okay, let’s hop right in because we keep these conversations to 10 minutes so school leaders can hop right in and out. We are going to start at the top with our first question and if you’re joining us live please feel free to drop your questions into the chat. If you’re on a desktop, it’s on that right-hand side. If you’re on mobile if’s just below the little screen you’re seeing us. So do give us some questions if you’ve got related to cybersecurity challenges you may be facing, but we’ve got a couple prepped for this conversation and we’ll start with number one for Sangar. What are the most common cybersecurity threats that schools face right now?

Sangar S.:

There are many threats right now, but I think I highlighted three of them as the main ones right now that we’re seeing. Phishing attacks where someone emulates someone else and try to obtain personal data. Ransomware attacks, these are malicious software that encrypts the victim’s data and demands ransom for release. As you can say, it says ransomware and then the last one is DDoS. These are attacks on a network in an infrastructure to overflow the traffic and make the infrastructure internal inaccessible to legitimate users. This is a common practice where a lot of data will be sent to a website, local networks and things like that. These are the common things that we’re seeing right now in school and education market.

Michael B.:

Yeah, good call outs for those three there. And we dove pretty deep into those topics for the webinar. I will drop the webinar URL into the chat right now if anybody wants to go take a look at that webinar for individuals to hop in and dive into those conversations a little bit deeper. Next question relates to just the huge amount of data that schools are going to have at their disposal related to both not only their administration and school leaders and teachers data, but also the sensitive data around students. Are there some top three or just a couple ways that school leaders can think about to ensure the security of that student data and sensitive information that you’d recommend?

Sangar S.:

Yeah, I think one of the most valuable thing the school leaders in the schools hold is data. This is data for student and data for staff. There was in a recent analysis where data was put above oil as the most sought out commodity. Hackers are very interested in obtaining data, especially data that relates to students. It has a lot of sensitive information such as healthcare information, parent, social security, and others.

Now there’s multiple things a school leader can do to secure all this data. It starts with strong access, control and authentication. Making sure that nobody’s able to access the network or data within an organization very easily. Put as many parameters in place to ensure that you have a bulletproof process in place. Encryption of data and storage is very important. You want to store data. Once someone accesses the data, you want to make sure that their data is retrievable from a secure location outside of the cloud infrastructure where the data may be, and also do a regular security audit and training. It’s very important run simulations, see if somebody can get in and obtain the data that you are storing. So these are the three main components that a school can implement. Not complicated, not hard at all to do, but definitely doable.

Michael B.:

Yeah. During the webinar we got some questions related to the security of data specifically in one platform that we know a lot of school leaders leverage, which is Google workspace. Obviously Google’s done an incredible job of cornering the market when it comes to education opportunities and they have an entire suite that helps school leaders do their work from email to docs to all the apps in between. And we got a couple questions about how to make Google workspace as safe as possible and there were a couple tips that your team provided. I was hoping we could just take a moment to rehash some of those tips related to making sure that your Google workspace is as secure as possible.

Sangar S.:

As you mentioned, Google has been a champion in the education market in providing services to schools and taking into consideration what are the needs for school and education market. Google Workspace is a secure application or a platform. They emphasize heavily on data protection. They do have a security measures that protect data within the Google workspace. They utilize encryption to safeguard the data and rest during the transit, both within their data centers, which is an important aspect of it, and also transferring data between users and Google servers. Compliance and certification is important for Google and they’ve been the champion of compliance. They have implemented strong compliance within their infrastructure to ensure they meet all regulatory requirements to protect data for anyone who uses their platform. They also have strong user authentication and access control. Google has implemented MFA, which allows for user to access their platform authenticating multiple ways to ensure that they are the right people, they can access their platform and also access the data as well.

Now Google also has incident a response and monitoring, which allows for certain protocols to be in place when there’s a breach. They’re able to identify and then also respond to that in a timely manner. Although Google Workspace is a great platform, you can never assure any platform is secure enough. An organization, especially charter schools, must implement security parameters outside of Google Workplace and this kind of falls back on them and their school leaders, school IT outsource internal whatever they may be. A hygiene of strong password is extremely important. Implement a password system where they’re very hard, secure and not able to penetrate easily. Again, as I mentioned, multifactor authentication is extremely important. Put that as a practice that should be implemented. Educating staff control and access privileges to make sure who has access. You can’t just give everybody access to everything. That’s how you get breached. And also follow some guidelines from the industry expert of what needs to be implemented alongside Google guidelines as well.

Michael B.:

Yeah, I want to touch on a couple things there. You mentioned MFA and then defined it, the multifactor authentication. I want to make sure that our school leaders are understanding those definitions commonly referred to as two factor authentication as something they may have heard already. And also just good call outs for tools that can be helpful in that regard. Obviously our browsers, including Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge or Safari, all have really strong password managers that are encrypted. Those can be a solution that can be helpful to create strong passwords. I think that’s a core tip we’ve got to make sure school leaders understand is we cannot have the sort of typical word. 1, 2, 3, exclamation point these days. School leaders need strong passwords that are unique to specific systems because if they get compromised and they do not have unique passwords in those systems, the easiest way that hackers can go into systems is just to do that replication of passwords in different places.

