Author: svb802

It’s hard to be a teacher these days. They are blamed for everything that is wrong with our public education system, and sometimes more. But what if everything that ails our public education system – and there’s a lot – isn’t the fault of teachers? Last week, Alexandra Robbins, a New York Times bestselling author,…

Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week. It’s hard to think that teachers feel appreciated when their starting pay is less than $50,000 nationally, they receive unrelenting criticism for everything that is wrong inside our public school system, and their profession faces future peril since enrollments in teacher-preparation programs are quickly declining. But maybe the condition…

If I was a young person today, I would be confused about the mixed messages on becoming a public school teacher. A few weeks ago, EducationWeek online released teacher pay data for each of the U.S. states. The article stated, “Average teacher pay ticked up slightly in the last year, but it has failed to…

Getting Smart’s Nate McClennen recently authored a report titled “Credentialed Learning For All.” In the report, McClennen writes, “When a learner completes a program of study, they receive credentials. These credentials validate that the learner has demonstrated proficiency in all the recognized skills. The high school diploma and numerous industry certifications are credentials that often…

I receive a lot of emails that start with “10 ways to improve your math scores,” or “6 strategies to improve your classroom reading performance.” At this point in my career (which is basically over), I tend to ignore any title sent to me that begins with “___ ways.” But there was one article (advertisement)…

I love my wife. But for the life of me I cannot understand how she critiques my call for a new learning system while ignoring how bad the current public system is for most kids. I’ve written about this predicament before. She, along with others, seem more interested in explaining why a new learning system…

For 10 years, I worked as an executive director of an educational non-profit committed to improving public schools through leadership practices and classroom outcomes. Part of my work was raising money from private foundations to supplement the fee for service payments from our partner school districts. Even though some private philanthropists have made a difference…

The traditional school system has convinced itself that all they need to do to fix their problems is to identify, recruit, hire, and retain qualified school leaders and classroom teachers. Districts spend a lot of money trying to get the right people on the bus if you will. But what if all that effort and…

TGIF! Here’s your Friday News Roundup. Black Parent Open to New Forms of Schooling, Polling Suggests (The 74) One positive that came from the COVID pandemic seems to be empowering black parents of school-aged kids. According to a recent article in The 74 online, “Black parents say they play a much more active role in…