When the Education Establishment tries to blame parents, students, and teachers (that is, anybody but themselves), you know this is hugely self-serving. Blaming everyone but yourself is called CYA all around the world.

  Now, why would the people actually in charge of the public schools be held responsible? The Education Establishment would like to ask that question as they…

New York State is a hotbed of this resistance and opposition movement. With the former Commissioner of Education now in DC, recent appointee Commissioner Elia has begun a walk back from her predecessor's agenda. She worked to find or develop better tests.  She has effected a temporary uncoupling of student results and teacher and principal evaluations. For this year's administration, tests are untimed and questions will be released at the close of the scoring window. In her brief…

K-12 Principals, Get Your Irish On

• Ed Week

At last year's conference of the Irish Primary Principals' Network, in Dublin, I was surprised to find myself still awake at 3 a.m., as more than 300 of the 1,200 attendees socialized in the hotel…

Coaching vs. Supervising

During a lunch time conversation with a veteran teacher, the discussion turned to the value of supervision; that is the ability of a supervisor to help a teacher improve upon his or her instructional practices. My colleague was brutally frank, “I’ve been teaching for more than twenty years. I can honestly say that I have never received feedback from a supervisor that was valuable enough to make me a better…

 March Madness...NCAA basketball for non-sports enthusiasts...is over. Villanova won the men's championship with a "buzzer shot". When an interviewer asked Kris Jenkins, the 3 point shooter, when he knew the shot would be a good one, Kris responded by saying he knew when he received the pass. It came to him exactly right. Here was the star of the night, a college junior, acknowledging the teammate who passed the ball. That's a team at work.

What to do when your team isn't in…

Education Revolution ran an article listing what they said were the really bad things in K-12 education.

 I disagreed. They were the worst things from the progressive point of view. But if you asked an average person, you would probably find a blank stare. What's so bad about that?

Progressives think that children having to stay at their desks is hell on earth. I…