Peter DeWitt is the founder and CEO of the Instructional Leadership Collective. A former public school teacher and principal, he now facilitates professional learning in the United States and abroad based on the content of many of his best-selling educational books. Former superintendent Michael Nelson is a frequent contributor to this opinion blog. He is the co-leader of ILC and a former superintendent who has been an educator for more than 40 years.
Education
Opinion
Don't Ask, Don't Tell
As of September 20th, 2011, the federal government ended the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) Policy. Although the repeal was initiated in 2010, it took months for the policy to officially end. Don't Ask, Don't Tell prohibited any homosexual or bisexual person from disclosing his or her sexual orientation while serving in the United States armed forces. If those members disclosed their orientation, they would be discharged from the military.
Education
Opinion
High Stakes Testing: The New SAT's
If you're sitting on the sidelines watching this happen, it's time to join the game.
Education
Opinion
Meeting the Needs of All Learners: Implementing Action Research
Don't keep moving forward toward the iceberg when you know it's going to sink your ship.
Education
Opinion
Letter to a New Teacher
Last week, as I got ready to end the week and begin the weekend, I said goodbye to the eight pre-service teachers who ended their student teaching experience in our building. They handed me thank you cards, and the classrooms where they spent their experience had parties to provide closure to the whole experience. Many of them would be graduating and looking for jobs in a market that can be challenging. Others made plans to continue their education to pursue a graduate degree.
Education
Opinion
Is the U.S. Becoming the Anti-Model of Education?
Not only is this system being built on the shoulders of tests harmful to students it is resulting in a form of educational malpractice.
Education
Opinion
Can Educators Be Innovative When They Lack 21st Century Resources?
As some teachers try to find ways to educate 25 to 27 students in their classrooms, other teachers are trying to figure out how to manage 40 students in their classrooms.
Education
Opinion
The Power of Two: Co-Teaching in the Classroom
Too often, a special education teacher or Academic Intervention Service (AIS) provider acts as a very expensive pointer in the classroom.
Education
Opinion
Separation, Divorce & The Child in the Middle
Children who are caught in the middle may be resilient and make it through the situation positively, but all too often children feel it is their fault that their parents cannot even meet in the same room.
Education
Opinion
Tearing Down Education Piece by Piece
Today we had to tear down a longhouse in our main hallway. The longhouse was built by our fourth grade teachers and students during our No Testing Week. We had to take it down for a variety of reasons. It was only meant to be temporary; much like our week where we felt free from the constraints of our constant top-down mandates provided to us from our state and federal education departments.
Education
Opinion
Why We Need to Differentiate Between Assessment & Testing
All students have strengths, and most of those strengths are not assessed through high stakes testing.
Education
Opinion
Why Bullying May Never End
"It's like hearing the same song too many times on the radio. After a while people turn the station."
Education
Opinion
How Twitter is Changing Professional Development for Educators
"I naively assumed that Twitter was a place for people to narcissistically blab their every move, and after reading "Why Educators Should Join Twitter," my mind was changed and I joined. My life is changed! I finally feel like I have others whose lives revolve around education the way mine does". Jaime Mendelis, Binghamton, NY
Education
Opinion
A Week without Testing: A Whole Child Experience
During the week of November 28th through December 2nd, our school participated in our very own No Testing Week. I must admit that I hardly slept Sunday night because I was eager to see what teachers had planned. It's not that we are totally driven by data and have to test every day but it certainly does feel as though we are consumed by testing.
Education
Opinion
Poverty Matters
"It's no cop-out to acknowledge the effects of socioeconomic disparities on student learning. Rather, it's a vital step to closing the achievement gap." Richard Rothstein