A School-Wise Start-of-Fall Update
Ah, change; am not very good at it, but here we go anyway, as summer loosens its grip, the sun moves into Libra, and fall officially arrives tomorrow, September 23. Officially called the autumnal equinox, it’s one of the only two times a year that the earth’s axis...
Civics Knowledge by the Numbers as the Constitution Turns 236 on 9/17
“If we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the responsibility of every American to be informed.” ~ ~ Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father and the 3rd president of the United States Of Note: On the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP),...
2023’s Changing Face of America’s Public Schools
Of Note: This week The New York Times published the Opinion piece, “We Can Only Fight Learning Loss with Accountability.” In it, Michael J. Petrilli, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and visiting fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution, writes “The bad...
The Scoop on 4 Strategies in Place to Combat Teacher Shortages
“Because one teacher made a seat for me, I found my passion.” ~ Rebecka Peterson, 2023’s National Teacher of the Year FACT: A June 2023 analysis conducted by districtadministration.com found that: Nearly 30% of teachers left the profession during the 2021-22 school...
Teachers +Artificial Intelligence = Buyer Beware
Siri co-founder Adam Cheyer reminds us that, “The most important thing in education, in my opinion, is staring into the eyes of an inspiring human teacher. Again, a lot of it comes from motivation. If there’s a teacher who can really make me want to succeed, want to...
Take a Bow, Mr. Edison
As you well know, August 1st came and went, taking with it every last incandescent lightbulb on store shelves. Banned after 16 years on the chopping block, all you can do now is use any still on hand or toss them out. It's now LED bulbs’ time to shine, and they do it...
Peeking behind School Doors…
** Clark County School District—our 5th largest—has joined such states as California and Virginia in moving toward “equitable grading." Though it can take different forms, it's said to give students more chances to prove their mastery of a subject with no...
Teaching Today: Still a Calling or Now Just a Job?
I was not “called” into teaching; instead, I fell into it after finally asking, “What do English majors do?” The usual answer was teach, so I did, and I loved it and the 8th graders who, year after year, graced my classroom. I left it behind because I got old,...
Trillions in Spending, Trillions in Debt, and Schooling’s Piece of the Pie
There never seems to be enough of the green stuff to go around, and sometimes songs are written about it, like Abba's “Money, Money, Money," which starts off with: "I work all night, I work all day to pay the bills I have to payAin't it sad?And still there never...
As America Turns 247, Our Founding Fathers Advise and Warn
It arrived on my doorstep pre-dawn on June 29 boasting an above-the-fold, close-up photo of the United States Capitol Dome and the caption, “Suffolk University polls shows fear for the future of democracy is widespread.” Beneath it, that USA Today article’s...
The 2022 NAEP–The Nation’s Report Card–Suggests 8th Graders Don’t Know Much about History and Civics
On top of their disappointing reading and math performances on the 2022 NAEP--the National Assessment of Educational Progress, aka the nation’s report card--now comes students’ poor showing on the history component. About that, says Peggy Carr, commissioner of the...
Character Defined and Sadly Lacking in Post-Pandemic America
Am kinda done with the news nowadays--most of it bad and/or negative, opinionated, and all-too-often politically bent. Intentionally or not, divisive, as well. On the other hand, seldom seen are articles that highlight and promote personal accountability,...
With Thanks to the National Center for Education Statistics, The Highlights of Its “The Condition of Education 2023”
Nowadays, education is a headliner, oozing stories about teacher shortages and burnout, academically struggling students, and mental health concerns. Enter the National Center for Education Statistics survey of our K-12 schools: The Condition of Education 2023. As The...
Censorship 2023: Divisive, Escalating, and Chilling
“With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied-- chains us all irrevocably.” ~ Star Trek’s Captain Jean-Luc Picard Having given them up, my father early on and endlessly drilled into my...
A Teaching Profession in Flux and Fewer College Students Opting In
In February 2022, the National Institute on Retirement Security looked into “Americans’ Views of Public School Teachers and Personnel in the Wake of Covid-19” and found that, among respondents: 83% worry about staff shortages; 81% are concerned about staff burnout;...
$$$$: School-Wise and Other-Wise
A recent Education Week headline read, “Schools Are Heading into a Perfect Storm.” The reason: Their federal COVID-19 relief funds will start expiring this coming autumn—and must be all spent one year later. The result: lost jobs, fewer special programs such as...
Money, Money Money for Ed Tech, but Little Bang for Those Bucks
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services says that 20% of our children and adolescents will experience some type of mental health problem, and yet a March 28, 2022 Education Week Special Report revealed that… More than 5.4 million U.S. public school...
Homework: Preparation Is Everything
With thanks to Tanya Lee of abilityvillage.org for this guest post... Homework is never easy, and many kids struggle with the idea of bringing their least-liked activity home. And while it’s true that kids need downtime, a little bit of homework never hurt anyone,...
Our Iffy Mental Health: Facts, Figures, and School-Related Remedies
Seems like no matter what we’re doing or where we’re going, reminders abound that that there’s nothing normal about this so called “new normal.” It hits us every which way just gassing up, picking up groceries, or taking in the news, replete, as it is, with stories...
The Post-Pandemic Changing Face of America’s Schools, Everything from Struggling Students and Charters to Dress Codes and Cuts in Gifted Education
Education has been a news centerpiece for some time now, including our struggling students, school choice, dress codes, and the words we use, too. Here, a sampling of recent school-wise headlines: **** “The Elimination of Harmful Language Initiative Seeks to Rid...