In these days of high-stakes achievement testing, it is all too common for schools to focus on the “basics” of knowledge – the “who/what/when/where” in place of the harder-to-evaluate “how” and “why.” Asking higher level questions leads to higher level thinking. As parents, we can transcend the “lowest common denominator” standards and focus on the [...]

This is a beautiful video from ASCD’s Whole Child Education. I encourage parents to check out their online resources. There are some great podcasts that are available free of charge available on their site as well.

In K-12 schools across the country, administrators, teachers, and students are preparing for an annual ritual – testing season. Some of these tests are locally created and meant to measure what the student has learned in the past year. Some are high-stakes, state-mandated. Regardless, the yearly testing season can cause frustration, anxiety, and general angst [...]

This is worth the 20 minutes it takes to watch.

I just read an article from the Washington Post describing how a middle school in Northern Virginia will be piloting a voluntary program wherein students will attend single sex classes in the core academic areas. I laud this effort. Many students, both boys and girls, will – in my opinion – likely flourish in this [...]

I don’t know when they began calling critical thinking skills “21st Century Skills” – I used them and taught them plenty during the 20th century, but no matter. It seems to be the educational buzzword of the day. And if the trend results in teachers and parents focusing more on communication, collaboration, critical thinking, problem [...]

I was talking with a parent of a fifth grader who is attending our local “gifted zone center” program. Her daughter was assigned a paper that needed to be two pages, double spaced. Her daughter does not type well, so this assignment was taking a while. At one juncture, the parent noticed that her daughter [...]

There are two things I like about the recent Washington Post Editorial I read about year-round schooling. Firstly, I like the concept itself, for some pretty simple reasons: Kids learn more and forget less. Parents who work can cope a little better. There is no reason (not educationally, not practically) in today’s world for the [...]

Do you think your state’s standards and standardized testing is bad now? Just you wait…. “Forty-six states and the District of Columbia today will announce an effort to craft a single vision for what children should learn each year from kindergarten through high school graduation, an unprecedented step toward a uniform definition of success in [...]

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch, some great local education news: “Carver Middle has been transformed from a failing school… to an exemplary one.” Read on. All it really takes is a little TLC. Amazing that it took a first time principal, rather than a current staff or commnity member, to take notice! Great job done!