The New York Times ran a story yesterday about the fact that, for now,  higher college tuition rates seem to be paired with the current increases in student aid through Pell Grants (federal) and other moneys. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/28/education/28college.html?hpw

My question–how many of the students who receive Pell Grants are students with intellectual disabilities who are now, under federal incentives, being encouraged to attend college and who are eligible for these grants. Does anyone have data on that?

My loyal readers may have noticed that I’ve been AWOL–no posting since early October. In part, this was because I traveled to China, fulfilling my long-held dream. It was as fascinating and fun and fabulous as I had hoped.

In part of the tour, we went up the mountain to Ping An, a small village surrounded by rice paddies. Totally beautiful and traditional–very very different from the cities like Beijing and Shanghai. 

In Ping An, we visited a nursery school/kindergarten. And the scene that has stayed with me is the mothers (or sisters or grandmothers) who wait by the gate of the school to take their child him.  They put the child on their back and head off to home. That is the school bus. Very cozy, very heavy, very different from our experience, where parents may wait in their cars or kids go to school on the bus.

More to come!

(Interesting article from Great Britain on the matter).

I’ve thought about this a lot, also. Another interesting read for a Saturday!

(bullying not only cause of suicides, experts warn)

I’ve thought about this issue–as more states pass anti-bullying law. An important read.

(President Obama on his choice of schools for his daughters).

Our president gave an honest answer. We understand that. But as long as people can walk away from the public schools, they will continue to be for other people’s children. I wrote an essay many years ago that the only way to fix our public schools is to CLOSE all the private schools! Nutty? I don’t think so. By doing that, we would force all players to the same table and I do believe that improvements would come fast. Very fast. In fact, it’s really the only way.

(The Responsibility Deficit).

It’s great to see our friend, Philip K. Howard, featured in David Brooks’ column. Of course, he’s right. Teachers need the freedom to teach and students need to know that it is their responsibility to learn.

It’s always amazing to me that when we make comparisons of student achievement with other countries (Finland, comes to mind) we ignore the student, parent, and teacher responsibility parts. There are key. Yet, not on the table usually.

Instead we focus on systems and more rules and more requirements, taking us further and further away from what works: responsibility by key players. Thank you again, Philip, and thank you David Brooks for recognizing his important work!

(Should we rethink inclusion??

Yes, it’s time to rethink inclusion. Inclusion grew out of the civil rights model. (student have a right to be in regular classrooms) not out of the education model (what works for students!). So sad. Instead, our schools should be driven by research or education-based practices–not legal mandates or concepts cooked up by legislators and judges.

It is, indeed, time to rethink inclusion so we can do what actually works for kids in schools.

My mother always told me, “It’s the tone that makes the music.” Can that be the message from Washington D.C.’s vote? That it was a rejection of style, approach, tone–even as the schools were improving? Can it be that mother was right–again.

(Children are the losers in D.C. vote)

( Discussion with Michael Best, NYC General Counsel and Jean Johnson of Public Agenda)

(Fixing Special Education.).

The book is available on Amazon.com, through (School Law Pro), and at (Fixing book)

Check it out! Your thoughts and comments?

We are into the 35th anniversary of this law. Time to celebrate and reform!

(Thomas Friedman echoes Robert Samuelson’s call for motivated and hardworking students)

Finally, Thomas Friedman of the New York Times and Robert Samuelson of Newsweek tell us the truth: too many of our students are not motivated to work hard. After all the money spent on ‘education reform,’ we have little to show for it because (so far) we have been unwilling to look in the right places–what students bring from home and what students do in school.

Let’s hope these thought leaders get that conversation going.