Finding My Own Answers

  Or, Even Teachers Get The Blues [Editor’s note: Oren Karp is a recent graduate of Brown University and a Fulbright Scholar teaching English in Kathmandu, Nepal. He posts an account of his life in Nepal every few weeks. This essay is an excerpt from his most recent posting; you can read the full essay…

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Because They Need It

“Because they need it.” – Whitney Tilson Tilson is a multimillionaire hedge fund manager who is a major supporter of education “reform,” particularly the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) chain.  “Because they need it,” was Tilson’s unguarded response to a question at a seminar about KIPP’s draconian disciplinary practices.  “They” referred to the poor Black…

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Teaching Consent About More Than Just Sex

Although we have heard more about “consent” recently, nearly every time it is in reference to some kind of sexual situation. Consent is vital to understand in terms of actually having sex; however, all children need to understand the concept of consent well before they reach the age of consent in order to truly make…

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Creating Better Schools: Let’s Look to Parents

[Editor’s note: Our archives contain several years of excellent articles, most of which remain relevant and important to today’s young people and the adults who work with them. This one is a “Director’s Choice” that we are reposting this week.]   “We are greater than and greater for, the sum of us.” — Heather McGhee, The…

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True Confessions of a Dyslexic…

A dyslexic head of school?? Surprised? You shouldn’t be, but most folks are. The perception of dyslexia in society is one of people crippled by the inability to spell, read, or write. In fact, ask someone what dyslexia is, and they might say something like “switching ‘d’ for ‘b’.”  While this perception may have some…

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