It is not unusual to find an article or book that resonates and, with the best of intentions, it turns into something that seems good for the school.  Sharing the idea with staff, sending out the article or recommending the book are good professional practices but be wary of the eye rolling and the quiet whispering of "where is he/she taking us now"?   Read…

What a week we have had. The issue of race in America has been in the forefront, in graphic images, stunning in their content and implications. Fear, hate, guns, and killings became an inescapable part of America's summer of 2016. In the days following the fatal shooting of two black men, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, by police, the news media ran the onsite cell phone videos. Suddenly, we were all present in the convenience store parking lot and in the car stopped on the…

Is it a good thing? Should students learn lots of it?

 The reality of our K-12 system is that knowledge is in disrepute, and children don't learn much knowledge anymore.

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 Jesse Watters and Mark Dice conduct interviews in the street, asking people easy questions. A lot of people don't know the answers. It's easy to find videos by these two men on YouTube. (It's also instructive to watch the people…

3 Important Lessons We’re Learning from Teacher Evaluations

by Todd Whitlock

https://www.standardforsuccess.com/lessons-from-teacher-evaluations/

Although many reforms have been made in teacher evaluations, including those under President…

WHO TOOK THE PROFESSION OUT OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT?

If you know all about saccades, you may not need to read this short article.

But there are millions of people teaching school who never heard the word saccade. That means they can't possibly…

While others develop shared standards that serve schools across our country, on the ground, schools receive children who are self-starters, well prepared, motivated and present. At the same time, they also receive children who are poor, hungry, ill prepared, unmotivated, troubled, and some, disabled. Our goal is to have them all ready.  We cannot do this alone.  …