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We all knew it, and now Robert Samuelson has written a good column about the fact that college is not for everyone. Nor should it be. And, while we're at it, high schools need to rebuild their technical, vocational programs, as well as their academic programs. One size does not fit all. Nor should it.

Here is the link.. Enjoy! http://lawreview.uchicago.edu/sites/lawreview.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/79_1/Freedman.pdf Let's hope that this piece, and the recent ones in The Atlantic piece) by Chris Borreca and me helps move the national discussion on reforming special education forward. By the way, these pieces are at: http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/04/4-common-sense-proposals-for-special-education-reform/256435/ [...]

. This is it. Teacher appreciation week. Here's Charles Blow's wonderful op-ed appreciation of his best teacher, his mother. I would add my mother to that list. She taught me so much--to be positive; to work hard; to expect to succeed; to be happy; to take life on, even when it's hard--as we dealt with my father's early death and had to move to three different countries--finally moving to New Jersey when I was in fourth grade. There, I will always remember my teacher, Mrs. Jones--who [...]

Here are the links. Happy reading and happy listening. I'm glad The Atlantic piece has legs.... I'll post the Education Week piece later. I am most grateful and hope that it moves the special education reform conversation forward.

4 common sense proposals for special education reform Hello again. My piece has garnered many, many comments, including some excellent discussion starters. That was my hope--to get special education reform on the front burner of education reform. Let's hope that's happening. Here's a beginning...I'll be on a Los Angeles public radio station this morning, as a result. So, let's see how the conversation evolves. Here's the link again in case you wish to revisit. Onward and upward!

Here's another thought provoking piece... in that Atlantic series, America the Fixable. Enjoy!

Let's hope this helps to move the conversation forward.

Definitely worth reading! In answer to the question above, the author writes YES. Constructivism favors discovery learning, not 'research-based' structured learning--as for reading. It's pretty clear that if students are taught phonetics and other attributes of reading early, then many of them will not need special education. Interestingly, a statistic that caught my eye recently is this: In Finland by the age of 16, 60% of students have had "special education." By which Finland [...]

Brainstorming--a popular method for teaching writing--doesn't really work. See this fascinating piece in the New Yorker "Groupthink--the Brainstorming Myth" It got me thinking about other popular teaching myths. One of them, labeling learners as V or A or K (VAK)--visual, aural, or kinesthetic learners--has also been debunked. Yet it remains popular, especially in special education. Why is it that unproven or disproven methods continue to be popular? Why? And why do we stay with them [...]