I recently passed the five-year anniversary of when I started writing my blog. What has changed? In this post, I analyze some of the issues I’ve written about over the years. Then, I thank you for your support. Change or lack of change in education can seem dark and foreboding, but there’s a great deal […]
FORCE & FLUNK: Destroying a Child’s Love of Reading—and Their Life
We are now in the dangerous era of FORCE & FLUNK when it comes to children and reading. Here’s how it works. FORCE A frenzy surrounding reading is caused by school reformers and the media, claiming children are not learning to read fast enough. Kindergarten is the new first grade, automatically making preschool the new […]
What’s Scary to Kids: Having Dyslexia and Being Held Back in Third Grade!
You thought I forgot Halloween because I posted earlier today? No. Here is an old post that is unfortunately still relevant today. There is no point in rewriting what is already said. Happy Halloween! Have fun and stay safe out there! ___________________________________________________________________ With certain states jumping on the retention bandwagon, even though we know retention […]
Michigan to Retain Children with Lead Poisoning
Michigan has a lead problem with its children in Flint, and a governor who failed badly his own accountability test. Many wonder why he is still governor. Some wonder why he isn’t in jail. But yesterday he signed off on a bill to fail third graders. How many children in Flint will wind up failing […]
Arizona Fails its Children!
Arizona is holding back 1,400 third graders. I guess they are following Florida’s misguided lead. The Arizona Department of Education said the third-graders did not pass the math and English portions of the Arizona’s Measurement of Educational Readiness to Inform Teaching — AzMERIT — test. (KTAR News) Expect More Arizona seems O.K. with the failures. Here […]
What’s Scary to Kids: Having Dyslexia and Being Held Back in Third Grade!
With certain states jumping on the retention bandwagon, even though we know retention doesn’t work, where do students with dyslexia fit? Students with reading difficulties should not have to flunk third grade to get the help they deserve. Many children with reading difficulties, who do not have IEPs, are being held back. In fact, probably […]
For You Michigan!—You Are WRONG about Retention!
There are some issues, like the loss of recess and retention of third graders, that make no sense at all. I can sometimes understand mistakes, attribute them to people being clueless, but when it comes to retention the research is there. Anyone who knows how to read and puts some time into it will learn […]
Mindfulness Training—Help or Cover-up in Education-Reform Affected Schools?
There’s mindfulness for teachers and mindfulness for students. There’s mindfulness in the UK and mindfulness in the USA. You can find groups that will train teachers and students about mindfulness around the world. But is mindfulness being used to push students and teachers to be robotic? Is it meant to cover up the problems in […]
Retention’s False Promise: Instead—Better Alternatives
Jeb Bush, in regard to class retention of children in school, one of his signature education reforms, said last week in response to criticism, “God forbid if little Johnny is stressed out. How horrible it is for their self-esteem if they’re held back.” Mr. Bush, who is probably running for president, said this at a […]
Important Education Research Repeatedly Ignored
Have you noticed we are bombarded by articles and reports about what is right and wrong in education by think tanks and non-educators? In fact, I have heard a variety of education reformers claiming there is little education research. They are wrong. There are many serious studies that these same people continue to ignore. Not […]