Category: mastering rigorous content
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Indicted or Changing the System?
What do you do when you live in a country that continues to marginalize people, including the very children you are working to serve, to educate? What do you do when this system rachets up its effort to marginalize people rather than take actions to improve the lives of marginalized people? I was thinking about…
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Do We Still Provide Equity in Schools?
The directives coming out of our nation’s capital these days have many educators questioning what they may do in their schools and classrooms and what should they avoid? Do we include Black history as a part of American history? Do we provide mental health support to students traumatized by their life circumstance? Do we provide…
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The System Is Designed for Poor Student Achievement
The system is perfectly designed to achieve the results we are getting. Have you heard that sentiment before? If you are an educator, you mostly likely have heard a similar statement when talking about student achievement results or continuous improvement planning. Public education in our country is largely designed to sort students and provide differing…
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Equity in Education: Overcoming Barriers of Poverty for Student Success
The multitude of barriers, created by poverty, to achieving an rigorous education must be overcome in order to have equity in schools. Many years ago, I was principal of a very large elementary school in a midwestern city. It was the only non-housing structure in the neighborhood. There were no other services in that neighborhood:…
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Cooperative Learning: A Powerful Tool for Equity (Part II)
Cooperative learning is a powerful tool for helping to create equity in our schools and classrooms. Highly effective cooperative learning structures help ensure all students master rigorous grade level standards. This instructional model is constructed so that students are working together to ensure each one learns and masters the content that has often been initially…
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Cooperative Learning: A Powerful Tool for Equity
Cooperative Learning: A Powerful Tool for Equity (Part I) Equity in our schools means that every student masters, at a minimum rigorous grade level standards set by each state, graduating high school ready for college and/or career. This is a daunting task for educators that requires relentless dedication, use of research proven instructional methods, and…
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Equity in Schools Strengthens Democracy
Thomas Jefferson in his correspondence with John Tyler on May 26, 1810 stated: “ I have indeed two great measures at heart, without which no republic can maintain itself in strength. 1. That of a general education to enable every man to judge for himself what will secure or endanger his freedom. 2. To divide every…
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We Know How To Teach All Students to Read: So Why Aren’t We?
Reading is essential for achieving equity in education: ensuring all students have whatever it takes for each of them to master rigorous grade level standards at a minimum. Reading opens the doors to all the other academic disciplines. We have years of data and research that confirms for us that students who fail to learn…
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Acceleration, Not Remediation
Acceleration Supports Equity, Remediation Denys Equity Providing remedial education or instruction to students working below grade level has deep roots in our schools. Continuing such instruction is a problem. The use of remediation continues to deny equity to our marginalized students. Remediation is the concept that something in broken and needs to be fixed. As…
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Increasing Equity in the Next School Year
Are you planning right now for how you will increase equity in your school next year? How will take significant steps towards ensuring all students achieve at high levels? As the 2022-23 school year comes to a close, a flurry of activities are happening in schools and districts as they prepare for the 2023-24 school…