So take advantage of those tools. And there’s also standalone tools that I know your team utilizes with schools. 1Password, LastPass. There are other ways, physical wearable USBs that can provide two-factor authentication. So there’s numerous ways that school leaders can help on the multi-factor authentication or two-factor authentication platforms that are out there. I want to ask, are there any emerging trends or technologies that school leaders should be aware of to enhance cybersecurity beyond just MFA two factor authentication? We talked about endpoint management during the webinar and managed services as a part of a way to help make sure that they’re as secure as possible. Anything else school leaders should be thinking about as they’re breaking for the summer and thinking about investments they may want to be making as they end next school year?

Sangar S.:

Yeah, yeah, definitely. Technology’s evolving especially in the cybersecurity space, but so are the access by hackers as well as we put in application and tools in place to prevent them. They’re developing tools to get in and it’s a cat and mouse game that they’re playing. So some of the emerging technology that definitely schools need to look for is one of the things that we’re seeing a lot is artificial intelligence. It’s very important machine learning. The Chat GPT of the world outside from just students growing and writing an essay and chat AI platforms are utilized to create malicious malware and tools and application and even write emails that look exactly like the email that a principal or a parent or somebody else will write. It is very important to pay attention to those implement tools where you can mitigate and reduce some of those threats to schools.

Many organizations are heading into the cloud. It’s very important to have cloud security as much cloud security as possible, implement applications, implement tools where you’re able to give less access to those applications in the cloud from anywhere, especially working over the summer. A school leader may be home, they may want to access some of the applications. You want to make sure proper tools are in place where all those things are protected. Another couple of things that I want to point is the IOTs internet of things. And these are wearable devices. These are sensors, these are smart boards. They all talk back to the internet. You want to make sure that those are protected. Just don’t put them on your network, not putting anything to ensure that people can access those. Those have become an easy target for hackers to get into a school infrastructure environment and do whatever they need to do.

You mentioned endpoint security. You want to protect all the endpoints that are all implemented within an organization. The last item I want to bring up is the user behavior analytics. You want to make sure there are tools that understand the user behavior. How is a user accessing applications within an organization? If there’s any abnormal activities, you want to understand all those things. There are applications and tools that can give you data on that and based on that you can create proper cybersecurity postures and things like that. These are some of the items they’re emerging. There’s quite a few more, but that’s why we’re here to make everyone aware what what’s out there and what to look for.

Michael B.:

Yeah, the tip on internet of things, the IOT, all the connectable and wearables is a big one. And one tip I’ve heard even as a homeowner and having your wifi inside your home schools have got wifi as well that they’re connecting these platforms to. And one way to try and create a layer of security is obviously don’t allow those core IOT connections to access your main wifi connection that gives access into different places within the organization. So just little things that schools can do to make sure that they’re as secure as possible when it comes to all of the connections that are happening on their campuses. We’re getting to almost the 15-minute point, but I think there’s been so much good information Sangar. If you’ve got an extra minute or two, I’ve got one last question I’d love to ask you. Do you have-

Sangar S.:

Sure.

Michael B.:

Do have an extra minute for us? Perfect.

Sangar S.:

Yeah, definitely.

Michael B.:

So when something happens, obviously, there’s a protocol that schools have got to respond to so that they can effectively respond to a cybersecurity or breach. And I want to caveat this question that for many school leaders you have insurance that covers. You are required in some states to have insurance for cybersecurity incidents and those are going to have a specific protocol that is required in order to not violate your insurance terms. So I’m making the legal disclaimer from our lawyers that tell me I’ve got to say that, but are there specific things that you would recommend that schools do at a bare minimum when they have a cybersecurity incident or breach?

Sangar S.:

The first thing, what schools should be implementing is an incident response plan. And they need to activate a response plan anytime there’s a breach, what is the first thing they do? It’s very important to document everything, create audit logs of understanding how their infrastructure is put in place, run some tests and then have those audit logs available to them in case of an incident. Isolate and contain. If there’s an incident that takes place, isolate the situation right away, contain it, make sure that doesn’t infect. Once it infects, it spreads. You want to make sure that it’s isolated and then contained, gather evidence, some of the mechanism that you can put in place and understand how did it happen, why it happened. And the last thing, a couple of things that you want to do is notify the proper and relevant parties.

This includes notifying appropriate parties such as parents, if it’s an impacting parent and student data has been breached, you want to make sure that people are aware that an incident took place, maybe their social security or healthcare information was compromised. And the last thing is make sure you engage your IT. Don’t let it go by the wayside. Engage your IT, internal IT, external IT, and consult with cybersecurity experts to really understand what happened. There are some tools that can literally isolate everything from you for you, from end to end. And based on that information activating, isolating, and gathering data, you’ll be able to identify where the breach happened, how it happened, and how to prevent it in the future. There’s many things, organizations out there that can provide some of these tools and applications and services as well.

Michael B.:

I think one of the things you and my team should work on is a guide for these incidences because there is so many nuances that need to be laid out for school. So maybe we’ll think about doing that as we head into the fall. I could ask you 100 more questions, but we keep these as tight to 10 minutes if possible. And now we’re at the 16 or 17 minute mark Sangar. So I’m going to wrap things up and just say thanks for everyone for joining us. We will of course have Sangar and the Software MSP team back as we head into the fall and kick off back to school initiatives with our school leaders. So look for those opportunities to join us again and send us your questions. We’re happy to tee those up to have conversations with his team about cybersecurity challenges that school leaders face.

