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(Education research gets an F).Say it ain't so! Especially in this era of 'research-based education.' The No Child Left Behind Act is based on r-b education. Sad, sad, sad.... and I will add to this report card the need for research in how we do special education. Do all the rules and regulations lead to better outcomes for kids? Where is the data?

You've got to be kidding me. But no, students in a U.S. school were told to go home because they had t-shirts on with an American flag on cinco de mayo. As an immigrant, (Students told to go home for wearing American flag t-shirts to school)As an immigrant,I am truly scratching my head. Where did commonsense go? Since when can't kids wear American flag t-shirts? Since when did free speech evaporate?Within 48 hours, of course, cooler heads prevailed and the assistant principal's order was [...]

(Virtual schools coming to Greenfield Massachusetts)You gotta love the marketplace and love American innovation! If there's a problem, someone will come along and fix it. If schools don't or won't or can't or whatever.. meet the needs of students,then go out and create a system that might meet the needs of different students. Thus we try charters, 'choice,' vouchers, private, home, special ed, GED, early college, drop out prevention, gifted and talented, tutoring, and lots of other options. [...]

(E.D. Hirsch's review of Diane Ravitch's book)

Bullied teachers? How common is this? So sad. Bullying can be torture. Here it was.A sad tale from the UK. (Sad tale of bullied teachers)

And no standing ovation at the play? Or an evening of appreciation at the community action efforts. I do not buy it.Should high schools stop honoring students with awards at graduation? We knew this was coming--everyone is the same and no one should be compared to others..... Well, OK, then, no honors for football, band participation, being the star in the school play, tutoring children in local schools, doing environmental cleanup. Etc. We are all the same. I do not agree. There is a [...]

Here's a brave principal in New Jersey... story on CBS News and picked up by Joanne Jacobs at www.joannejacobs.com.(School principal asks parents to shut down social network sites for middleschoolers). We know that parents need to flex more muscle so students can focus on learning, not the damage caused by social networking. So, it is inspiring to read about a middle school principal who urges them to do just that. His email to families is gutsy. Let's wish them all success in reorienting [...]

I'm doing an informal piece about the buzz word of the day, trust. Everyday in our papers and on the radio and the web, we see stories about the lack of trust in one arena or another.Consider:Teachers, unions and districts don't trust each other.People's trust in the media is at a low level.(trust in media at low level) "Trust is the Number 1 thing we are thinking about," says a Vice President and a senior editor at CNN. This story was also reported on Vermont Public Radio (Lack of [...]

Following up on the last post, the much better way.When I talk to an 'employee' anywhere--in a store, a school, at the doctor's, if he uses the WE word I know the place is humming. "This is how we do it." How different that is from, "I don't make the rules..." or "THEY do it like that."Getting people on board as team players doing what 'we do' is powerful.

When I tried to walk through the State House driveway, the guard stopped me. You can't go that way. What? "I didn't make the rule."I turned around and went the other way....thinking.How sad. He clearly did not believe in the rule he was enforcing. A prisoner of his job. And then I thought more. So many of the folks doing special education procedures feel the same way--"I didn't make the rule." I'm stuck with it. I'll do it. But I don't believe it's a good rule. I don't believe it'll [...]