Two quotes should be taped to the front entrance of every school house on the first school day in March. “It ain’t over til it’s over.” (Yogi Berra) “Somewhere there’s a score being kept …” (Bill Murray) This and the … Continue reading
School Success Requires Planning for A Bipolar Spring
Accountability Using Visual Contracting With Sub-Groups
Educational accountability places a premium on a teacher’s ability to close achievement gaps. For a myriad of reasons, the academic achievement data of children in your class are scattered on the score sheet. An effective teacher will take this scattergram … Continue reading
School Quality: High Outcomes and High Confidence
“How good is your local school?” There was a time when that question would cause the person you asked to break out with a rendition of the Beach Boys’ “Be True to Your School” and tell you that their school … Continue reading
Reading Proficiency Is A Must, Not A Matter of Priorities And Choices
Priorities and choices. Many things in life involve assessing priorities and making choices. On a personal level, most choices involve one person or small groups of people. The scope of options and the effect of choices are limited. On a … Continue reading
A Charlie Brown Take on Protecting Student Data
The adults say, “Millenial children. You intuit the use of technology. Bravo! It is difficult to imagine your generation without your ubiquitous connection to the digital universe.” The children raise their eyebrows without taking their eyes from the screens they … Continue reading
The Political Importance of “Sally, Down the Street”
“Sally” is the name we give to a local person who lives “down the street.” She is our figurative representation of the public at large. Often, when we are considering a proposition we want to present to the public we … Continue reading
Certified Reading Teachers in Every K-3 Classroom = A Good Decision
Put strong instructional resources where they can maximize later school success. School leaders in fourteen states are doing this by ensuring that all K-3 classroom teachers not only are highly qualified in elementary instruction but also are certified to teach … Continue reading
The Common Core Tests: A Test of Adult Integrity
The Common Core challenge this year is not for children taking the new academic tests aligned with the Core but for parents and teachers and politicians who must consider what the “re-centered” test scores say about students and education in … Continue reading
Leadership Longevity Is Tenuous
Leaders, who are not self-employed, live in a fragile world of employment security made increasingly more tenuous with each passing year. Making a career as a leader is a role to which many aspire but few will achieve longevity. Their … Continue reading
If You Point Fingers, Point to a Better Solution
When a problem arises in the US count on two phenomena to follow: 1. public outcry with its omnipresent indignation leading to 2. finger pointing. When a problem involves any aspect of governmental oversight count on one more unfailing phenomenon: … Continue reading