Put strong instructional resources where they can maximize later school success. School leaders in fourteen states are doing this by ensuring that all K-3 classroom teachers not only are highly qualified in elementary instruction but also are certified to teach … Continue reading
Certified Reading Teachers in Every K-3 Classroom = A Good Decision
The Common Core Tests: A Test of Adult Integrity
The Common Core challenge this year is not for children taking the new academic tests aligned with the Core but for parents and teachers and politicians who must consider what the “re-centered” test scores say about students and education in … Continue reading
Leadership Longevity Is Tenuous
Leaders, who are not self-employed, live in a fragile world of employment security made increasingly more tenuous with each passing year. Making a career as a leader is a role to which many aspire but few will achieve longevity. Their … Continue reading
If You Point Fingers, Point to a Better Solution
When a problem arises in the US count on two phenomena to follow: 1. public outcry with its omnipresent indignation leading to 2. finger pointing. When a problem involves any aspect of governmental oversight count on one more unfailing phenomenon: … Continue reading
The Unbelievably Essential Principal
How essential is a principal to the educational enterprise of a school today? Unbelievably essential! The Effective Educator era reinforces the principal as the person responsible for leading a successful school. Not only is the principal the chief leader of … Continue reading
All Star Teachers: You Know Who They Are
Someone always stands at the pinnacle. You name the endeavor and a ranking will exist somewhere and someone is at the top of that ranking. Call it human nature to always seek out the best or at least what we … Continue reading
Coach Up Front Instead of Fixing Problems Afterward
To get in front of teaching and learning problems, enroll every teacher in an instructional coaching program and attach a coach to every first-year teacher. The investment in “up front coaching” is a fraction of the cost of remediating ineffective … Continue reading
Public Ed Is Focused on the Wrong End Game
Public education is focused on the wrong end game. For too long the leaders responsible for public education have focused on the graduated student in an adult-world context. For the purpose of daily and school-year instruction this traditional end game … Continue reading
Educator Effectiveness: What’s the Bottom Line? Is There an “Or Else?”
What is required often is determined by the bottom line. The bottom line sets the minimum expectancy that a person sets for their behavior or efforts in order to sustain a status. Said differently, the bottom line also is the … Continue reading
Writing Instruction Without the Fretting
When the classroom assignment is to write, the teacher needs to listen and watch. Listen to the comments and mutterings of most children. “I don’t know what to write.” “I can’t think of anything.” “I hate to write.” Listen to … Continue reading