Tag: students

I’ve said it before. I’ll say it again. Everyone needs a coach. A coach helps you set goals. A coach helps you define your work. A coach helps you plan your path. A coach is there to provide feedback once you begin executing your plan. A coach is there to help you assess your progress…

Donald Trump is the second President of the United States to serve two non-successive terms., along with Grover Cleveland. Although public education has never been a priority of Trump’s, it might be worth looking at the issues that could become important over the next four years. Last week, The 74’s Linda Jacobson outlined controversial school…

As most ABPTL readers know, I spend a lot of time in Des Moines, Iowa. Last week the Des Moines Public Schools released a five-year district improvement plan designed to improve learning for kids enrolled in the Iowa’s largest district. The Des Moines Register reported that, “The Des Moines Public Schools community has received its…

And then there’s Oklahoma. A few days ago I shared a story about the Los Angeles Unified School District and their attempts to assist undocumented immigrant families by educating them about their rights and establishing district policies intended to protect young learners during school time. But Oklahoma is a different place and a different story.…

Social-emotional learning (SEL), like other subjects in our ultra-partisan country, has unfairly been criticized by the conservative right as being something it’s not – some type of “woke” movement designed to brainwash our youth to think a certain way. What makes SEL especially interesting these days is that, even though it’s criticized by some as…

I’m back after a few days of vacation. Imagine being a 5-year-old kindergartner, excited to learn and grow. But while you are sitting on the rug waiting for your teacher to read you an after-lunch story, five badged men walk into your classroom and tell you to get up and come with them. Turns out,…

Every year, Rick Hess, director of Education Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute and author of an EducationWeek opinion blog, publishes his Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings. It’s been awhile since I paid attention to Hess’s list, so I thought 2025 would be a good year to catch up on who is making the list…

When I’m asked what qualities a learning coach would possess, a learning coach being an adult learning leader responsible for building learning plans with young learners and then supporting those young learners as they work to become smarter and stronger, I think of attributes we have already identified for traditional education leaders like school principals.…