The (Progressive) Schools Our Children Deserve – (Lecture Topic)

THE (PROGRESSIVE) SCHOOLS OUR CHILDREN DESERVE  Our knowledge of how children learn – and how schools can help — has come a long way in the last few decades. Unfortunately, most schools have not: They’re still more about memorizing facts and practicing isolated skills than understanding ideas from the inside out; they still exclude students from any meaningful decision-making role; … Read More

Change by Decree (##)

AMERICAN SCHOOL BOARD JOURNAL January 2013 Change by Decree By Alfie Kohn Everyone is opposed to making educators implement lousy ideas — “lousy” being defined as something the speaker doesn’t like.  But it’s a lot more challenging to take a stand against — and, if you’re in a position of relative power, to refuse to engage in — the practice … Read More

Do Tests Help Students Learn or Was a New Study Misreported? (##)

January 28, 2011 Do Tests Really Help Students Learn or Was a New Study Misreported? By Alfie Kohn The relationship between educational policies and educational research is both fascinating and disturbing. Sometimes policy makers, including those who piously invoke the idea of “data-driven” practice, pursue initiatives that they favor regardless of the fact that there is no empirical support for … Read More