Huh? is an appropriate question when the status quo of schlock is deemed preferable to improving the education of generations of children. The Wisconsin Model Academic Standards for the Social Studies was written in the early 1980s and confirmed in … Continue reading
Social Studies Education Mired in the Schlock
Words Determine a Child’s Future
Talking with young children is a treat. As Art Linkletter noted in his 1945-1969 radio and television series, “kids say the darndest things.” Bill Cosby later hosted a television special based upon this Linkletter quote. But, unlike Linkletter and Cosby, … Continue reading
Credibility Is Matching What You Expect With What You Get
When most of us purchase a new-to-us car, we expect that the car will have an engine and a transmission, four wheels that go around when the engine and transmission are engaged, and a compartment within which we can ride. … Continue reading
Simple and Direct Instruction Causes Learning
Do, listen, read, watch. Let’s think and talk about this together. Explain it to me. Show me. Once again. That’s good! When teaching and learning are kept simple, children learn. Call this kind of teaching old fashioned. Label it as … Continue reading
What Price PISA Glory?
The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) released its 2012 study of 65 participating nations/education systems this month. The news that 15-year olds in the U.S. once again were in the middle of the pack was printed as “PISA Test … Continue reading
The PISA Data Is Leaning Again
Duck, if you are a person responsible for the achievement of children in our nation’s public school systems. The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) released its 2012 assessment results on December 3 and in the international box score the … Continue reading
If the Fault Is Professional Development, Let’s Fix It
How did that happen? Now, there’s a common question asked by many who try to understand how an event or a situation or a set of events and situations came to be. In the weeks following Thanksgiving, one may ask … Continue reading
Discover the Twenty-First Century Learning Environment Within Your Existing Building
Melanie Parma and Larry LePage, architects with Somerville, Inc, and I spoke at the 6th Annual Midwest Facility Masters Conference on November 14. Our presentation, “Discover the Twenty-First Century Learning Environment Within Your Existing Building,” illustrated how an existing school … Continue reading
The Goal of Choice Is to Choose Wisely
A parent recently asked me, “Which of the reading programs being used in the county will best teach my daughter to read? As a retired superintendent and elementary school principal, you know what is good and bad about reading programs? … Continue reading
Professional Re-Development
Read Jennie Magiera’s words aloud and imagine they are your words. “Differentiated. Relevant. Engaging. These are all words used to describe quality instruction. Yet how ironic is it that they so rarely describe the professional development of teachers. Most of … Continue reading