Every new parent should get a copy of Jim Trelease’s The Read-Aloud Handbook. Teachers should have a copy too. In honor of the late Trelease, parent and award-winning artist, writer, and author, it’s important to point out that his well-documented research lives on encouraging reading aloud to children, even babies, to foster a lifelong love […]
Who’s Teaching America’s Students?
Teachers, I believe, are the most responsible and important members of society because their professional efforts affect the fate of the earth. ~Helen Caldicott, Australian physician, author, and anti-nuclear advocate. Students need professional teachers with subject degrees if they’re to graduate and gain acceptance to universities or enter the workforce capable of a trade. With […]
Special Education and School Choice: Not Great Choices, If Any
Years of school reforms have stripped public schools of disability services, creating problems for parents (See Carl Peterson’s recent Exterminating Special Education). Parents may turn to charter, parochial or private schools, online learning, or homeschooling, only to find choices lacking, or the school may not want their child, leaving parents in the lurch. Charter Schools […]
Students Need Teachers NOT Tutors! Who’s Pushing Tutors and Why?
Reports of teacher shortages, or call it the Great Teacher Pushout, run rampant in states, a crisis this country has never seen before. But instead of working to improve conditions and lift the teaching profession, many groups are conspiring to replace teachers with tutors! Tutors will complete the longtime goal of ending professional teachers and […]
Religion’s Destructive Effect on Public Education this July 4th
Those who would renegotiate the boundaries between church and state must therefore answer a difficult question: why would we trade a system that has served us so well for one that has served others so poorly? ~Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor On this 4th of July, the country faces divisive problems, including losing […]
The State of School Recess in America is Still Terrible!
One might assume state policymakers had improved school recess for children, considering their databases, but except for a few places, most school districts still deny children recess. They don’t appear to understand that children need and deserve unstructured school breaks several times a day. Unstructured is key. When they discuss recess they usually still mean […]
What’s The Teacher’s Role, if Any, in Community Schools with Partnerships?
The teacher’s role in community schools with business partnerships seems murky. This raises concerns about a teacher’s purpose in those schools. If Americans are going to embrace community schools, teachers must be recognized as professionals in their own right. Community schools rely on business partners, so will teachers be replaced with online (personalized) instruction, the […]
5 Ways to KNOW EVERY STUDENT! The Mental Health and Safety Role of Schools
Next to the extreme importance of changes in gun regulations, when it comes to mental health and school safety, many critical conditions are thus far overlooked or ignored by policymakers. The first and most important is to know every student at the school. Parents should ask, do they know my child at school? Educators should ask, do […]
On This Memorial Day: Sadness of a Different Sort
I think of a hero as someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes with their freedom. ~Bob Dylan On this Memorial Day, is this the country our parents, grandparents, and ancestors fought for, a welcoming home where the youngest, oldest, and poorest among us can thrive? Did they foresee, fight, or die for […]
The Science of Reading Corporate Connection: Replacing Teachers with Tech
Many of the same individuals who favor charter schools, private schools, and online instruction, including corporate reformers, use the so-called Science of Reading (SoR) to make public school teachers look like they’ve failed at teaching reading. Politicians and corporations have had a past and current influence on reading instruction to privatize public schools with online […]