Schools for other people's children...

(President Obama on his choice of schools for his daughters).

Our president gave an honest answer. We understand that. But as long as people can walk away from the public schools, they will continue to be for other people's children. I wrote an essay many years ago that the only way to fix our public schools is to CLOSE all the private schools! Nutty? I don't think so. By doing that, we would force all players to the same table and I do believe that improvements would come fast. Very fast. In fact, it's really the only way.

The responsibility deficit.... Thanks Philip K. Howard!

(The Responsibility Deficit).

It's great to see our friend, Philip K. Howard, featured in David Brooks' column. Of course, he's right. Teachers need the freedom to teach and students need to know that it is their responsibility to learn.

It's always amazing to me that when we make comparisons of student achievement with other countries (Finland, comes to mind) we ignore the student, parent, and teacher responsibility parts. There are key. Yet, not on the table usually.

Instead we focus on systems and more rules and more requirements, taking us further and further away from what works: responsibility by key players. Thank you again, Philip, and thank you David Brooks for recognizing his important work!

Should we rethink inclusion? See joannejacobs.com discussion

(Should we rethink inclusion??

Yes, it's time to rethink inclusion. Inclusion grew out of the civil rights model. (student have a right to be in regular classrooms) not out of the education model (what works for students!). So sad. Instead, our schools should be driven by research or education-based practices--not legal mandates or concepts cooked up by legislators and judges.

It is, indeed, time to rethink inclusion so we can do what actually works for kids in schools.

Mother was right...'C'est le ton qui fait la musique."

My mother always told me, "It's the tone that makes the music." Can that be the message from Washington D.C.'s vote? That it was a rejection of style, approach, tone--even as the schools were improving? Can it be that mother was right--again.

(Children are the losers in D.C. vote)

Education Update features Fixing Special Education!

( Discussion with Michael Best, NYC General Counsel and Jean Johnson of Public Agenda)

(Fixing Special Education.).

The book is available on Amazon.com, through (School Law Pro), and at (Fixing book)

Check it out! Your thoughts and comments?

We are into the 35th anniversary of this law. Time to celebrate and reform!

Thomas Friedman--"We're Number 11!" Scary!

(Thomas Friedman echoes Robert Samuelson's call for motivated and hardworking students)


Finally, Thomas Friedman of the New York Times and Robert Samuelson of Newsweek tell us the truth: too many of our students are not motivated to work hard. After all the money spent on 'education reform,' we have little to show for it because (so far) we have been unwilling to look in the right places--what students bring from home and what students do in school.

Let's hope these thought leaders get that conversation going.

Barnard College... Alumnae books includes FIXING!

(Fixing Special Education listed among Barnard College Alumnae books)

Education Week reports number of SLD students is down.

(Number of students with specific learning disability is down).

Is this good news? Is it news? What does it mean? We all need to stay tuned.

But, for the moment, it looks like GOOD news for those of us who believe that too many students were labeled with SLD and who believe that good teaching in the early grades through good old fashioned GOOD TEACHING practices (now called RTI--response to intervention) will keep numbers down.

A story to keep watching!

"Learning style"--is it real?-- in New York Times

(Learning style and other theories of learning debunked).
We've known that brain research and 'common knowledge' don't often match. So here we go again. In my book, Fixing Special Education, I wrote about the fact that so much of special education is built upon questionable (or no) research. It's a tragedy for students, schools and our country.
Maybe this
New York Times article will help. Let us hope!

School reforms' meager results. See 2nd reason!

(Two reasons for school reform failure)

A gutsy piece. Common sense tells us that education is a two-way street. Educate is an active verb. It is something one does. It does not happen passively. The teacher should work hard AND THE STUDENT SHOULD WORK HARD.

Yet, defying common sense, education reform efforts have focused only on the first person--not the second! If students don't learn, the teachers must be doing something wrong! Hello... does that make sense to anyone? NOT ME. Such reforms have not worked and, they will not. So says this gutsy piece by Robert J. Samuelson in the Washington Post.

He cites the (usually uncited and unspoken) reason--students are not motivated to work hard. Thank you, Mr. Samuelson, for telling a truth. In my experience, most teachers are good enough. BUT, they cannot educate students alone. Education is an ACTIVE verb. Teachers need active participation by students (and I would say, parents). Our reforms have been looking in the wrong place.

Back to school magic...

It’s that time of year—the annual, magical beginning of school. Every year, teachers, students, and parents get to start anew. New beginnings. Clean slates. A world of possibilities Dreams. It’s magic!

I left teaching to practice law more than 35 years ago. Yet, that end-of-summer beginning-of-school magic is still powerful in me. There’s nothing like it in the practice of law. Instead of an annual fresh start and clean slates, when we return from vacation, ‘stuff’ is piled high on our desks. Our emails are clogged. We are on a treadmill yet again. Life did not stop. It carried on while we were basking in the sun. We are now in catch-up mode... wondering if taking that time off was worth the reentry pain.

But, I digress. In schools, this is a magic time. I wish you a happy year of success and achievement in 2010-2011 and thank you for your important work.

Top books? Here are the results thus far...

(Voting for top books of the last 10 years). Diane Ravitch is up by far!

Top education books of the decade!

Education Next.org has a fascinating contest--vote for the book you believe to be most influential. I did.

And I added the comment that Carol Dweck's book, MINDSET, should have been on that list. It influenced me the most-- what teachers and parents can do (and should stop doing) to help students learn, succeed, and thrive. Check that out too--the book and the comment!

What book would you add?

(Top books of the decade)