Introducing Senator Ben Sasse
Introducing Ben Sasse America 2019: Lots of noise, little wisdom, sides taken, no room for dialogue or compromise. Nowadays, you’ve got a beef, take to social media and rant and/or take to the streets and shout till you’re hoarse… Enter a voice a reason, and whatever...
OECD Reports on How Much Teachers & Students Work around the Globe
The numbers are in: American students and teachers spend a lot more time in school than their counterparts in the 46 OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) member countries. According to the report … The typical American student spends 8,884...
Renowned Alfie Kohn Says, “Educators, Start Asking Better Questions”
Renowned author, lecturer, and progressive education proponent, Alfie Kohn says, “Many questions in education, for example, take for granted the inevitability of traditional practices. That means our job is to challenge the question’s hidden premises. ‘Wait,’ we might...
A Statistical Glimpse at America’s Schools from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
Definitely worth taking look and giving it all some thought... Of our 133,853 schools in the 2015-16 school year: Elementary: 88,665 Secondary: 26,986 Combined: 16,511 Other: 691 Of those… Traditional public: 92,147 Public charter: 7,011 Private: 34,576 About our...
A Sign of the Times: Teens’ Lack of Life Skills
Ironically and at least according to the most recent C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health, 87% of parents think they’re doing a decent job preparing their teens for the so-called real world; however, these stats paint a very different...
TD Ameritrade’s Latest “Young Money Survey”
Many of us are concerned about money—spending it; saving it; having enough of it—hence this timely “Young Money Survey” which asked millennials and GenZers about their money habits and attitudes… On average, our 15- through 21-year-olds expect to be financially...
Henry “Fonzie” Winkler on Dyslexia, Writing, and Learning
Much has changed for Henry Winkler since his award-winning stint as Fonzie on “Happy Days.” Along with actor, his resume now includes producer, director, and, yes, author, too. And yet, when his agent suggested he write a book, he had said quite simply, “I can’t do...
Classroom Edu-Tech: A Parent Alert
Parents, make your voices heard because schools have embraced tech big-time, with a lot of reform and financial encouragement from politicians, tech folks, and textbook publishers, too. Take the $8.5 billion textbook giant Pearson’s recent shift from print to digital,...
Education Headliners: Retirees, Principals, Game-Based Learning, Charter Schools, & Back-to-School Spending
Senator Cory Booker’s brother Cary co-founded Omni Prep, a charter school forced to close in 2016 due to financial and management issues, poor academic results, and inexperience with early childhood education. Nevertheless, NJ Governor Phil Murphy recently hired him...
Classroom Edu-Tech and Textbooks: A Parent Alert
Parents, make your voices heard because schools have embraced tech big-time, with a lot of reform and financial encouragement from politicians, tech folks, and textbook publishers, too. Take the $8.5 billion textbook giant Pearson’s recent shift from print to digital,...
A School-Wise Update: Distressed Students’ Impact on Teachers
As reported by Sarah Schwartz in her piece, “Students in Distress Strain Teachers’ Skills,” Education Week surveyed teachers regarding the importance of and their ability to teach social-emotional skills—build strong relationships, make smart decisions, manage...
A School-Wise Check on the State of History and Civics Education in 2019
Public trust in government is reportedly at an all-time low, and we’re more polarized than ever on everything from the climate and immigration to guns and healthcare. Even the Electoral College is under fire, and criticism of the Supreme Court at times runs high....
Back-to-School Shopping, Educators Working Two Jobs, and the Shrinking Teacher Pipeline
Summer is barely half over, but already back-to-school sales are flooding the marketplace, with store shelves brimming with school-related goodies, everything from binders and notebook paper to pens, pencils, and backpacks. Indeed, Deloitte projects that overall K-12...
Montana’s Private School Choice Voucher Program Heads to the Supreme Court
Private school vouchers hark back to President George W. Bush and his signing of the D.C. School Choice Incentive Act of 2003, thus creating the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. As a result, numerous low-income families received funding to make up for the cost of...
The CDC and the Importance of Strong Home & School Connects
A bit predictable, but, nevertheless… Some time ago, reports Lisa Rapaport, the CDC asked 14,800 young people to complete health surveys; they were, on average, 15 years old. The highest possible “connectedness” score for their relationships at school was 30; it was...
School-Wise Quotes: The Latest on Standardized Testing
“For most teachers and students, testing remains the educational equivalent of a root canal. It’s endured and then recalled with relief. It’s not something deeply integrated with teaching that reinforces long-term educational goals like developing students’ ability to...
A School-Wise Heads-Up: Regular Ed Teachers’ Lack of Special Needs Training
The National Center for Learning Disabilities and Understood.org teamed up and surveyed 1,350 teachers and also put together focus groups, looked at teacher certification requirements, and analyzed how best to teach students with mild to moderate disabilities. These...
A School-Wise Heads-Up: Soft Skills in Demand, Perfect ACT Scores, the “Disadvantage
Like it or not... Despite the push for tech skills in our K-12 schools, what’s really in demand by employers are so-called soft skills. These include oral and written communication skills, attention to detail, problem-solving, empathy and organization. The number of...
Quoting Author Daniel Pink, Tech Investor Robert F. Smith, and Purdue President Mitch Daniels
Best-selling author Daniel Pink: “Want better academic performance from your students?” Give ‘em frickin’ recess!” Pledging $40 million, billionaire tech investor and philanthropist Robert F. Smith to the Morehouse College graduating class of 2019: “My family is going...
Memorial Day and the Poppy Lady
Honor them well… We’re within days of the Memorial Day weekend—and the unofficial start of summer—with most of us hoping to lay back, relax, and possibly fire up the grill, or maybe even head to the shore or the mountains. Three whole days away from alarm clocks,...
