What drives us to use angry and destructive behavior and what drives us to be violent may be an inability to successfully express what is happening inside of us. Public schools have the opportunity to impact more future citizens of the world than any other institution.  Creating and maintaining emotional environments that teach, nurture, and maintain healthy behaviors is an essential element of our responsibility to maintain physically safe environments in which…

The Downside of Value-Added Evaluation of Teachers

In this troubling Teachers College Record article, Leo Casey (Albert Shanker Institute) analyzes the way the New York City Department of Education used value-added student test data to evaluate the effectiveness of 18,000 teachers based on their students’ state test scores from 2007 to 2010. The Teacher Data Reports were initially going to be used in a low-stakes manner – to help teachers…

…the surest way to make him untrustworthy is to distrust him and show your distrust.” These are the words of Henry Lewis Stimson, a former US Secretary of State. Recently, I visited a high school in Connecticut that personifies a culture of trust. As a “trusted learning community” students are treated with respect and they rise to that expectation. This environment is a stark contrast to what we see playing out in the so many places in education today. The predominant culture of a test…

Better News in New Study That Assesses U.S. Students

By …

MEASURING AMERICA’S DECLINE, IN THREE CHARTS

Preventing Technology from Taking Over the Writing Process

In this article in The Reading Teacher, Tracy Coskie (Western Washington University) and Michelle Hornof (a Bellingham, WA elementary teacher) say that when technology is used in writing instruction, teachers should engage students in real writing tasks and focus first on the writer, then on the writing, and only then on the technology. Stamina, ideas, voice, and craft – these are the…

Arcitura Education, Inc. takes pride at being the preeminent provider of neutral and progressive certification programs that has benefitted IT professionals, encompassing all types of schools and courses in all industries, including a number high caliber corporations, international government agencies, organizations, academic institutions from over 60 countries all over the world.

The Arcitura Education Certification is an accreditation program designed to guarantee that…

The New Yorker ran a big piece about Tom Steyer, billionaire environmental activist. He’s built a whole crusade around the Keystone Pipeline, explaining himself this way, “In every generation, there is an overwhelming issue that people may not recognize at the time…If you blew it on the big issue, then that’s the measure.”

My first thought was, maybe the Keystone Pipeline is NOT the big issue. Maybe the fact that we have an intellectually corrupt public…

We reflect on past practices. We engage with colleagues. We discuss. We collaborate. We push our thinking. We move to the next level. We become a collective voice of the information age. Gone are the days of the factory model when doors were closed and teachers worked independently of each other. "Technology has taken us to an new level where we can collaborate beyond our wildest imaginations." (Tom Whitby) So, it is time to get connected, build a PLN, and grow as a lifelong…

Why Doesn't the Constitution Guarantee the Right to Education?