ADHD Medication Can Help Kids, But It Can't Fix Schools

I think we can all agree that reforming schools through medicating students would be misguided, even ridiculous.

Yet The New York Times reported…

Poverty's Prominent Role in Absenteeism

Ed Week

Half of life is just showing up." I once loved repeating that to my students who were regularly absent from school. Like all good quotes, it owns a perfect blend of simplicity, adaptation,…

February 25, 2013

Some Concerns About Facebook

“Does the Internet make people lonely, or are lonely people more attracted to the Internet?” asks novelist Stephen Marche in this troubling article in The Atlantic. He quotes John Cacioppo (University of Chicago’s Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience): “If you use Facebook to increase face-to-face contact, it increases social capital… It’s like a car. You can drive it to pick up your friends. Or you can…

Can Parent Involvement Be a Negative Factor in a School?

In this American Journal of Education article, Linn Posey-Maddox (University of Wisconsin/Madison) explores the phenomenon of middle- and upper-middle-class parents raising funds, writing grants, and volunteering in their children’s urban schools. The contributions from these parents can make a significant difference to school quality in tight budget times, providing art and music…

How Educators Sometimes “Enable” Students (an Oldie but Goodie)

(Originally titled “ ‘Enabling’ Undermines Responsibility in Students”)

In this 1989 Educational Leadership article, Wisconsin social studies teacher Steven Landfried writes candidly about teachers who are “enablers” – they let students (and colleagues) off the hook by allowing them to be lazy, avoid responsibilities, and miss out on opportunities for growth.…

Let’s End the Administrator War on Mobile Devices

Standardized Tests & Comparing Student Scores: Relics of 20th Century Ed Systems