Literacy
I Was There When Lucy Calkins Shifted Toward Cognitive Science
In October, national media reported on the remarkable shift toward phonics and away from 3-Cueing now under way for noted reading curriculum leader Lucy Calkins and the Teachers College Reading and...
student achievement
Here's Why Independent Reading Matters in a Pandemic
We’re in the midst of a back-to-school season like no other. The COVID-19 pandemic has raised lots of questions about how to safely and effectively keep kids learning when traditional classroom...
Politics
I’m Empowering My Students to Lead Conversations About Race
In late September, I began my class with my usual prompt: Is there anything in the news you’d like to share? My students would generally talk about the presidential election or COVID-19, but today...
Achievement Gap
The Epidemic We’re Not Talking About: Most High School Seniors Can’t Read or Do Math
The National Assessment for Education Progress (NAEP)—nicknamed “America’s Report Card”—released their 12th grade scores at the end of October. The horrifying results: Just 37% of 12th-graders...
COVID-19
Remote Learning Isn’t Great. Whining Is Worse.
My kids are upstairs pretending to learn. My wife and I know they aren’t engaged. Their teachers range from earnest to weird. The most challenging parts of their curriculum also seem to be the parts...
COVID-19
Books Are Essential Tools to Help Children Manage Grief
With more than 200,000 COVID-related deaths nationwide since March, and with the knowledge from a recent Kaiser Family Foundation study that the COVID infection rates are significantly higher in...
