Some But Not All Hopeful Signs for 2017
A recent New Year's poll conducted by Associated Press-Times Square Alliance made some fascinating discoveries. Among them: Just 18% said things got better for the country in 2016; 33% said things got worse; and 47% said nothing had changed since 2015. 55% believe...
Common Core’s Shaky Success: Quotes to Consider
With thanks to Naomi Nix and her article, "Student Test Scores Are on the Rise. Does That Mean Common Core is Working," a few quoted differences of opinion: The trend in our state and across the country is clear: Higher standards are translating into meaningful and...
Ed Secretary John King Weighs in on ADHD Services
The U.S, Department of Education is “on it” as they say, this time taking on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, commonly referred to simply as ADHD. One reason: Per the CDC, it affects 11% of our 4- to 17-year-olds, and that not only adds up to some 6.4 million...
Scholastic’s Survey of Teachers’ Classroom Spending
The education publishing company Scholastic surveyed 3,694 teachers (including 76 school librarians) and 1,027 principals this past summer and found that a majority feel their students, both low- and high-poverty, face barriers to learning outside of the classroom. To...
Kids Are Smarter Than We Think
All along, the powers that be have said American kids come in either above or below the all-mighty grade level mark when it comes to academic performance--but not apparently on it. Really. Meanwhile, it was also determined that just 5% to 15% of our students scored in...
Education Week Takes on Virtual Charter Schools
The special report, "Rewarding Failure," starts off by saying, "With growing evidence that the nation's cyber charter schools are plagued by serious academic and management problems, Education Week conducted a months-long investigation into what is happening in this...
Parents Across America Speaks Out about Education Technology
Parents Across America, a non-profit boasting 44 chapters in 25 states, has taken a stand about the education technology that is changing the face of American education. Along with the flawed Common Core Standards, our children are now subjected to countless hours of...
Education Data Collecting Keystroke by Keystroke
Okay, all you education data fans, here's the latest, and it makes me wonder if you'll still be applauding after reading all about it. Thanks to an Education Week piece by Sarah Sparks titled, "Hunt Is On for Clues to Students' Test-Taking Strategies: Studies to...
Professional Development for Teachers: A Revealing Study
This just out: A study recently published by the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Science determined that a fourth grade teacher's general math knowledge does not necessarily translate to better outcomes for students. For the study, 221 fourth...
News Alert: Federal Aid Application Online Now
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, aka FAFSA and representing a large part of college financing, kicked off on October 1 instead of the usual January 1 this year. That gives students a head start on seeking the financing they need, but there's one caveat:...
Our Nation Is In Need of a History and Civics Revival
Such is the title of Esther J.Cepeda's commentary that appeared on October 9 in The Salt Lake Tribune; the timing couldn't be better. As she wrote, "In our Internet-connected world where cute is king and issues of substance tend to be discussed only if there's a...
Child-Health Concerns Survey
With thanks to a recent C.S. Mott Children's Hospital survey of our greatest child-health concerns, here are the top 5 out of 10 by race/ethnicity: White Adults: Obesity Bullying Drug Abuse Internet Safety Stress Black Adults: Bullying Racial Inequities School...
School Backpack Alert: Risks, Recommendation, & Tips
September 20th slipped by pretty much unnoted by most of us, as we settled into the post-back-to-school rush. With recently purchased supplies, paper, pencils and tech devices firmly secured in our kids' backpacks-right there along with textbooks, lunch bags, and...
The Growing Teacher Shortage
According to the Learning Policy Institute led by Stanford University's Linda Darling-Hammond, in the 2015-16 school year, America was short some 60,000 teachers: 48 states and D.C. were in need of special education teachers; 42 states and D.C. were in need of math...
Chronic Absenteeism in America’s Schools
With thanks to Education Week's Lovey Cooper, here are the absentee numbers and where they're the highest, based on research by Johns Hopkins University's Robert Balfanz and Hedy N. Change, director of Attendance Works: Their analysis, "Preventing Missed Opportunity,"...
The PDK International & Education Next Common Core & Testing Polls
With thanks to Education Week, these poll responses speak volumes about the Common Core, their related online assessments, and the billions spent to implement them--all to very mixed reviews. Your tax dollars at work... Question: "Are standards preparing students to...
TeamChildren: Making a Difference One Child at a Time
When it comes to computers and all things electronic, schools have jumped in big-time, with education tech spending estimated to hit $60 billion by 2018. That commitment promises to continue the transformation of classroom instruction-and, in turn, homework, too....
Universal Pre-K: Benefits and Downsides
The push for universal pre-K echoes from the White House on down and nowadays is the talk all about town. As Education Secretary John B. King put it, "Because of historic investments from the Obama administration, states and cities, more children-particularly those...
The Atlantic Takes on Homework
In The Atlantic's article, "When Homework Is Useless," education experts are asked if schools should assign, grade and use take-home assignments; the following are pulled from their comments: "Homework is absolutely necessary for students to demonstrate that they are...
The Atlantic Asks, “What Should Students Know upon Graduation?”
More specifically, The Atlantic asked various education experts the question: What should students be expected to know by the time they leave school." Here are some snippets from their responses: "Students should leave school with the ability to think critically and...
