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Education blog looking at educational policy to help you find out what is really happening in our schools

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Individualization in the School of Mr. Miyagi

In this article Dr. Stephen Fleenor offers a bold new vision for how we might think about how kids learn in schools, inspired by the teachings of The Karate Kid's Mr. Miyagi. It is my sincere and profound hope that every public high school student in the United States right now is thinking to him-or herself, “honestly, what is the point of all of this?” There once was a good boy named Daniel who thought exactly the same thing. His wise teacher, Mr. Miyagi, gave him the rigorous task of waxing cars in clockwise and counter-clockwise motions, monitoring Daniel’s work throughout the assignment and adjusting when necessary to ensure that his young student mastered the skill of waxing cars. This

A New Vision For Measuring School Quality: Part 3

This is the third article in a series of articles that seeks to offer a new vision for what school report cards might look like so we can more accurately and fairly tell a good school from one that is struggling. The Vision So Far In the last two blog posts I have begun to lay out a vision for how we might rethink report cards so as to give a fuller, more accurate picture of school quality. This vision takes into account the two most important elements of an effective school: (1) its finances and (2) the quality of students’ experiences. Thus far we have included the following: School Finance Data Curriculum Offerings Student Engagement Information Teacher Data School Climate Data Class Size

A New Vision for Measuring School Quality: Part 2

This is the second article in a series of articles that seeks to offer a new vision for what school report cards might look like so we can more accurately and fairly tell a good school from one that is struggling. The New School Report Card In our last blog post we examined how school report cards, which purport to measure school quality, are mainly a report on how well students take standardized tests, which measure low levels of processing and basic skills rather than the 21st century skills our students need to be learning (critical thinking, problem solving, synthesizing information, creativity, collaborating, etc.). We also discussed the growing debate in several states over the content

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Healthy Habits Mean More than Handwashing

Tales from the First Year: Beginning the Journey Part II

Tales from the First Year: Beginning the Journey Part I

TALES FROM THE CLASSROOM