We are taking a break for the month of July, so we’ll be back in August. To get notified about when we’ll be back live just subscribe to our channel on YouTube or if you’re one of our email subscribers, we thank you for that. You’ll get an alert towards the end of July when we be back here Thursday, 10:00 AM Pacific, 1:00 PM Eastern on All Things Challenges for School Leaders. Sangar. My big thanks and I hope you and your team have a wonderful 4th of July and summer holiday. Take care.

Sangar S.:

Thank you, you too. Thank you very much. Have a good one.

The Fordham Institute recently released a thought-provoking research report by The National Working Group on Advanced Education called “Building a Wider and More Diverse Pipeline of Advanced Learners.” The group was formed in the spring of 2022 with the goal of thinking through how to improve “gifted and talented” programs while simultaneously furthering equity for all students. Here’s a recap of the key findings and recommendations in the report.

Understanding the Research

The report highlights the urgent need to identify and nurture students who are ready for advanced learning options. Specifically, those students who come from diverse backgrounds and underrepresented groups. It’s well known that many commonly used assessment methods are skewed to favor certain groups, which affects the makeup of those identified as “advanced learners.” Groups such as Black, Brown, and Latinx students are vastly underrepresented, which, in turn, perpetuates inequities and limits opportunities.

Recommendations

To address the challenges identified in this research, the report presents a set of recommendations aimed at building a wider and more diverse “pipeline” of advanced learners. The goal of the recommendations is to:

Build a continuum of culturally responsive advanced learning services customized to individual students rather than a binary “you’re in, or you’re out” mindset.
Embrace inclusion, remove barriers, and reject the scarcity mindset.
Cultivate school-wide support for advanced learning opportunities for all students.

The National Working Group on Advanced Education’s recommendations include:

Implement Universal Screening

Schools and districts can adopt universal screening practices to identify potential advanced learners among all student populations, ensuring equitable access to advanced learning opportunities.

Improve Teacher Preparation

Teacher preparation programs should incorporate training on recognizing and supporting advanced learners, including strategies for culturally responsive instruction and differentiated learning.

Provide Professional Development

Ongoing professional development opportunities can be offered to educators to enhance their ability to identify and support advanced learners.

4. Foster Collaboration and Partnerships

Schools, districts, and communities should collaborate to share best practices, resources, and expertise in supporting advanced learners from diverse backgrounds.

To delve deeper into the findings and recommendations presented in the report, you can read the full research article here.

This year’s National Charter Schools Conference in Austin was such a great chance to connect with so many charter leaders from across the nation.

Our main session, How to Buy Your School: Getting the Timing Right, covered how to prepare for the ideal buying conditions, how much to budget, and how to identify the right timing. Audience members also heard from Wes Graner and Marshall Emerson on building and improving their schools’ forever homes to accommodate growth.

We also partnered with the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools in offering the Leadership Lab, a space dedicated to developing your skills through engaging in on-stage conversations and one-on-one consultations with industry experts. We hosted conversations about mental health, engaging the community, marketing materials, and website best practices. At our booth, we handed out 1,000+ pairs of #welovecharterschools socks and connected with leaders about how we can best serve schools this coming school year.

A Top Concern for the Second Year in a Row: Teacher Retention

Along with enrollment, school buildings, and money to run schools, a top concern we heard from school leaders: teacher retention and well-being. This is what we heard last year, too.

It comes as no surprise that teacher retention remains a top concern. Just this week, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools reported on a recent poll that focused on the state of teachers’ well-being and job satisfaction .

Here are key takeaways from the poll:

Teacher stress: The poll reveals that teachers continue to face significant stress in their profession, which can impact their overall well-being.
Lack of respect: Many teachers feel a lack of respect from the community, parents, and even their own students, which contributes to their stress levels.
Job satisfaction: Despite the stress and perceived lack of respect, teachers reported higher levels of job satisfaction compared to the previous year.
Pandemic impact: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a substantial impact on teachers, with increased workload, burnout, and challenges associated with remote and hybrid learning.
Politics: Most public school teachers express their desire to keep politics from interfering with their teaching responsibilities. The survey, which included responses from over 1,200 teachers, revealed that 91 percent of teachers feel caught in the middle of culture wars, while 94 percent want to focus on teaching.
Support from colleagues: Teachers reported finding solace and support from their colleagues, indicating the importance of a strong professional network.
Mental health concerns: The poll highlights the need for increased attention to teachers’ mental health and the importance of providing resources and support.
Appreciation from students: Despite feeling disrespected by some students, teachers also reported feeling appreciated by others, which can positively impact their well-being.

Overall, the poll suggests that while teachers face various challenges and stressors in their profession, they still find satisfaction in their work when they receive support from colleagues and students. However, addressing teacher stress, increasing respect, and promoting mental health support remain crucial for improving teacher well-being.

The findings prompted Nina Rees, CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, to express gratitude towards teachers and emphasize the need for increased support based on their feedback. “We owe an immense debt of gratitude to teachers,” she said in response to the findings. “We must listen to what they are telling us and do more to support them.”

Teacher Retention Resources

Our mission is to help school leaders get where they’re going—and that means providing the money, resources, and know-how to help create thriving schools. You can find the following free resources to support teacher retention:

Teacher Retention for 2023 & Beyond: How to Build a Lasting Relationship

Join Dr. Charlotte Pullins and Professor Tuan Nguyen to discover what you can do to create lasting relationships with your educators.

