First, let me begin by saying I am not an idiot.  I clearly recognize that ADHD is a certified medical condition as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM 5).  In addition, I recognize that the symptoms described in the DSM-5 are very real:  things like ‘’fidgets’’ ‘’blurts out...Read More

A new study at Michigan State suggests that there is limited vocabulary instruction in kindergarten classes across the U.S., particularly for those students living at the poverty level.  The is problematic because numerous studies have noted how building a good vocabulary right from start of schooling is directly related to later academic achievement and to success in a...Read More

I am sickened by a news report from Reuters on the rapid rise in the use of standardized testing at the kindergarten level.  The push for academic accountability in the higher grades has been essentially pushed downwards through the grade levels and now sits like a 10-ton block of steel on what used to be literally a “children’s garden”...Read More

My Note:  During my recent trip to the Philippines, I did a number of media interviews (television, print, and online).  Here is an article that came out of one such interview.  It appeared at www.InterAkyson.com, the online news portal of TV 5 in Quezon City, Philippines: Educator warns: Be wary of schools preparing kids for ‘next level,’ focus...Read More

There’s a whole new climate of opinion that’s been sweeping over the educational scene in America these days.  It’s all about accepting as perfectly normal the creation of a monstrous monolithic “learning” enterprise from preschool to post-college that consists of uniform standards, standardized testing, the collection of “data”, and the evaluation of teachers based on test scores (a practice incongruously called “value-added”). I find this...Read More