Dear Dr. John King,

As we close out the third month of this hectic and busy school year, I felt compelled to sit down and write you this letter on behalf of my son, my students, my colleagues, many parents and all of the dedicated and passionate educators throughout the great state of New York (and beyond). I know it has been almost a year and a half since you have taken over as Commissioner of Education in New York State and in that short time, you have brought about…

Twitter has been a topic for educational Bloggers for several years now. I believe that those educators using Twitter are drawn to those posts, while other educators, not using Twitter, are driven away. Maybe the problem is the emphasis, or focus of the blog posts. Maybe the focus should be on relevance and no mention of twitter. Are educators relevant in our technology-driven society?  The obvious answer is that some are, and some are not. A more important question is which of these two…

Four Questions on Common Core and Reading Assessment

A high level of scrutiny and uncertainty surrounds the first assessments tied to the Common Core State Standards. Questions abound. How will these assessments interact with other assessments? How will they affect…

What Kind of Success Does 'Character' Predict?

IQ, the time-honored predictor of school success, has a new rival: “character.” As described by Paul Tough, who initially popularized these ideas in a …

By the time you read this—however you spent Thanksgiving—what was served, and how you spent time together with family will have morphed into the frenzy that is often associated with the start of the traditional holiday season.  As I took the time on Wednesday, November 21^st to express my appreciation to the staff of our school district prior to the actual holiday break I was reminded of the many things that I am thankful for, especially at this time of year.

The…

When I accepted an invitation to attend the World Innovation Summit on Education, WISE2012, in Doha, Qatar, I had absolutely no idea what I was getting into. In my own arrogance I thought I was a seasoned education conference attendee. I have been to maybe a…

Don't Let Data Drive Your Dialogue

Dr. Bruce Beairsto

4 November 2010