It’s summertime and the living unfortunately isn’t always easy. Parents looking to add fun and educational excitement to their child’s summer experience, or if they need a place to leave their children because they work 8-5, beware! There is a Better Business (BBB) alert for Be Inspired Cultural Camps which used to be Inspirational Keys […]
Students and Bears, Oh My! How Common Core Discards the Importance of Reasoning and Intuition
This post is about reasoning and intuition with students and bears, and what we have lost by focusing on Common Core State Standards and not the students themselves. There are interesting similarities. Let me start with bears. I just returned from visiting Glacier National Park. Glacier is full of bears—both grizzlies and black bears. So, […]
Stealing the Joy of Reading—How Common Core Destroys Reading Pleasure
Who would have believed that it would come to this? Education Week is having a webinar on new approaches to reading aloud in K-2nd grade (New Strategies for Reading Aloud to K-2 Students, Thurs. June 18, 2-3 p.m ET). The underwriting for the webinar is through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and with Common […]
16 Points about Education I Wish Presidential Candidates would Address Specifically
Do you listen keenly for what politicians say about education and public schools and wind up being disappointed? There is currently, and has been for the last several elections, an absence of discussion about education. Many candidates speak in generalities. Here are the usual soundbites and what I wish would be said instead. 1. We […]
13 Reasons Why Grade Retention is Terrible, and 12 Better Solutions
There are few education issues that anger me more than massive retention of third graders based on one test score! Mississippi recently became the latest state to embrace retention. It’s a huge mistake. Adults fail children by not assisting them with their learning problems. Why is massive school retention terrible? A retained student doesn’t learn […]
The Charter School Miracle that Isn’t—Special Education in NOLA
It’s segregating kids with disabilities, and letting the charter schools off the hook. —Parent advocate Karran Harper Royal The changes happening to schools in New Orleans—the conversion from public to private—has sadly become a prototype for schools across the country. All parents, teachers and taxpayers should be concerned. While charter advocates see charters as miracles, […]
Memorial Day Tribute to Staff Sgt. Morgan Deshawn Kennon (1980-2003)
Like many, I hate war. I don’t understand why we haven’t evolved to a better civilization after all this time. As an educator, I am saddened especially by all the young lives that have been lost throughout the years. Whether you agree with the circumstances surrounding a war, or not, the sacrifices soldiers make should […]
The Scientific BS Surrounding Common Core and Teaching Vocabulary
I am going to be a BS detector. The Common Core State Standards are made to appear complicated. Fancy codes and scientific sounding big words are used to wow the public. But if you look at the standards, they’re nothing innovative or new! Take vocabulary. Teachers have been teaching vocabulary since the beginning of time. […]
The Common Core “Deep Learning” Message that All Students are Gifted is Wrong
…in the ordinary elementary school situation, children of 140 IQ waste half their time. Those of 170 IQ waste practically all their time. — gifted education pioneer Leta Hollingworth, found in Genius Denied, by Jan and Bob Davidson A recent report implied that with the right kind of environment and “deep learning” everyone can be […]
The WAR REPORT ON PUBLIC EDUCATION
I am honored to be invited to talk with Dr. James Avington Miller Jr. on his popular radio program. Call in and chat with us. This Sunday, May 17 at 2:00pm PST / 4:00pm Central/ 5:00pm Eastern on ‘THE WAR REPORT ON PUBLIC EDUCATION’ on BBS Radio – ‘A Conversation with Nancy E. Bailey’ an […]