You’ll learn:

The facts on why teachers are leaving the profession
Ways to offer support and encourage teacher growth
Tips for managing your school so that teachers are excited to stay

Hiring and Supporting Special Education Teachers

To attract and retain special education teachers, schools can show they can provide what these teachers need to thrive in their roles. Watch this webinar with expert Ingrid Wulczyn of Project IDEA to improve your school’s special education teacher recruitment, hiring process, and ability to provide needed, ongoing support.

You’ll learn how to:

Support your special education teachers so they grow with your school
Write job descriptions that attract passionate and dedicated candidates for special education roles
Ensure each step of the hiring process reflects an understanding of special education teachers’ unique roles

Teacher Retention Guide

The guide includes insights from Dr. Charlotte Pullins, founder of ELC Training and Consulting LLC and renowned specialist on diversity and inclusion for charter schools. It includes a recruitment process plan and an action plan template for charter schools to address their specific retention problems and track progress.

You’ll discover:

Best practices for building strong teacher-school relationships
How to promote growth and provide leadership opportunities
How to support teacher wellness, encourage autonomy, and give teachers a voice
Tips for recruiting and retaining teachers of color
Ways you can create an inclusive and equitable school environment
How to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging

We value this kind of feedback from charter leaders and plan to continue providing resources on teacher retention. If you have a concern you’d like us to cover, please let us know!

In today’s digital age, schools are the guardians of sensitive data—data that requires robust cybersecurity. To address that need, we hosted Cybersecurity for School Leaders with cybersecurity experts Mohammad Ahmed and Preet Singh from SoftwareMSP. You can rewatch the webinar here or read on for key insights.

The Current State of Cybersecurity in Education

The webinar began by shedding light on the increasing threat of cyberattacks, particularly in the education sector. Hackers often target schools, considering them vulnerable compared to other institutions. Mohammed Ahmed stressed that basic cybersecurity measures are no longer enough, and school administrations must take proactive steps to ensure the safety of their digital assets.

Understanding the Impact and First Line of Defense

The impact of cyberattacks on schools is far-reaching and can have severe consequences. Mohammed Ahmed outlined several critical areas affected by cybersecurity breaches, including learning loss, financial implications, disruption of administrative functions, data and privacy breaches, and psychological impact leading to a loss of trust and reputation.

What are the best practices for school leaders in light of these consequences? Here the experts had a lot to offer.

Whether internal or outsourced to a managed service provider (MSP), IT staff play a crucial role in the school’s cybersecurity efforts.
Schools can enhance security by restricting admin access, updating devices and software, enforcing multi-factor authentication (MFA), and requiring strong passwords.
Be aware of and comply with relevant regulations and laws to ensure data privacy and protection, including personally identifiable information (PII), the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), and the Alabama Data Breach Notification Act (ADPPA).
Implement security measures such as MFA, Endpoint Detection Response (EDR), Managed Detection Response (MDR), and Network Remediation.
Offer training and awareness programs for students and staff to foster a cybersecurity-conscious environment.

Choosing the Right Partner

Selecting the right technology partner for cybersecurity solutions is critical. Collaborating with an identity and education-focused service provider who understands the specific systems used in schools and can provide proactive support is essential. Both experts said a trusted partner should:

Be education-focused in their offerings, with familiarity with the types of systems schools use and the data they own.
Have a Security Operations Center (SOC) for rapid response.
Offer guidance on lessons learned to enhance future protection.

Now more than ever, school leaders recognize the potential risks of cyberattacks and take proactive steps to safeguard their schools. With the assistance of a trusted technology partner like SoftwareMSP, schools can navigate the ever-evolving cybersecurity landscape with the proper support. Learn more about SoftwareMSP here.

Learn More

For a deeper dive into cybersecurity for schools, you can access the recorded webinar here. You’ll learn more about:

Safeguarding your school’s information and maintaining compliance with FERPA.
Protecting your school from the potential impact of cyberattacks on operations and student learning.
Establishing a cybersecurity framework for your school.
Finding and vetting providers of cybersecurity insurance and solutions.

In this session, Ingrid Wulczyn joined Michael Barber to answer questions on Hiring and Supporting Special Education Teachers. She is a former special education teacher and administrator and is the founder and CEO of Project IDEA, an organization focused on providing support and resources to schools. She offered some great tips on the support special education teachers need to thrive.

Join the experts as they answer all your questions live on Thursdays on YouTube at 10 am PT / 12 pm CT / 1 pm ET. Charter School Capital – YouTube

Read the Full Transcript:

Michael B.:

Hey everyone, and welcome back to our Thursday Charter Chats. I’m Michael Barber. It’s good to see all of your faces back with us after a few weeks off. I’m really excited to be back on for the next few weeks. We’re talking all things special education teacher attention with our guest today, Ingrid Woolshon. Ingrid, thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate you being here. I know you’re traveling at the moment, so we really appreciate you coming back and having a chat with us as a follow-up to our webinar about two weeks ago. We had about 170 attendees during that webinar and had additional questions come in, so do we mind if we just hop right into those questions and have a chat about how we can make sure we’re retaining our special education teachers as much as possible?

Ingrid W.:

Yeah, let’s do it.

Michael B.:

Wonderful. Okay. Can you share some personal challenges you’ve encountered while working in special education and how did you navigate those challenges?

