In The Untapped Power of Summer to Advance Student Achievement THE LEARNING EXECUTIVE SUMMARY By Beth M. Miller, Ph.D. (note: this hyperlink is to a pdf – so by clicking it it will download the document which you can then open) many excellent ideas and much useful information is shared. Some of the information is [...]
The quotes below are from a book titled: Leading for Powerful Learning: A Guide for Instructional Leaders by Angela Breidenstein, Kevin Fahey, Carl Glickman and Frances Hensley (2012) from Teachers College Press. This is a good book for any and all formal and informal school leaders who 1) want to be part of schools that [...]
If we care about the education of today’s youth it behooves us to take adult learning seriously. We adults can learn our way into the future or we can hold onto the status quo in our classrooms/schools or we can defer to the massive network of sales people promoting a multitude of educational products. I [...]
These are the rankings for the top colleges from around the world that competed in the international Collegiate Programming Contest in 2012. Students from universities from around the world competed for bragging rights and prizes at The 36th Annual ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest World Finals sponsored by IBM on May of 2012. The contest pits [...]
I have had the good fortune to both write the foreword and contribute a chapter for this Teachers College Press book. The Foreword focuses on the value of “thinking together”. The chapter I wrote is titled: “Creating and Influencing Momentum: The Challenges and Power of Adults Thinking Interdependently”. Additionally, I work with Patricia Reeves with [...]
We all need to stop and think deeply about what we want for all children. I am convinced that the ‘easy answer’ of letting narrow products, “tests”, measure the value of schools to our society is foolhardy! Further, I am convinced that our society needs to be investing in ways to improve education for all [...]
What does it take to change, grow, and/or create? Innovation is part of the answer. And then another question becomes: What are the qualities of innovation? Jeff DeGraff says that – Innovation: is not defined by what it is; but rather what it is not happens in the future for which we have no real [...]
We will benefit by appreciating both the complexity of dramatically improve education and the opportunity to uncap much more potential of our youth as we tackle the challenges ahead to improving education. There is no way to avoid appreciating the complexity of the many challenges related to improving education: poverty levels for children rising in [...]
As I read the introduction to Stephen Johnson’s new book, Future Perfect: The Case for Progress in a Networked Age, 2012 I find myself thinking about the interconnectedness of today’s outcomes to the work of many in the years past. In the process of setting up his book, Johnson retells about the story of the [...]
Yes, we talk about the many achievement gaps that exist in our schools. We tackle these ‘gaps’ with rigorous effect. And many learners improve and many learners do not. Often the improvement is incremental as opposed to dramatic. A given student or group of students in a specific subgroup improves from 39% proficiency to 43% [...]
Do we want to be part of a society where education truly benefits all? Where education can lead toward upward mobility? Do we want more students learning at higher levels? How can we as a society dramatically increase the numbers of young people who achieve at high levels in language arts, math, science and social [...]
The following information is current and provides food for thought about the current reality of Pursuing the American Dream: Economic Mobility Across Generations (which is the title of the report Written by The Pew Charitable Trusts). I am sharing what follows because questions come to my mind as I think about this data. Americans’ relative [...]
Doug Reeves has presented five educational MYTHS that beg to be dealt with head on. We educators are just the right folks to tackle the myths. As you read the myths please think about what role technology could play in busting that myth. The following five myths are based on page 91 – 99 of [...]
In an interview some weeks ago with Weekend Edition Saturday‘s host Scott Simon, Gates went on to say. “The goal is to help teachers be better,” Gates said. “And when we run personnel systems where we want to be frank with employees about where they need to improve, having [evaluations] publicly available is not conducive [...]
Technology is an asset when it comes to schools meeting the challenge of insuring that more students learn at higher levels. Whether you are a formal or informal leader in schools I believe it is important for you to know what you value when it comes to technology and learning. Then it is important to [...]
Bullying is potentially brutal. So, when the topic of Bullying is presented in a documentary movie the movie cannot be made without tackling the ugly facts and patterns of this serious issue. The movie Bully is not a ‘sugar coated’ covering of the topic. It is a serious movie about a serious topic! My wife [...]
What follows is a section of Levinson and Grieder’s book: Following Through:A Revolutionary New Model for Finishing Whatever You Start p. 35 & 36 (2007). I am fascinated by their example of how a squirrel’s brain is ‘hard wired’ to accomplish certain very specific tasks. Mr. Squirrel collects acorns for the winter because he’s pre-programmed [...]
Over 4 years ago this short video first appeared. I saw it during that first year and I am showing it now, some four years later with a few questions. Has much changed for school aged learners? Are there more opportunities for ‘engagement’ with each other by way of technology? Is it common throughout the [...]
Are the issues of poverty, the lack of English as a first language and the fact that a student is labeled as a Special Education Student reasons why we, in America have many school systems that are experiencing static or regressive achievement results? Does it matter how educators approach the reality of today’s students? Can [...]
I have just returned from two weeks in India. We had the good fortune to spend time in many sectors of modern India. We visited a k – 12 school and talked with a the principal and the state commissioner of education. They spoke of the fact that they would be providing every tenth grader [...]
A bright future for student learning isn’t just a dream!! For effective and helpful leaders – having a clear vision or dream is an essential! In a very simple sense – developing a shared dream or collectively embracing a clear vision – is the work of leadership. “Shared dreams” or a “common vision” provide for [...]
Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in the Morehouse College newspaper The Marion Tiger in the January – February issue of 1947 about his concern for what it means to be truly educated. Among his comments were these: “To think incisively and to think for one’s self is very difficult. We are prone to let our mental life become invaded [...]
Dads and Moms, Grandpas and Grandmas Consider Reading to the Young People in Your Life about Martin Luther King Jr. Here are suggestions for three books that I suggest would be good read alouds about Martin Luther King for to the children in your life. Obviously, these are not the only good ideas of [...]
That Used To Be Us: How America Fell Behind In The World It Invented and How We Can Come Back by Thomas L. Frieman and Michael Mandelbaum (2011) was the book that made the biggest impression on me this year. I see this book to be an honest analysis of the America we are living [...]
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