Anyone who has been in American education for more than a generation understands that educational trends come in waves.  Progressive education gives way to back to basics which yields to open education which in term is supplanted by cultural literacy, high stakes testing and standards-based instruction.  And so it goes. Somewhere in there, around about...Read More

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

Several years ago, I wrote a book for elementary and middle school students entitled You’re Smarter Than You Think: A Kid’s Guide to Multiple Intelligences(published by Free Spirit Publishing).  Since it came out, I have received letters from young readers responding to their experience of reading the book.  Just this month, I received a packet...Read More

I’m seriously concerned that the schools aren’t doing enough (change that:  aren’t doing anything!) to prepare students on the autism spectrum for a range of careers that are beginning to open up for them in the workplace.  So much of recent educational ”reform” has been about preparing our students to be college and career-ready.  If this...Read More

It’s wonderful to see all the protests around the country against standardized testing.  At Garfield High School in Seattle, Washington, teachers are refusing to administer the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP).  In Texas, hundreds of school districts have passed a resolution saying standardized tests  are ”strangling” public schools.  The National Resolution on High Stakes Testing,...Read More