Ingrid W.:

There are always challenges in special education, I would say every week, if not on the daily. I think one of the most important things in terms of navigating those challenges is really trying to keep kids at the focus, number one, and then depending on what the challenge is, really making a plan about how you’re going to approach things and tackle things because it can feel like things are sort of always coming at you in the special education world. So I think it’s really important to sort of pause, zoom out, make a plan, and then enter the madness once again.

Michael B.:

Yeah, some great tips there and some great thoughts there. I thought it’d be a good place to start the conversation. We got a question as a follow-up from the webinar and you touched on a little bit of the answer to this question, but I thought I’d ask it again, but what are some key tips for creating an environment that supports and retains special education teachers? Ultimately, we’re hoping to lead to improved outcomes for students with diverse needs, but what are some of those key tips you touched on during our conversation related to creating that environment that supports and retains special education teachers?

Ingrid W.:

Yeah, I think it’s important for the school to be inclusive and that also extends to the staff being inclusive, but also recognizing the unique needs of those teachers that you have. So in addition to making sure that they have equitable access to resources, also paying attention to their unique needs and some things that they may need that are outside of what a typical general education teacher might need. I think a lot of that comes down to the culture of a school and being able to walk that line between the fairness aspect of things, which comes up a lot when you’re talking with special education teachers and general education teachers, but it’s really about equity and making sure everyone understands the role that each person is bringing to the table.

Michael B.:

You mentioned some specific initiatives or practices that made differences for retaining special education teachers during our conversation a couple of weeks ago. Can you mention a couple of those key points that you mentioned?

Ingrid W.:

Yeah, so a lot of it I think comes down to that balance between the paperwork side of things and the instructional piece of things. So structuring a teacher’s day intentionally recognizing those pieces is really important. Some folks have the ability to provide paperwork days or a half day. Some folks allow that half day to be off campus or working remotely, and those kinds of perks really do sort of allow a special education teacher to get their work done within the regular workday. Teachers are working late long hours all the time anyway, but in order to have a prayer as a special education teacher of having a work-life balance, you really need time within the school day at least some to get a lot of that work done.

Michael B.:

Yeah, it’s such a good point. I want to pause here for a second and just welcome, we do have a few viewers that are live with us, so if you’ve got questions for Ingrid, we’re more than happy to take those live. I’ll ask another one, but pop them into the chat. If you’re on a browser, it’s on the right-hand side. If you’re on mobile, it’s just below our stream right here, so feel free to ask any questions you’ve got. You mentioned last time we talked that professional development opportunities and training programs were crucial for special education teachers to be able to continue to enhance their skills and knowledge. Can you talk about the importance of those and if you’ve got any ideas on what types of places that school leaders should be recommending special education teachers go look for those development opportunities that you’ve heard of in your experience? I’d be all ears for some of those recommendations as well.

Ingrid W.:

Yeah, I think all teachers want to be good at their jobs. That’s why everyone goes into the profession is to make a difference for students. The preparation that many of our special education teachers get is sometimes alt license or doing one of these alternative programs. We see that a lot in all schools and definitely in charters. But from there, teachers are going to need a lot of professional development in order to be able to feel successful because their preparation programs aren’t going to prepare them for every single thing that they need to do. And it’s critical that they have those opportunities to grow so that they can sustain in a profession because they feel like they are doing a good job.

Some recommendations I would have, there are some really amazing resources on the National Center for Intensive Intervention website and they are completely free. You can do a self-paced module. They have different formats. They have articles, but all of those are really research based and I think that’s a key thing is, what is the research really telling us about what works for students with diverse learning needs and how are we accessing that research in order to drive the professional development that needs to happen?

Michael B.:

I want to grab that URL for those listening. Let me just make sure I got it. Intensive intervention.org, am I grabbing the right URL?

Ingrid W.:

Let me check.

Michael B.:

I do love these live formats ’cause we can go do that and go grab them as we’re sitting here, so we make sure. That’s the website. Correct?

Ingrid W.:

That is the website.

Michael B.:

Wonderful.

Ingrid W.:

If teachers could understand all of the pieces of that website, we’d have a very different world in special education. There is some fantastic resources also about specific literacy programs, progress monitoring, all kinds of links you can find in there to get some really good stuff.

Michael B.:

Lovely. I’ve popped that into the chat so that anybody that’s watching this can grab that URL. One question that we spent a little bit of time on during the webinar was the questions that school leaders can ask or tailor to specific interview questions to assess candidates understanding of special education practices. One you recommended got a lot of agreement in our discussion there from viewers related to IE paperwork and I was hoping you might be able to either share that question or any other questions as thought starters for school leaders to be able to ask when they are recruiting and hiring candidates for these positions.

Ingrid W.:

Yeah, I think the question was around what is the sort of approach that you would take if you are starting a new position as a special education teacher and you come in and realize that you’re inheriting some issues within the department, paperwork, compliance issues, things like that. Sort of, what’s the plan of attack? And that’s going to get at a lot of soft skills, but then also technical skills about what are the actual legally defensible ways to approach a problem like that.

I think there are also… I wrote a couple down ’cause I thought you were going to ask me this. One that I wrote down was how do you determine the frequency and duration of services for a student in their IEP? Again, a lot of it is just listening to how teachers talk about these things, what their thought process is and their thinking. But also you’ll get those, what types of skills do they know? Is the answer, I have no idea and I’m really excited to learn? Or what’s the response to that and how are you ready or not to bring that person along if they’re going to need a lot of support?

