Since the passage of the No Child Left Behind law in 2001, there’s been a requirement that schools (at least those receiving federal funds), use ”evidence-based” research to back-up the effectiveness of an instructional intervention in the classroom.  The evidence-based research most often regarded as optimal is the experimental or randomized control trial (RCT).  This...Read More

Back in the early 1970’s when I was just starting my career in education as a student at the University of Massachusetts School of Education, I visited the St. Paul Open School, where the principal was Wayne B. Jennings.  My guide through the school I remember was a little boy, perhaps first grade, who had...Read More

Today the Washington Post blog ”The Answer Sheet” by Valerie Strauss, ran an excerpt from my book The Power of the Adolescent Brain: Strategies for Teaching Middle and High School Students. Valerie Strauss:  ”When people talk about making sure that curriculum is “developmentally appropriate,” they are often talking about the work young children are given...Read More

Here is a link to an interview I did with Rod Berger on edCircuit about how we need to pay attention to recent research on adolescent brain development as we reform our secondary schools. It is based on my new book The Power of the Adolescent Brain: Strategies for Teaching Middle and High School Students. Share...Read More

In today’s educational climate, where students are increasingly being compressed by technology and accountability pressures into computable ‘’data units,’’ there’s never been a more vital priority than addressing the needs of students as persons.  While the etymology of the word ‘’person’’ goes back to the idea of having a ‘’persona’’ or ‘’social mask,’’  I think...Read More