The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) released its 2012 study of 65 participating nations/education systems this month. The news that 15-year olds in the U.S. once again were in the middle of the pack was printed as “PISA Test … Continue reading
What Price PISA Glory?
The PISA Data Is Leaning Again
Duck, if you are a person responsible for the achievement of children in our nation’s public school systems. The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) released its 2012 assessment results on December 3 and in the international box score the … Continue reading
If the Fault Is Professional Development, Let’s Fix It
How did that happen? Now, there’s a common question asked by many who try to understand how an event or a situation or a set of events and situations came to be. In the weeks following Thanksgiving, one may ask … Continue reading
Discover the Twenty-First Century Learning Environment Within Your Existing Building
Melanie Parma and Larry LePage, architects with Somerville, Inc, and I spoke at the 6th Annual Midwest Facility Masters Conference on November 14. Our presentation, “Discover the Twenty-First Century Learning Environment Within Your Existing Building,” illustrated how an existing school … Continue reading
The Goal of Choice Is to Choose Wisely
A parent recently asked me, “Which of the reading programs being used in the county will best teach my daughter to read? As a retired superintendent and elementary school principal, you know what is good and bad about reading programs? … Continue reading
Professional Re-Development
Read Jennie Magiera’s words aloud and imagine they are your words. “Differentiated. Relevant. Engaging. These are all words used to describe quality instruction. Yet how ironic is it that they so rarely describe the professional development of teachers. Most of … Continue reading
Teaching For Measured Improvement in Student Learning
When educational reform is in the air, some organizations make strong, positive adjustments and others spin their wheels in the bog of indecision. Teach For America has read the wind and is making the right adjustments so that TFA teachers … Continue reading
Common Core Is Not THE Reform; Core is the Engine FOR Reform
When something changes the world, do we recognize what is happening at the time? When did you buy your first cell phone? If your purchase was ten or more years ago, on that day did you imagine a future when … Continue reading
New School Report Cards: A school is as good as its least effective teacher
Superintendents and school boards, regarding how well children are achieving in your schools today, you are as fully clothed as the undressed emperor who walked down the village street in his skivvies believing that he was regally garbed. (Read The … Continue reading
Great Teachers Are Game Changers
Greatness is in demand these days. World Series contenders are looking for great pitching. Starters. Short relievers. Mid-relievers. Closers. You don’t have to throw more than a couple of innings, maybe 20 pitches at most, but if you have “great … Continue reading