Michael B.:

Great questions there to think about for school leaders as they’re looking to hire these candidates for these positions. I know at Project Idea you offer a platform called Managed. Can you give it a brief outline of how it benefits school leaders, particularly for our special education teachers?

Ingrid W.:

Absolutely. So there’s a whole bunch of tasks that special education teachers have to do that really have nothing to do with students. Obviously writing IEPs and sort of the IEP process is critical for student learning. But along with that process comes all of these little logistical tasks, sending out emails and surveys and finding meeting times and sort of wrangling a bunch of people around scheduling. And so managed automates and streamlines those processes as well as sort of supports a school to share out the resources that they have that are going to support their teachers. So teachers get essentially prompted within their email to do whatever step they need to do based on the timeline of the IEP process that is calculated automatically by the system. And then it also will say, “Hey, this is what you need to do and here’s the link to the document that shows you how to do it.” And so the idea is really about changing practices by grounding in documents and then streamlining and making things as automated as possible because that technology exists. And so…

Michael B.:

Yeah, I think that just an incredible platform for, as you’ve talked about, is how do we make sure that the school leaders, especially when it comes to special education, can be focused on students and the outcomes of those students and taking the workload, the caseload, the cadence, the project management time, and just brain power to get those tasks done? And I think that’s what your platform does so well. For those of us that are joining us live, for those of you I who are joining us live, I should say, we are both, both Ingrid and our charter school capital team are headed to Austin next week for the National Charter Schools Conference. So if you have questions for Ingrid and want to do a follow-up and you’re heading down to Austin for what will I would imagine will be two incredible days, two or three incredible days of learning from a bunch of school leaders, from thought leaders and voices from around our space, feel free to go find Ingrid or myself or the Charter School Capital team and we can get you connected while you’re there.

But Ingrid, I just want to say a big thank you to you for joining us on our webinar a couple of weeks ago and for taking some time today. We’re right at that sort of 10 to 12 minute mark and we like to respect that boundary. And I know you’re on vacation, so I want to give you as much time back where you are. But thank you again for joining us on the webinar and today. And for anybody that wants any more information about Project Idea, we’ll leave this last question and wrap it up from here. Where can they find out more information about Managed and Project Idea?

Ingrid W.:

Folks can reach out to me directly at Ingrid@project-idea.org Our website is project-idea.org and if you want to go straight to Managed/managed. And we’d love to see you next week if you’re at the charter conference in Austin.

Michael B.:

Lovely. Well hopefully safe travels from the vacation. Safe travels to Austin, and we’ll be back on Thursday for a follow-up to tomorrow’s webinar on all things cybersecurity. So if you feel like having a conversation related to cybersecurity, come on back. We’ll see you here on YouTube again for a few minutes for our charter chat series on Thursday. Take care everyone. Bye-bye.

The idea of the audit can invite stress, and it’s understandable to feel daunted by the need to address compliance and other issues while you’re focused on the day-to-day aspects of growing a school. The Charter School Audits Guide Preparing Your School for the Annual Audit offers month-by-month breakdowns schools can use to stave off overwhelm. The key is preparing a little bit at a time.

Here’s what the plan looks like:

As seen in the chart above, month one is dedicated to the fiscal audit overall. That’s because month one is when schools have just completed the previous year’s audit, so first steps are about how to move forward from there.

For a detailed look at previous months, click the links below:

Month 1 – What do after your audit Month 2 – Post-audit conversations Month 3 – HR Month 4 – Insurance Month 5 – Operations

In Month 6, it’s time to take a look at your school’s budget. While this can feel like a daunting task, it’s an essential part of ensuring your school’s financial health.

Here’s a checklist you can use when examining your budget:

✔️ Check Your State Authorizer or Association for Yearly Milestones

Each state Authorizer or Association typically publishes a table of yearly milestones, so make sure to get a copy

✔️ Prepare Authorizer Templates and Worksheets

Use templates and worksheets provided by your Authorizer to ensure that your budget is in compliance with all regulations and requirements
Double-check your calculations and make sure all relevant information is included

✔️ Review Your Fiscal Year-End Budget

Take a close look at your fiscal year-end budget and compare it to actual expenses
Identify any discrepancies or areas where expenses were higher than expected, and make note of any adjustments you need to make in the future

✔️ Review Each Department’s Budget and Expenses

Evaluate each department’s budget and expenses, including Academics, SPED, Accounting, Facilities, HR, Finance, Recruiting, Marketing, Volunteers, etc.
Look for areas where you can reduce expenses or allocate resources more efficiently

✔️ Finalize Your Budget for the Next Fiscal Year

Make sure your budget for the next fiscal year is finalized and submitted by the July 1 deadline
Use the information you gathered from your fiscal audit to inform your budget planning for the upcoming year

Bonus: Create a 5-Year Forecast for Growth and Facilities Planning

If you want to take extra care in this area, consider creating a 5-year forecast to use for growth and facilities planning
This will showcase your dedication to your school’s long-term success and help you make informed decisions about resource allocation

By following these tips and being proactive about your school’s budget, you can ensure that your school is financially stable and well-positioned for growth and success. Remember to involve your team members in the process and seek guidance from your Authorizer and Back Office Provider as needed.

