A Better Path to Learning

Tag: teachers

  • We Need Innovation and We Need it Now

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    This past spring, Getting Smart, a Washington-based group committed to helping leaders, schools, and systems ideate, design, and implement innovations for equity, released a report titled Building an Innovation Index. The report was written by Nate McClennen, Getting Smart’s Vice-President for Strategy and Innovation. Nate earned a reputation as a learning leader when he served…

  • 100 Years to Thrive, Part 2

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    Yesterday I wrote about a Stanford University’s Center on Longevity report titled The New Map for Life: 100 Years to Thrive. A copy of yesterday’s article can be found here. Today, let’s discuss the implications this report might have for our country’s public education system and the probable need for a new system of learning.…

  • 100 Years to Thrive

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    Back in November of 2021, Stanford University’s Center on Longevity issued a report that caught my eye. The report, titled The New Map of Life: 100 Years to Thrive, details what we can expect moving forward as our human longevity continues to increase. The report begins with a startling statement: “In the United States, demographers…

  • Friday News Roundup

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    It’s August! Time for back to school shopping and maybe a quick vacation with the family. Even though school starts here in Iowa August 23rd, the educational news the past few weeks has been rather slow. But there’s a few items to share today, so let’s get to it. Ed Dept. Announces New Push to…

  • We’re Losing Quality Learning Leaders!

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    Former elementary teacher and current freelance write Paul Veracka writes in a recent EducationWeek article “It was these three major education forces – too much standardized testing, too much punitive discipline, and too little funding – that pushed me to leaving the profession, a profession I excelled in and even loved.” Veracka shares a story…

  • The Kids Know

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    When I was a middle school and high school principal, I paid more attention to the students than their parents or teachers when it came to school culture issues. I always told adults that they would be smarter if they convinced students to come speak with me about something they wanted changed than the adults…

  • Schools Just Can’t

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    Before I rode across Iowa on a bike last week, I had a chance to read an interesting article in EducationWeek. Written by Jeff Frank, an associate education professor at St. Lawrence University, the title of the article was “Want to Value Every Student? Stop Pretending Schools Don’t Pick Winners and Losers.” Frank writes “There…

  • The Short Order Cook and Her Two Daughters (and other commentary)

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    I’m back f,rom my great bike ride across Iowa. One week, 468 miles, several pulled pork sandwiches, slices of strawberry-rhubarb pie, too many biscuit and gravy breakfasts to mention, and a wonderful time with 18,000 other bike riders. For those of you unfamiliar, this ride is called RAGBRAI, an acronym for the Register’s (as in…

  • Friday News Roundup

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    It’s Friday, time for the news roundup. Despite Urgency, New National Tutoring Effort Could Take 6 Months to Ramp Up (The 74) The 74 recently reported: “With a third pandemic summer underway, the Biden administration’s new push to recruit 250,000 tutors and mentors is getting a late start in helping students recover from academic and…

  • Owning Your Data

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    A good friend of mine served as a school board member in Houston when I was a public school educator there. She used to say, “Scott, there is only one way to know if kids are learning or not – you have to test them. If you don’t test them, then how do you know?”…