September 2011 Issue
Why Don’t Students Like School? A Cognitive Scientist Explains How the Mind Works & What It Means for the Classroom
Dr. Daniel Willingham, author of the bestseller Why Don’t Students Like School? and a cognitive scientist at the University of Virgina, joins us to explain the universal roots of effective teaching and learning. Did you know that our brains are … Continue
The Common Core and Assessment Overview of the Common Core, PARCC and SBAC, and What’s Coming Down the Road
Throughout the school year, Dr. Pat Forgione, Director of the Center for K-12 Assessment and Performance at ETS, will provide regular updates on the Common Core, keeping our subscribers updated, informed and focused on the dynamic and important standards and assessment … Continue
Lessons From a Turnaround School
Catherine Barbour, a school turnaround expert, and Gary Jansen, principal at East Middle School in Hazelwood, MO, discuss what they’ve learned after the first year of their turnaround efforts at one of the lowest performing schools in Missouri. Continue
How to Lead and Succeed: Indispensable and Unexpected Lessons from CEOs
What does it take to lead an organization? Based on his interviews with more than 70 chief executives, author Adam Bryant points to five essentials that school administrators should focus on to be successful leaders and managers. People aren’t born … Continue
Deeper Learning: Preparing Students for a Changing World
America’s schools must shift focus in order to prepare all of our children to succeed in the highly competitive global economy. Business leaders complain that our students entering the workforce today are simply not equipped to solve complex problems, work … Continue
The Secrets of Good Classroom Walkthroughs: Seeing the Forest and the Trees
Howard Pitler, senior director in field services at McREL, discusses the benefits and processes of an effective three-to-five minute classroom walkthrough. Pitler compares walkthroughs to a mosaic — connecting several seemingly unrelated snapshots to form a larger, clearer image. Walkthroughs … Continue
The Good Behavior Game: Improving Behavior and Classroom Achievement
The Good Behavior Game is a classroom management strategy for early elementary school, but the documented effects on its participants are long term. The research shows that young adults (ages 19-21) who participated in the Good Behavior Game are less … Continue