To take a deeper dive into this plan, download The Charter School Audits Guide Preparing Your School for the Annual Audit, a free guide for school leaders.

Cyber attacks are on the rise, and schools are becoming targets more often.

Why schools? An article in Forbes reports that the answer comes down to money—schools manage more than enough money to become an appealing target for criminals. And it’s only going to become more common: Alyson Klein reports in her article in EdWeek that the problem is only increasing as schools rely more and more forms of technology. As for who is carrying out these attacks, it depends on the case: anyone from bored students to offshore criminals can find a reason to attack a school’s files.

Understanding Types of Cyberattacks

Ever gotten an email from someone claiming you’d won a cash prize? Or maybe a text message from someone pretending to be a company you know, like Netflix, asking you to reset your password? These are forms of phishing, and they represent just one way cybercriminals can attempt to get private data.

Phishing

Phishing is a form of fraudulent solicitation via email or on a website. It can prompt someone to enter personal information while masquerading as a trustworthy entity.

Data Breach

Often called simply a “hack,” a data breach is when an unauthorized person gains access to sensitive, confidential, or protected information stored by your school.

Ransomware

A ransomware attack is when cyber criminals use malicious software to break into a school’s network and encrypt the data—so your school can no longer access it. As the word “ransom” suggests, they say they will only release the files back to the school if a certain amount is paid first. According to CNN, schools with limited cybersecurity measures are often the most vulnerable to ransomware.

Denial-of-Service Attack

This is known as a “crash”—when cybercriminals infiltrate a network with so many requests, it stops responding. This blocks those that need the network from being able to use it.

Pranks, Invasions, and Hacktivism

Online learning has given rise to pranks like “Zoombombing,” where an outside person gets into an online class and disrupts it with inappropriate—or even hateful— messages or images. Such pranks—which seem to stem solely from the desire to disrupt—can also occur in parent meetings, online performances, and over email. “Hacktivism” involves similar tactics and protests against school policies or changes.

What’s the Impact to Your School?

As a new academic year begins, a school district in Prince George’s County, Maryland, implemented new security measures to ensure the safety of its students. However, even before the school year started, the district fell victim to a cyberattack, highlighting the growing threat of ransomware attacks on educational institutions. The attack on Prince George’s County Public Schools followed a pattern seen in other districts, where threat actors infiltrate the computer network and demand a ransom for stolen data.

“Schools have this delicious trove of data and do not have the same protections as banks and other for-profit businesses,” says expert Jake Chanenson, lead author of a University of Chicago report on school district cyber risks.

In August 2023 alone, 11 K-12 school systems were targeted by ransomware gangs, and several more have reported attacks in the early months of the school year. (Read more about how the district responded to the attack and what it means for your school here: “It’s Back to School for Cyber Gangs, Too”)

Wasted Time

Often, schools must close during a cyberattack. According to a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) survey, “loss of learning following a cyberattack ranged from 3 days to 3 weeks, and recovery time could take anywhere from 2 to 9 months.”

Wasted Money

GAO reports losses due to cyberattacks are significant. They include replacing computer hardware and enhancing cybersecurity to prevent future attacks.

Learning Loss and Other Harm

Cyberattacks disrupt learning with their impact on students, their families, and teachers. If systems are down, teaching and record-keeping cannot be conducted as planned. A 2020 GAO study found that breached grades, bullying reports, and social security numbers left students “vulnerable to emotional, physical, and financial harm.”

What You Can Do

The number of cyberattacks against schools is staggering: GAO reports that in 2020 there were 1,196,000 ransomware attacks alone. (Their reports include a list of the most notable incidents over the last few years, which you can find here: “As Cyberattacks Increase on K-12 Schools, Here is What’s Being Done.”) Many law and policymakers are calling for better support around cybersecurity for schools. President Biden signed the K-12 Cybersecurity Act in October of 2021, in an effort to ensure that school systems are equipped with the knowledge and resources to protect themselves. (Find the full article here: “Cyber Attacks on Schools: Who, What, Why, and Now What?”)

About the Author

Mohammad Ahmed is the founder and CEO of Infinity Technologies, offering technology solutions to schools, healthcare facilities, and government agencies. He holds an MBA in management information systems and has over 20 years of professional IT experience.

More resources:

Key Takeaways from the Cybersecurity for School Leaders Webinar

In today’s digital age, schools are the guardians of sensitive data—data that requires robust cybersecurity. To address that need, we hosted Cybersecurity for School Leaders with cybersecurity experts Mohammad Ahmed and Preet Singh from SoftwareMSP. You can rewatch the webinar here or read on for key insights. The Current State of Cybersecurity in Education The […]

Tuesday Tips: Cybersecurity with Expert Sangar Safi

Free Download

Your Cybersecurity Guide

Mitigate the risk to your school by navigating two-factor authentication, backup data, and secure logins. Download this free guide on cybersecurity created in partnership with SoftwareMSP.

Get the Guide

The Need for Safe Spaces For LGBTQIA+ Students

The numbers say it all: students who identify as LGBTQIA+ are twice as likely to experience harassment, such as name-calling and verbal and physical abuse than their non-LGBTQIA+ classmates, and according to Mental Health America, they are four times more likely to take their own lives. LGBTQIA+ students face unique challenges that negatively affect their mental health and education, which means providing them with safe spaces is essential—bullying in schools is on the rise. The landscape, too, is constantly shifting—a recent reinterpretation of the Title IX law, which protects students from sexual discrimination at federally funded schools, does not protect transgender students. The erasure of transgender students from Title IX is seen as a significant shortcoming by parents and LGBTQIA+ allies, who believe they should be able to depend on state and federal leaders and lawmakers to protect marginalized students.

