Governor LePage’s recent distribution of grades to schools could be considered a call to action in the state of Maine. We certainly did not learn anything new from the list. We already knew that standardized testing scores usually reflect community … Continue reading
Q: What do Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein, and Sir John Gurdon have in common? A: They all did terribly in school as children yet went on to accomplish great things. Does this mean that all children who do terribly at … Continue reading
We think of public schools in rural areas and those in our nation’s inner cities as being two completely different animals, but in several crucial ways they are in fact remarkably similar. Both are generally staffed and funded in ways … Continue reading
Great news! Rethinking Education is now on Facebook. ’Friend’ the page to get the latest updates on posts and education news around Maine and beyond. Click here to see the Rethinking Education page and hit ‘Like’ Don’t forget you can also subscribe … Continue reading
Language learning has historically been thought of in this country as something primarily for the elite – or for the hopelessly geeky. Now that we live in a global world this attitude needs to change. Our children need to … Continue reading
We live in an age when pundits, presidents, business leaders, and the general public alike extol the importance of global education. Yet the curriculum in most of our elementary and middle level public schools in Maine consigns social studies and … Continue reading
Computers can be used to great effect in schools and they can also interfere with development when over-used. Therefore much care should be taken on the part of curriculum coordinators, principals, school boards, and teachers to ensure that students reap … Continue reading
Schools risk losing the interest of broad swathes of their students when they ask younger adolescents to stay quietly inside all day. Some students can handle a full day of table-chair activity but many are overwhelmed by restlessness and become … Continue reading
Schools – important pillar of our democracy – must be funded differently than they are now. As things stand, schools in towns ten miles apart here in Mid-coast Maine – let alone thousands of miles apart when considering the US … Continue reading
What’s the surest way of improving student performance in Maine’s troubled schools? Break down the bureaucratic chains that control what goes on and invite the teachers to the decision-making table. Amongst my teaching acquaintances I do not know many who … Continue reading
