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Alas, my aching back did not permit me to attend the conference and present the 12 step agenda for fixing special education.  I believe it would have been a thought-and-discussion-and action provoking session. It's really too bad.  Hopefully, with the meds I'm taking and the physical therapy (I'm sure many of you know the drill), I should improve quickly. Here's to next year!  I always love the ACSA meeting in Monterey.  So, here is a link to the presentation.  Let me know your thoughts!  [...]

David Brooks writes that our national debate should not be about the size of government--it should be about the effectiveness of government. Will it achieve our goals? Will it spur achievement and investment by Americans.  Hmmmmm, sounds to me a lot like education, and especially, special education.   In special education, we argue endlessly about how much time, how many services, how often, etc. The inputs.  The size of programs. The costs. etc. We don't focus nearly enough attenion on [...]

Happy New Year!  In 2011, every month, we'll post a STEP on the way to FIX special education--one month at a time.  There are 12 steps. By December, our transformation of the system should be well underway! Please  share your comments and let us know what steps you are taking to fix special education.  Happy new year! Happy transformation! Step ONE:  January 2011—Step one to bring about climate change in our schools  End litigation of a student’s special education services (FAPE).  [...]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/30/world/asia/30shanghai.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=homepage&src=me Will we learn to value hard work by students? To teach students to hold adults-- teachers and parents-- in esteem? To takep--and stay with-- a disciplined approach to teaching and learning?  To prize academic achievment?  To wake up and act on what our Secretary of Education called these Shanghi results on the international PISA test--';a wake-up call.'  Let us hope. Happy New [...]

A sad state of affairs is reported in Joanne Jacobs' blog--with many many comments this holiday season. http://www.joannejacobs.com/2010/12/from-ap-classes-to-remedial-ed/comment-page-1/#comment-148957  Here's my two cents: Apparently, it's not called 'remedial' in colleges any more--it's called "developmental education." This looks like another attempt to hide the truth--and lower expectations. Words mean something! They should be used precisely. If we are teaching K-12 skills and [...]

In getting ready for 2011, here's a thought.    It's time to teach creativity.   Perhaps the article below will inspire.  http://www.educationnews.org/michael-f-shaughnessy/104095.html See, as  well, Newsweek's cover story this summer about creativity--reporting on a creativity gap for the U.S. http://www.newsweek.com/2010/07/10/the-creativity-crisis.html  We cannot continue to lead without fostering and growing creativity. For starters, "forget brainstorming!"  Interesting. To create [...]

The more we live, the more things change. Or do they?  Or do they get back to where we started--personal responsibility. Fascinating, how views of reality shift.  Now, we are starting to see--if students do not do well in school, perhaps it is their doing, or their parents'--not the teachers'.  I believe this reality heads us in the right direction finally. Education is what students do for themselves. Others can assist, of course, bue education is an active verb!   Students and parents [...]

Race to Nowhere--a new movie by a mother, concerned about the overtesting and continuous resume building that our students--mostly upscale--live with. The movie is EVERYwhere--and the national conversation has started! Congratulations to Vickie Abeles, a middle-aged mother who grew concerned when her own child was..... Now, her movie is a huge buzz and she's been on Oprah! Thus, it was that my niece told me about [...]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/09/public-blames-grad-rates-_n_794255.html It's about time. Education is something YOU do--it doesn't happen to you. We need to stop blaming the teachers and start looking at the students. They need to be active participants. See China's rise--and why? When I visited recently, t he guide told me, "The students work really really hard there." Honestly, there's no other way.

Front page NY Times story about Shanghai's test results on the international test, PISA. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/07/education/07education.html?pagewanted=2&ref=global-home. Having just visited Shanghai, where I saw the incredible bustle of millions of people (on the day we went to Expo, the World's Fair, they clocked a million visitors--THAT DAY!), this is a stunner. Our guides told us that students in China work very very hard. Indeed, the results show it. What always shocks [...]