What can charter schools do to help LGBTQIA+ students?

Charter schools can offer support and safety to LGBTQIA+ students in many ways, such as anti-bullying training for students and staff, school clubs for LGBTQIA+ students, and establishing clear, comprehensive bullying and harassment policies. Read on for best practices.

1. Teach Kindness

There are many great resources for teaching the value of kindness, and it’s a key component of social-emotional learning curriculums. School leaders know that making kindness an integral part of a school’s culture goes beyond putting the word on the wall—it involves weaving it into your school’s mission, continually identifying it in the school community, and being sure students are empowered and supported to enact it in and outside the classroom.

2. Implement Anti-Bullying Policies

Setting up systemic measures that address curtailing, re-channeling, and reducing bullying sets the tone. It signals to students and teachers alike that your school actively discourages bullying and creates protocols to follow when students engage in bullying. This also avoids leaving teachers to pursue ad-hoc measures.

3. Embrace Visibility & Representation

Being sure LGBTQIA+ people are visible and represented in your school means elevating their voices. Schools have done this by bringing in LGBTQIA+ guest speakers or highlighting LGBTQIA+ historical figures in the classroom. Schools have also participated in Pride Month, National Coming Out Day, Transgender Day of Visibility, and Transgender Day of Remembrance or created a GSA (Gender & Sexuality Alliance).

4. Ensure School Facilities Are Safe

Your school can ensure your LGBTQIA+ students are safe in your building. It’s a good idea to have non-gendered bathroom options for non-binary students and decisive policies that ensure LGBTQIA+ students can use school bathrooms, lockers, and changing rooms without fear or anxiety.

5. Use Language

Inclusive language includes addressing each student by their chosen name and correct pronouns. It includes saying “your parents” rather than “your mom and dad.” It’s a collection of language choices that signify “I acknowledge the diversity of human experience.”

6. Engage in Diversity

Building intentionally diverse schools take dedication. It requires constantly challenging one’s focal point and seeing the world through someone else’s eyes. Embracing diversity in charter schools allows all students to benefit from the educational programs your charter school offers, undistracted by microaggressions, bullying, or unintentional signals that make a child feel like an outsider. Embracing diversity also allows each student in your school to feel like they belong in your school. There are excellent trainers on this topic – educators with lived experience and academic and professional backgrounds in racial and gender diversity and social justice. These folks can deeply enrich your staff’s understanding and make your school a safer environment for LGBTQIA+ students.

Anti-Bullying Resources by State

California Department of Education: Bullying Prevention Training & Resources
Colorado Department of Education: Best Practices in Bullying Prevention and Intervention
Florida Department of Education: Bullying Prevention
Idaho Department of Education: Stop Bullying in Idaho
Iowa Department of Education: Anti-Bullying/Anti-Harassment
Kentucky Department of Education: Bullying and Harassment
Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools:
Maine Department of Education: Bullying Prevention
Mass.gov: Massachusetts law about bullying and cyberbullying
Minnesota Department of Education: Bullying Prevention and Help
Missouri Department of Elementary & Secondary Education: Bullying
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction: Bullying Prevention
Ohio Department of Education: Anti-Bullying: Strategies and Resources for Educators
Pennsylvania Department of Education: Bullying Prevention
South Carolina Department of Education: Bullying
Tennesee Department of Education: Bullying & Harassment
Texas Education Agency: Coordinated School Health – Bullying and Cyberbullying
Virginia Department of Education: Bullying Prevention
Washington State Governor’s Office of Education Ombuds: School’s Role in Prevention of Bullying
Wisconsin Department of Public Education: A Comprehensive Approach to Bullying Prevention

Understanding the Research

Recommendations

A Top Concern for the Second Year in a Row: Teacher Retention

Teacher Retention Resources

Teacher Retention for 2023 & Beyond: How to Build a Lasting Relationship

Hiring and Supporting Special Education Teachers

Teacher Retention Guide

The Current State of Cybersecurity in Education

Understanding the Impact and First Line of Defense

Choosing the Right Partner

Learn More

✔️ Check Your State Authorizer or Association for Yearly Milestones

✔️ Prepare Authorizer Templates and Worksheets

✔️ Review Your Fiscal Year-End Budget

✔️ Finalize Your Budget for the Next Fiscal Year

Bonus: Create a 5-Year Forecast for Growth and Facilities Planning

Cyber attacks are on the rise, and schools are becoming targets more often.

Understanding Types of Cyberattacks

What’s the Impact to Your School?

What You Can Do

About the Author

More resources:

Key Takeaways from the Cybersecurity for School Leaders Webinar

Tuesday Tips: Cybersecurity with Expert Sangar Safi

Your Cybersecurity Guide

The Need for Safe Spaces For LGBTQIA+ Students

What can charter schools do to help LGBTQIA+ students?

1. Teach Kindness

2. Implement Anti-Bullying Policies

3. Embrace Visibility & Representation

4. Ensure School Facilities Are Safe

5. Use Language

6. Engage in Diversity

News:

LGBTQ+ Resources

Anti-Bullying Resources

Anti-Bullying Resources by State