Leadership Blog

Walt Gardner's Reality Check

Walt Gardner taught for 28 years in the Los Angeles Unified School District and was a lecturer in the UCLA Graduate School of Education. This blog is no longer being updated.

Education Opinion Disability Is the Other Segregation
Admitting students with disabilities to private schools will require certain accommodations, but they will be more than offset by what these students bring to the classroom.
Walt Gardner, July 9, 2014
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1 min read
Education Opinion Teachers' Unions at Crossroads
The only way teachers' unions can exist in anything other than an advisory capacity is to become part of the reform movement.
Walt Gardner, July 7, 2014
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3 min read
Education Opinion The Perennial Reading Wars
Schools that rely strictly on phonics or whole language to teach reading do their students a disservice.
Walt Gardner, July 4, 2014
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1 min read
Education Opinion College Ratings Hurt High School Students
The sole purpose of a bachelor's degree should not be to get a well-paying job.
Walt Gardner, July 2, 2014
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2 min read
Education Opinion Should Teachers Have Guns in School?
Not all teachers have the personality to carry guns, even after the best training.
Walt Gardner, June 30, 2014
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1 min read
Education Opinion Give Teachers a Choice on Pensions
Allowing teachers to choose the kind of pension plan suited to their needs would help attract more talented college graduates.
Walt Gardner, June 27, 2014
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1 min read
Education Opinion Diversity Training for Teachers Needed
Does "highly qualified" refer only to knowledge of subject matter and mastery of pedagogy, or does cultural sensitivity also count?
Walt Gardner, June 25, 2014
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1 min read
Education Opinion The Case for School Uniforms
Young people don't always possess the judgment to know what is proper attire.
Walt Gardner, June 23, 2014
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1 min read
Education Opinion How to Teach ESL
Certain subjects are more appropriate for total immersion than others, but there is no one guaranteed right way.
Walt Gardner, June 20, 2014
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1 min read
Education Opinion The Good Teacher-Bad Teacher Debate
It's altogether possible to teach subject matter well but to teach students to hate the subject matter in the process.
Walt Gardner, June 18, 2014
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1 min read
Education Opinion Blaming Schools for Lack of Good Jobs
Poverty is the cause of lousy schools, not the other way around.
Walt Gardner, June 16, 2014
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2 min read
Education Opinion Elite High School Admissions
Rather than tinker with the admissions process to achieve a stipulated diversity goal in elite high schools, the answer is to improve the quality of the schools that blacks and Hispanics attend prior to applying.
Walt Gardner, June 13, 2014
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1 min read
Education Opinion Teachers' Job Protections Take a Blow
The decision in Vergara v. California is a giant step toward busting teachers' unions and privatizing schools.
Walt Gardner, June 11, 2014
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2 min read
Education Opinion What Does a High School Diploma Mean?
By identifying students most at risk when they begin school, we start them on a track of positive achievement.
Walt Gardner, June 9, 2014
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2 min read
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