Posts Tagged ‘school reform’
Rigor Mortis: Let’s Redefine Rigor to Meet Student Needs
In a country where self-serve businesses seem a fitting symbol for a pervasive approach to life, I’m not surprised that I get a lot of criticism for promoting schools that make room for the self of the student: “Kids today already seem over-indulged, narcissistic, and entitled,” say my critics. “They need to learn about the…
Read MoreCool, Connected, and Successful
Attitude usually plays an essential role in success. In my experience, the most successful students tend to see themselves as students and feel a sense of pride in being a student. Learning matters to them; they want to learn (which is very different from merely wanting a good grade). They are intellectually alive and curious,…
Read MoreCreating 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…
Read MoreThe Tune of the Hick’ry Stick: An Apology
“What part of this don’t you understand?” the judge asked, frustration edging her voice. “You’re fifteen. The law says you need to be in school. Do you think the rules don’t apply to you?” The boy looked at her, swiveling slightly in the green, high-backed chair. He tugged a couple of times at his long…
Read MoreMy School, My Self
“I just needed a place where I could be myself.” That was Teri’s assessment of what was missing from her life in school, and my experience suggests that she speaks for hundreds of thousands, probably millions, of students. School is not typically a place for the self, at least not the self of students. A…
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