Articles

5 Lessons Learned That Should Be Informing Preparations for 2020-21

By George Farmer

COVID-19 has altered the way the world operates. It has essentially rewritten the rules for interaction. With increasing pressure from politicians, some states have set guidelines for reopening schools…More

How Schools and Teachers Can Get Better at Cultural Competence

By George Farmer

The murder of George Floyd has led to a movement to hold police departments and officers accountable. It’s also an opportunity for educators to work on becoming culturally competent in…More

What Racism in Schools Looks Like

By George Farmer

As the world has paused to analyze the deficiencies of police departments, it is not enough. All aspects of America have to examine areas of systemic injustice. That includes schools, which now have an opportunity to rise to the occasion and improve…More

COVID-19 and the Switch From Standardized Testing to Performance-Based Assessments

By George Farmer | AC JosepH Guest Blogger

COVID-19, a respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus, has upended education across the country. Many states have decided social distancing through virtual learning is the best safeguard to combat COVID-19. Governors across the country have announced the closure of its schools. Most have closed until further notice; the CDC suggests a minimum of eight weeks… More

Closing the Distance During Social Distancing

By George Farmer

With spring break now behind us, districts are facing the reality that schools may not open for the remainder of the school year. The social distancing order created a rush for districts to execute the best home instruction processes for stakeholders. Parents are making their best attempts to balance work and managing student workloads, while educators strive to provide academic support from a distance… More

Ted Talks Education

Why, why, why does our education system look so similar to the way it did 50 years ago? Millions of students were failing then, as they are now — and it’s because we’re clinging to a business model that clearly doesn’t work. Education advocate Geoffrey Canada dares the system to look at the data, think about the customers and make systematic shifts in order to help greater numbers of kids excel. https://www.ted.com/talk/geoffrey_canada_our_failing_schools_enough_is_enough?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare

Rita Pierson, a teacher for 40 years, once heard a colleague say, “They don’t pay me to like the kids.” Her response: “Kids don’t learn from people they don’t like.'” A rousing call to educators to believe in their students and actually connect with them on a real, human, personal level. https://www.ted.com/talks/rita_pierson_every_kid_needs_a_champion?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare

By loading kids with high expectations and micromanaging their lives at every turn, parents aren’t actually helping. At least, that’s how Julie Lythcott-Haims sees it. With passion and wry humor, the former Dean of Freshmen at Stanford makes the case for parents to stop defining their children’s success via grades and test scores. Instead, she says, they should focus on providing the oldest idea of all: unconditional love. https://www.ted.com/talks/julie_lythcott_haims_how_to_raise_successful_kids_without_over_parenting?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare

Would you choose to build a house on top of an unfinished foundation? Of course not. Why, then, do we rush students through education when they haven’t always grasped the basics? Yes, it’s complicated, but educator Sal Khan shares his plan to turn struggling students into scholars by helping them master concepts at their own pace. https://www.ted.com/talks/sal_khan_let_s_teach_for_mastery_not_test_scores?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare

Salman Khan talks about how and why he created the remarkable Khan Academy, a carefully structured series of educational videos offering complete curricula in math and, now, other subjects. He shows the power of interactive exercises, and calls for teachers to consider flipping the traditional classroom script — give students video lectures to watch at home, and do “homework” in the classroom with the teacher available to help. https://www.ted.com/talks/sal_khan_let_s_use_video_to_reinvent_education?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare

“Once upon a time in America,” says professor Sajay Samuel, “going to college did not mean graduating with debt.” Today, higher education has become a consumer product — costs have skyrocketed, saddling students with a combined debt of over $1 trillion, while universities and loan companies make massive profits. Samuel proposes a radical solution: link tuition costs to a degree’s expected earnings, so that students can make informed decisions about their future, restore their love of learning and contribute to the world in a meaningful way. https://www.ted.com/talks/sajay_samuel_how_college_loans_exploit_students_for_profit?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare