President Obama, it isn't the standardized tests that are the problem!  This is the difficulty with too many cooks in the kitchen, and no recipe.  Everyone has an opinion, objections, suggestions, and solutions, even the POTUS.  All the presumed solutions are exhausting the system and do little to improve the system for the students. First, there has to be time spent truly discovering what the issues are. We need standards, measures, 21st century curriculum,…

Teachers, the professionals with greatest proximity to the students, are held directly responsible for the achievement of their students.  In a new accountability system, the principals are held responsible for the successes and failures of their teachers. But to only focus on the teachers and the principals belies the system's impact and, accordingly, that of the superintendent.  …

Dr. Carson's story is well known by now. Even before running for the Republican nomination for POTUS, "Gifted Hands", a movie starring Cuba Gooding Jr., portrayed Carson's life as a young man living in extreme poverty, with a single parent, overcoming behavior issues and learning challenges. Carson has received honors and commendations. But we wonder how does a student who turned all of that around to become a world famous pediatric neurosurgeon became a man with such an insulting,…

Sometimes doing the right thing remains invisible and unnoticed.  Sometimes that lack of recognition lasts career long. So, we take this moment to honor the overwhelming number of educational leaders who lead with integrity even under a myriad of circumstances and enticements that can make it the tougher choice.  Our business is children, precious, innocent, and impressionable. Daily, we strive to keep them safe and engaged in rich learning experiences. No matter the program, method,…

Many inside the educational system feel accused of allowing it to become broken. To be broken most often implies an accident of some sort or a long time without adequate care that makes it vulnerable. It is striking that in this, and so many elections before this one, campaigns focus on a candidate's desire and ability to fix what is broken: schools, assessment systems, state and federal government and now immigration policy. During the last presidential campaign it was broken health…

It is pretty clear that this century's leadership demands are first and foremost their ability to anticipate, lead, and survive change. While attention is called to what needs to be changed, developing the capacity to lead change has gone largely unattended.  Learning how to watch the horizon like a sea captain, navigate a boat filled with children and teachers through white waters, and successfully make it through with fear turned to excitement...who teaches these things?   …

Every October, schools and organizations across the country join in observing National Bullying Prevention Month. The intention is to stop bullying and cyber bullying by increasing awareness of the impact of bullying on all children of all ages. Schools have long been places where children learn about bullying by being victims or bystanders or bullies; now they are becoming places where bullying is quelled. Schools are increasingly places where awareness and recognition of what…

Most in education would agree Duncan has had a transformative impact on education in America. His signature Race to the Top (RTTT) with its incentives for Common Core and accountability have touched every classroom. Undisputedly, graduation rates have risen. Nevertheless, his advocacy for charter schools has been contentious. He clashed with teacher…

We form opinions and beliefs quickly and often without a solid and objective foundation. It is instinctive. Noise and input never stop; we have a 24-hour news cycle, digital messages are incessant, we carry our phones at the ready, on hips, in bags or on our writs, opinions flood in. In our part of the country, we can contrast this normalcy to the day of a big snow storm when everything shuts down and the power is out. Silence, itself, is loud those days. So, we argue for the need to…

For days, we have watched this man move from the Fiat to the Popemobile. We have seen him in Cathedrals, in the US Congress, the UN General Assembly, at the World Meeting of Families, with children and with the homeless. We have marveled at his leadership and at his smile. As he prepares to leave this country and return to the Vatican, we find ourselves compelled to say what we have observed. How can we not? We care about leaders and leadership and have been watching the man who holds…

A serious rift exists between the students who freely use technology and the Internet and their educators who hesitate, hold negative biases, and yes, sometimes remain blissfully ignorant of the very environment in which their students have become explorers. This is not only a classroom issue. It is a cultural issue. It is an issue that calls school and district leaders into the fray.  …

Changing the way teaching and learning takes place requires learning for teachers and leaders and support from the teachers and the leaders both. It is a heavy lift.  Support has to be ongoing and it has to be informed. No more one-shot in-service sessions for teachers where leaders walk through to offer a nod of approval and encouragement. This change of teaching and learning behaviors requires the serious attention and participation of school leaders. Making connections between the reasons…

 No doubt there will be much follow-up and press, articles, responses, and perhaps a law suit.  But even without knowing more about the details of the case, we think the facts mentioned above serve as enough information to provoke questions about how we address issues of bias, prejudice, policies, practices, and common sense. The treatment of Ahmed Mohamed should serve as a wake-up call for everyone to step back, just a moment, to reflect on our fears and our rushes to judgment.  What would…

STEM as a can be divisive if it is considered only attention to science, technology, engineering, and math. For those within those content areas, there is great receptivity. And if not, for those in the humanities and the arts, there is often less receptivity as they feel their subject areas diminished in value and maybe losing resources. So, let's not call it STEM. …

The argument for later start times for high school students is not a new one. The longer we do not engage this question, the more information supporting the idea comes to light. With all the attention drawn toward common core issues, standardized testing, lack of resources, teacher evaluation, student mobility and poverty, taking on this leviathan locally is often avoided. But research continues to suggest we need to do something.  …

A 21st century demand for transparency is calling for courageous leadership, and for good reason. The sensitive nature of revealing the truth about grading, how it is done differently in each classroom, by each teacher, and the wiggle room that exists sometimes, requires a bit of courage on the part of teachers and of the leader.  …

The East Syracuse Minoa Central School District (ESM), in collaboration with several Syracuse area businesses, higher education institutions and other partners, is among 27 "ecosystems" created across the United States has been selected to pilot the national STEM Ecosystems Initiative.

As one last act of leadership, let us allow Tom Sobol's passing to be a reminder, to open our eyes and our hearts, to grow as moral leaders who are dedicated to what is good for children.  Allow his lessons to continue by recognizing that the development of leaders, all along their leadership paths, will always include growing in ways that are not about information, but about moral decisions and child focused leadership.  …

School leaders hold the key to the development or shift of culture within districts and schools. They share the responsibility of cultural development and integrity with the faculty, staff, students, and parents. With the leaders' responsibilities increasing, their own well-being and life balance are essential for the success of the organization and of the others within it.  What is missing in k-12 education leadership preparation is a focused attention on well-being.      …

The Common Core assessment strategy was designed to compare student success across the nation in relation to the acquisition of knowledge and skills in the Common Core Standards. Tests were designed, purportedly, to reflect where the students (and teachers) stand and to allow valid comparisons. The results are in and the lower than usual results were no surprise to most educators. But, the comparison objective was also not achieved due to capacities and choices of states and…