A Better Path to Learning

Tag: students

  • Why Don’t We Do What We Know?

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    I’m back from my travels. I hope everyone enjoyed a peaceful and restful holiday season. And I hope all of us keep our new year’s resolutions – at least through the month of January. At the end of 2022, The 74 posted an article listing their most significant education studies of 2022. Let’s take a…

  • Looking Back at 2022

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    This will be my last column for 2022, so I thought it would be a good idea to review the year utilizing charts and studies most significant when it comes to telling this year’s public education story. Yesterday, The 74 published an article that shared 14 charts designed to help us better understand COVID’s impact…

  • Our Public Schools Are Struggling

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    Whenever systems struggle, human resources seem to be at the top of the list of problematic indicators associated with that struggle. Our public school  system is struggling. At the top of the human resources chain, The 74 reported this week that, “Half of the nation’s 500 largest school districts have changed superintendents or are in…

  • Big Rocks!

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    I spent all my professional career teaching and leading schools in Texas. When I first arrived to the Lone Star State in 1984 the public school system had a state curriculum known as “Essential Elements”. Later, the “Essential Elements” turned into the “Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills”, or “TEKS”. A big problem with the “Essential…

  • The Art of Questioning

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    I’m a big fan of feedback. And, let’s get one thing clear – standardized tests should no longer be considered effective forms of feedback, as we’ve come to use them over the years, if they ever were. Feedback is best used as a learning tool when it’s specific, personal, and inquiry-based. Today, we focus on…

  • Friday News Roundup

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    Here’s your Friday News Roundup Schools Face ‘Urgency Gap’ on Pandemic Recovery: 5 Takeaways from New Study (The 74) The 74 reported this week that “New research on post-pandemic student achievement presents a sobering picture, offering a reality check for anyone who might think recovery is proceeding apace.” “The study, from CALDER at the American…

  • Defenders of a Broken System Aren’t Helping

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    This week seems to be the week when I’ve been critical of those who continue to defend a broken public school system, hoping to fix it while some make money from it. We covered Rudy Crew and Pedro Noguera and their attempt to leave no child behind by emphasizing reduced class sizes, extended instructional days,…

  • Beware of the Defenders

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    In Monday’s column I wrote about Rudy Crew and Pedro Noguera’s recent article titled “What It Really Takes to Leave No Child Behind.” In the article, Crew and Noguera encourage the traditional public school system to change their ways so that all kids inside their system can receive an excellent education. Crew and Noguera use…

  • $250 Billion of Action Research

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    According to U.S. Department of Education statistics, over 2.5 million students currently attend low performing public schools across the nation. I’ve been in my share of low performing schools. Most of them aren’t nice places to be. Toxic in fact. Some raise moral and ethical questions about why we continue to expect black, brown, and…

  • It’s Time for a Change

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    Last week, Rudy Crew and Pedro Noguera published an article titled “What It Takes to Truly Leave No Child Behind” in the ASCD Newsletter. Rudy Crew is a professor at the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California and previously served as the Chancellor of New York City Schools from 1995-2000. Pedro…