Acing geography tests by memorizing capital cities might have secured you a good grade at one time. However, in today’s globalized world, critical thinking, problem-solving, and the ability to adapt are the skills students need to thrive. Is the U.S. Education system equipping our kids for this new challenge? Or are they severely unprepared for […]
Indiana recently passed legislation mandating that students who cannot read at a proper grade level should not move to the 4th grade. The new law overturns the “social promotion” practice previously used—and still used in many states—relying on the belief that a child will eventually catch up. However, studies consistently demonstrate this is difficult, even […]
This article was originally posted in the Lakeland Times, July 27, 2021. The performance of the US K-12 public school system is so poor that nothing less than a major overhaul, something akin to what the state of Maryland is undertaking, will fix its problems. Many measures of quality in the nation’s public schools tell […]
Printed: July 1, 2022, Lakeland Times Let’s suppose a reporter is interviewing me, and they ask, “After your many years of research, what is the most important thing we can do to fix our K-12 public schools?” Here is what I would say. As an author and educational researcher, I would like to provide my […]
There are a lot of things that can be done right now by the state legislature that would make a difference. Below are a few thoughts on education reform. 1. Must implement better management of discipline and respect 2. Give school districts relief from lawsuits – school systems are an “easy touch” for a […]
Let’s suppose I am being interviewed by a reporter and they ask, “After your many years of research what is the most important thing we can do to fix our K-12 public schools?” Here is what I would say: As an author and educational researcher, I would like to provide my insights to help explain […]
Discipline is a huge problem in our public schools. When one looks deeply into the reasons for disruptive children, what we find is an otherwise normal child who is missing some critical and teachable skills. In my work, I call these skills character and grit. While working with our small teacher team, we searched for […]
Discipline is a major problem in US public schools and results in a loss of teaching time in nearly 80,000 public schools. Early in my research (2014) I discovered a 2004 report titled: Teaching Interrupted, Do Discipline Policies in Today’s Public Schools Foster the Common Good? This report was written by a Brooklyn think tank […]
In my last blog,I was very candid about the behavior of some of the students in our classrooms and pointed out that this behavior is driving many potential teachers away from our schools. As we talk about discipline, we need to better understand the nature of a classroom. In my book: The Kids Are Smart […]
Teachers are not happy in their work and data shows more teachers than ever are considering leaving the profession. Liz Riggs (The Atlantic, 10/18/2013) points out that anywhere between 40-50% of teachers will leave the classroom within their first five years. On top of that, 15.7% of teachers leave their job every year, and 40% of […]
