Leading means inspiring, not commanding. Leading means loving the people you lead so they will give you their hearts as well as their minds. It means communicating a vision of where you can go together and inviting them to join. Major General John Stanford, Superintendent of Seattle Schools, 1995–1998 A school leader who has never […]
Senator Bernie Sanders and K-12 Education: We’re Listening!
Bernie fever is sweeping the Internet. I like Sen. Sanders. He says a lot of things that make me want to jump up and shout YES! You Go Bernie! But I, like many others, am still listening for the specifics when it comes to education and public schools. On the issue of K-12 education he […]
U.S. DOE Continues to Force Test Failure on Children with Special Needs and ELL Students
According to information given to me by Deborah Abramson Brooks Wsm, the U.S. Dept. of Education is insisting that the New York Board of Education continue to force all students with disabilities, except for those with the severest disabilities, to take the tests matching their chronological age, not their developmental age, ignoring their cognitive disabilities. […]
States Lacking Mental Health Services for Kids–And Some Glimmers of Hope
Marcie Lipsitt is a special education activist for children in Michigan, and she sent out a report about the serious loss of services there for children with mental health problems. It’s entitled, “In crisis, mentally ill children forced to wait days or weeks for hospital beds,” and includes the plight of a parent who has […]
Using African Americans to Condemn Special Education: The Mixed-Up Message
For a long time special educators and the general public have heard that special education is racist. The story from the school reformers goes something like this: African American students are thrown into segregated special education classes because teachers don’t know how to teach, or they don’t have “high expectations.” If teachers request a special […]
Summertime and the Living is Easy—But Not for Many Children
Waiting in line at the grocery store, I notice magazine covers. The summer issues use lovely summery words. Simply Living has “The Most Relaxing Summer.” Southern Living—“The Soul of Summer” and “The Perfect Lazy Lunch.” Ah but the joy of kicking back in the good old summertime! But thus far, most of what I have […]
Summer Learning Camps That Aren’t—Six Ways to Keep From Getting Scammed!
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 […]