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Category Archives: Schools and Assessment
The Big Shift
As the global economy struggles to find firm footing, it is clear that what lies ahead will not resemble what we knew in the past. I read this week (Thomas Friedman, NY Times) that some are calling this stage of the global transition the “Big Shift.” Friedman writes that during this time there is “growing […]
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Keep It Simple
Last week, soon after Steve Jobs died, a friend forwarded me an email that was a long list of Jobs’ most notable quotes. It included the following that struck me as pertinent to our improvement efforts at KPBSD. “That’s been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You […]
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Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports
One of the on-going challenges that our some of our schools face is how to work with students who consistently struggle to behave in an appropriate way while in school. The amount of attention that these mostly younger students can command is daunting and can leave a principal and staff at their wits end. While […]
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Insistent but patient with collaboration
One of my expectations for our principals is that they foster a collaborative leaning community among their school’s staff. According to research, there is lots of evidence to show that collaboration, when done well, will positively impact student achievement. What I am finding is that it is easy to mistakenly assume that the congenial work […]
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Six Hours in April
Last week I wrote about Finland’s successful approach to educating its country’s children. I failed to mention however, that the Finns do not use standardized tests. It is ironic then, that our country’s obsession with testing is not leading to a higher level of student learning. In the U.S., standardized tests results are the primary […]
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Whatever It Takes
The September edition of Smithsonian Magazine includes an article (A+ for Finland) that profiles the Finnish education system. Because Finland’s students regularly outscore their peers from around the world on the Program for International Student Assessment, the country’s school system is looked to as one of the best. The article points out several differences between […]
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Balancing the Art with the Science of Teaching
A few years ago Senator Begich invited me to attend a small meeting to share ideas on how best to reauthorize No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Much of the attendees’ comments focused on the negative impact of NCLB and predictably bemoaned the Act’s narrowing of the curriculum and the shaming of schools to do better. […]
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CTE, What is Next?
On Tuesday our Career and Technical Advisory Committee will meet to discuss how best to use new state money for Career and Technical Education (CTE). The meeting will offer the group a chance to look ahead and, if appropriate, begin to set a new direction for the district’s CTE. For the past several years CTE […]
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Beyond The Familiar Buildings
On Tuesday all of our students will again be back at school to start another school year. As I have done in the past on this first day, I will visit several of our central peninsula schools to say hello to our returning students and staff and to wish them a good year. Whenever I […]
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Keep it simple does not mean school is dull