It’s Official: New York is making it easier for students with disabilities to graduate this year

New York students with disabilities can now graduate high school without passing most Regents exams. The dramatic move by New York’s education policymakers could…

Specialist teachers in elementary schools

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/master-leadership/id1119005931…

It seems we all take for granted that, unless a child is disabled in some way, by the time they are five years old, she or he can both walk and talk. They understand basic language and they can follow simple directions. We expect that there are variations in the capacities of children to accomplish these but also expect that they all can do it in some form. These days in addition to walking, talking, understanding, and following directions, some can read a bit and use technology. They…

This is the time that calls for leadership with a capital "L".  Building leaders cannot be successful as one or the other, managers or instructional leaders, nor can their superintendents. In order to meet the demands of this century, the leaders' success can only be found in becoming a Leader. Those in positions of power, authority and responsibility, who are responsible for safety, making sure rules are followed, records are accurately kept, jobs are done properly, instruction is…

Ideas and Tools to Give Everyone a Voice…

 Here is one of my favorite themes: Almost everything we see discussed is the SURFACE of education. The skin. The outside. The superficial stuff that doesn't really matter.

 I think our Education Establishment is truly brilliant at keeping people distracted and bewildered. The trick is to get people discussing things that are not primary. Throw out five or 10 excuses for why the schools are bad – kids are lazy, parents don't care, there's not enough money, the Internet is…

Against Personalized Learning

Annie Murphy Paul

A couple of years ago, educator Benjamin Riley kicked up a fuss with a blog post provocatively titled “Don’t Personalize Learning.” Personalized learning, of course, is a very popular notion; as he slyly noted, it’s “a head-nodder phrase”: “Sprinkle the word into virtually any conversation or speech regarding education, and you’ll typically see at least a handful of heads nodding in the room in happy…

Shaping Our Tools to Fit the Brain

Annie Murphy Paul

We all have experience with things like ergonomic chairs: seats that are designed with the human body in mind. The designer of an ergonomic chair has to have a solid working knowledge of the human body and how it operates in order to build a chair that will be comfortable, supportive, and appealing to sit in. The same is true of the technological tools we use: the people who design them have to…

Using the Social Brain to Promote Learning

Annie Murphy Paul

A recent brain-imaging study showed just how powerfully teenagers are influenced by their peers. That's not necessarily bad news, however: “If your teen’s friends are displaying positive behavior, then it’s fabulous that your teen will see that behavior and be influenced by it,” said study author Lauren Sherman, a researcher at UCLA. Sherman's observation lines up with a favorite idea of mine:…

Three Ways I’ve Become A Better Listener

By Crystal Morey May 27, 2016 8:25 am…

David Brooks on Deciding Better

In this New York Times column, David Brooks explores what he calls the “choice explosion” over the last 30 years – the ever-expanding variety of options Americans have on what we eat, media sources, spiritual beliefs, lifestyles, identities. Our culture has always embraced individual choice, says Brooks, as compared, for example, to the Japanese, who prefer…