Category: Learnings

How many transformational teachers were you lucky enough to have during your K-12 schooling experience? 10? 15? More? Less? Now think back to why those teachers were transformational. I’m guessing it wasn’t because of their knowledge of math or that they were able to teach noun/verb relationships like no other. No, those teachers, and other…

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the difference between our traditional K-12 public school system and a personalized learning one. I’d like to borrow some of David Brooks’s TED talk on “Should You Live for Your Resume…or Your Eulogy?” Brooks is an opinion columnist at The New York Times and an author of numerous…

Devin Vodicka and Katie Martin, from the Learner-Centered Collaborative, are smart people. Theoretically, both are spot on when it comes to what young learners need in their lives to become smarter and stronger with their reading, writing, problem-solving, and character development skills. There’s only one problem. Most of what they preach can’t be done to…

The Raleigh News & Observer reported this week that, “…Democrat Mo Green has a 2-to-3 point lead over Republican Michele Morrow in the race for state superintendent of public instruction. The race has received more attention than normal for a down-ballot race due to…coverage of Morrow’s history of controversial social media posts.” Dana Milbank, opinion…

Our traditional K-12 public school system doesn’t know how to scale successful start-up programs well. For example, small tutoring programs, started after the COVID-19 pandemic to catch kids up in their reading, writing, and problem-solving tasks, have struggled to grow to impact more kids. Recently, The 74 reported that, “As schools struggled to overcome the…

Traditional school leaders try to convince their public that consolidating schools will save the taxpayer money. It doesn’t look like that’s true in Vermont. Recently, Vermont Public reported that, “As state and local officials debate what should be done about the rising cost of education, the conversation often returns to Act 46, the 2015 law…

Recently, Rick Hess, an opinion contributor at EducationWeek, interviewed Lindsey Burke, lead author on the education section in Project 2025, the controversial agenda issued earlier this year by the Heritage Foundation. According to Hess, “Given the attention is has drawn, the questions it’s raised, and the fact that it seems likely to be an object…

It’s amazing how America has become focused on issues that are, at best peripheral, when it comes to mattering much in our daily lives. Our politics are filled with these types of issues right now. For example, 7.6% of U.S. adults identify as LGBTQ+, but the amount of time we spend debating about gay rights,…

More on competency-based learning. Recently, EducationWeek published an article titled “What Educators Have to Say About Competency-Based Education.” The educators’ remarks are mixed – some positive, some negative – but overall one has to wonder, based upon these comments, if competency-based education can ever replace “seat time” within our traditional K-12 public school system. The…

When it comes to assessing learning, it’s time for competency-based outcomes to replace seat time. It’s time for young learners to demonstrate skills – like reading, writing, problem-solving, and character development – versus knowing the 50 states of the United States or the first 20 elements on the periodic chart. As EducationWeek reported recently (“It’s…