News

Home » News
  • Teaching Online with Fidelity

    By Jeff Simmons, IDLA Superintendant This fall, we had the opportunity to collaborate with some of our peers at the 2024 VLLA Conference. The Virtual Learning Leadership Alliance (VLLA) is an organization of 20 state virtual schools. We work together, share best practices, and build capacity in each other. IDLA is an original group member […]

  • IDLA: Helping to Fill Gaps in the Teacher Pipeline

    By Jeff Simmons, IDLA Superintendent It’s no secret that Idaho schools struggle to find qualified teachers to fill classrooms. The issue is not specific to rural schools, as even our larger school districts can find it challenging to recruit. Teaching is a demanding profession, and public education is a tough climate to work in today. […]

  • Driving Lessons

    By Jeff Farden, Director of Supervision and Instruction Growing up in Caldwell, I vividly remember when the two-lane interstate between Canyon County and Ada County was a special route, reserved for back-to-school shopping trips or the occasional field trip to the zoo. Traveling into Boise felt distinct, with each city along the way having its […]

  • What’s Your 1% Goal?

    By Jeff Simmons, IDLA Superintendent Change can be hard. Even thinking about change can be overwhelming when we have so much on our plates. But we can’t let workload and stress prevent us from making positive changes. So what’s the solution? Ron Clark, former Disney Teacher of the Year, addressed this in his keynote at […]

  • Quality Written Into Every Course

    By Jeff Simmons, IDLA Superintendent Kentucky Fried Chicken makes each piece of chicken with a secret blend of 11 herbs and spices. The secret recipe of Coca-Cola is supposedly stored in a vault in Atlanta. A quick Google search will lead you to recipes for both that internet sleuths and home cooks have determined is […]

  • IDLA’s AI Strategy

    By Jeff Simmons, IDLA Superintendent In a previous IDLA blog, Ryan Gravette shared the importance of using AI to “augment the human process.” AI is best used to support humans, not replace them. At IDLA, we believe AI will be a tool available to all of this generation’s students throughout their working careers. Students entering […]

  • The Power of Relationships

    Critical learning components include a strong curriculum, research-based instructional practices, and an environment that supports learners. One often overlooked critical component of learning is relationships. A healthy, supportive relationship with a caring adult is a success factor for all learners. Researchers studied foster youth who successfully transitioned from high school to college. What was the […]

  • IDLA Driver’s Education

    By Jeff Simmons, IDLA Superintendant One of the new laws on the books as of July 1, 2024 (H 531) allows parents to serve as the in-car instructor for their students as long as the student completes the IDLA classroom portion of the course. In this blog post, I’ll break down this law and share […]

  • There are Many Paths

    By Jeff Simmons, IDLA Superintendent Idaho Digital Learning Alliance (IDLA) was created in 2002 to provide “…choice, accessibility, flexibility, quality and equity in curricular offerings for students in this state.” As part of our mission, IDLA is proud to provide all students across Idaho with multiple pathways to their chosen college and career. Also included […]