Tag: parents

  • These Charts Don’t Lie

    EducationWeek released a report this past May titled “Laptops and Learning: 5 Trends in K-12 Education in 5 Charts.” What is revealed in these charts is interesting, especially if you are someone like me who is frustrated by the implementation gap between a young learner’s desire to learn virtually and an adult learning leader’s ability…

  • The Writing Is On the Wall

    Usually, the sign of a dysfunctional system is when outputs suffer. In other words, the system is not able to produce the results desired from its users. Recently, in the case of the current public education system, we have more evidence that today’s public school system is not working well for its users – namely…

  • What’s Real About Learning Loss?

    Like most issues in America these days, there is a raging debate about “learning loss.” Because of losing school time due to the COVID pandemic, some fear America’s youth are falling behind in their reading and mathematical problem-solving abilities, while others feel young learners haven’t lost much ground in those areas and, instead, have become…

  • Friday News Roundup

    It’s Friday! Time for the Roundup. Carol Ann Tomlinson: My Dream for This Extraordinary School Year (EducationWeek) Carol Ann Tomlinson has earned a reputation as a leading voice for differentiated instruction. In this article, Tomlinson shares some of her dreams for this school year: “In my dream, a teacher waits at the classroom door with…

  • We are Stronger Learners when We Have Options

    We must be careful not to let traditional school districts control the conversation when it comes to young learners and their ability to learn virtually. If you would just listen to the traditionalists, then you might get the feeling that every kid struggled with out of school learning over the past two to three years,…

  • There’s a New Sheriff in Town

    I’ve always been interested in what the folks at Bellwether are working on. Bellwether is a national nonprofit that exists to transform education to ensure systemically marginalized young people achieve outcomes that lead to fulfilling lives and flourishing communities. Now that’s a mouthful and, admittedly, a tall order! I remember when Andy Smarick, at the…

  • A Learning Lesson from Florida (That’s Right! Florida!)

    I’m still writing about articles I read while sitting on a dock a few weeks ago. This article, printed in The 74 online newsletter, caught my attention since I’m attracted to stories about traditional school leaders who break away to begin something new and exciting. Written by Michael Q. McShane, director of national research at…

  • We’re Caught in a Trap (and I’m not talking Elvis here)

    The Des Moines Register recently published an article highlighting six new superintendents hired recently to lead Des Moines area school districts. One of the questions asked by the newspaper reporter was: “What are the top three things you are spending ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) funds on? And how are you going to…

  • Friday News Roundup

    It’s been a while since I’ve released a Friday News Roundup, so, with the beginning of the school year, we have a lot to catch up on regarding news that impacts learning. So here we go… U.S. Education Secretary Cardona: How to Fix Teacher Shortages, Create Safe Schools (EducationWeek) Right before school started, EducationWeek reporter…

  • Seeing into The Future

    One of the challenges, to those of us who want our traditional school system changed into something more centered on the individual learner, is the inability of others to “see” what that future might look like. I ran across an article recently shared by Education Reimagined, that might help us “see” better into the future…