A National Institutes of Health study of 550 1st and 2nd grade twins revealed what has been obvious to some for a while: Teaching quality is the single greatest indicator of student learning progress. Among the identical twins, 42 pairs out of 280 pairs showed significant differences in reading improvement during the year studied, said [...]
Over the summer I had the absolute pleasure of participating in a course at the Principals’ Training Center for International School Leadership (PTC), and I have to say, it was the most valuable–and intensely demanding–professional development I have received in 18 years as an educator. The course title was “Creating and Organizing an Effective School,” [...]
Are we as educators placing more emphasis on standardized testing and content delivery, or focusing on teaching students how to learn? I think in most schools it is a combination of the two, but are most schools too top-heavy in the former direction? This ongoing discussion in education is a centerpiece of Will Richardson’s musings as [...]
Why is it that some teachers embrace new approaches in a professional development, and others are resistant, even before the session begins? In the classroom, why do some students salivate for a new direction or the introduction of a new tool or skill, while others are more comfortable sticking to the status quo? Part of [...]
Sadly but not surprisingly, teachers aren’t doing a good job of instructing students in the art of writing, according to a Vanderbilt University study. Charles Sipe refers to the study and recommends blogging as an apt activity for stimulating students to write. If you’ve kept up with my blog, you’ll know that I completely endorse [...]
Is the Chinese educational system as high-stress as one might think? You’d better believe it. Wan Lixin provides a startling view of the extreme competition inherent in the system and suggests that a return–at least in part–to the moral education of the past may be the solution. From the article, here is a taste of [...]
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