Located just outside of Phoenix, Zaharis Elementary has received a significant amount of attention for looking beyond test-based accountability to prepare students for a world in which “85% of the jobs of tomorrow haven’t even been invented yet.”
This interview, with principal Michael Oliver, shows how the school’s inquiry-based model is actually weaning some lawmakers away from their love of high-stakes testing, and changing them into champions for change.
Effective leadership is a vital ingredient in successful school improvement. But according to the authors of this article, “The data about educational leadership paints a stark picture of the challenge facing education today.”
Here’s an analogy the authors use to help convey the level of urgency involved …
Imagine reading the following in a Monday morning news article: “In Congressional testimony today, researchers uncovered that 90% of current doctors feel they are responsible for everything that happens to patients, and 75% feel their job has become too complex. At least half of current doctors feel under great stress several days a week. Roughly 20% of doctors leave each year, half of the doctors will leave their position within four years, and the rates are considerably higher in low-income communities. Each turnover costs the organization $75,000. Roughly 70% of the traditional pipeline for doctors has no interest in assuming the position; the largest group now in that pipeline has only one year of experience. All of this is occurring as medicine implements its most ambitious increase in quality standards and accountability in decades.”
Since effective solutions are seldom possible without a clear understanding of the problem, it’s a message well worth repeating.
With our intensely busy schedules, professional development for Administrators often ends up on the back burner. Yet we all know how important good PD is to continued growth.
This article from Edutopia takes a look at how using “low resource” practices can boost your professional development opportunities.
As the old saying goes, “Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.”
My daughter (an elementary teacher) recently shared this classic graphic from Orton Gillingham. It’s an excellent illustration of how a someone with the characteristics of dyslexia may perceive letters, and why the way his/her brain works is not just a matter of being “wrong.”
It also shows why so-called “learning disabled” children often AREN’T. We simply don’t teach the way that their brains learn. And what wonders are we missing because we can’t appreciate their unique perspective?
That’s definitely something worth thinking about …