The K-12 Contrarian
A former high school teacher, Dave Powell is an associate professor of education at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania. In this blog, Powell examined efforts to fix education, including whom you should trust and why. This blog is no longer being updated.
School & District Management
Opinion
Rethinking the School Calendar and Everything Else
I'm not reflexively opposed to the idea of changing the traditional school calendar, and I'm not married to the idea that summer vacation, in particular, must be protected at all costs. What are some other alternatives?
Early Childhood
Opinion
In Praise of Summer Vacation
It's that time of year, finally: school's out, for most of us, and we can start thinking about how to use the time wisely. I wish everybody had the same opportunities I have.
School & District Management
Opinion
Neoliberalism and the New Politics of Education
Like a lot of people who like to know what's going on in the world I spent a lot of time over the last couple of weeks trying to understand what was going on in the UK, where finally, on Thursday, the British voted to leave the European Union. I'm no expert on British politics but I have to say the vote left me feeling uneasy, especially as I thought about it in the context of education policy.
Education
Opinion
Educating Our Low-Information Politicians About Education Policy
People have been complaining that education hasn't been a more significant topic of conversation in the presidential race. Is this because the people running are ignoring it, or because they don't know what they're talking about?
Social Studies
Opinion
The Character Education We Need
I should probably stop short of saying this will be the last thing I have to say about grit—never say never—but I think this will be the last thing I have to say about grit. Maybe.
School & District Management
Opinion
When Having Grit Is a Bad Thing
The problem with grit is that it privileges hard work over judgment; people with grit keep working even when they don't know why they're doing it. What if having grit is not as good for us as we thought it was?
Education
Opinion
The Trouble With Grit
Grit mania is serving up yet another in a long line of supposedly groundbreaking new insights that promise to change everything about the way we educate our kids. Should we be a little more skeptical?
School & District Management
Opinion
The End-of-Semester Blues
Whether we want to admit it or not, the world is only going to be ours for a little while. Before long it will pass on to our children, and if all we've done to prepare them to take on that responsibility is remind them of how little they've accomplished and blame their teachers for not helping them do more, what reason do we have to think they'll be able to handle it?
School & District Management
Opinion
Beware of Teacher Education Rankings
After I shared some critical observations about the data collection and analysis techniques employed by the National Council for Teacher Quality (NCTQ) recently, I got a surprise in my inbox: a response from someone at NCTQ. Here's my response.
Teacher Preparation
Opinion
Don't Blame Teacher-Education Programs for All of New Teachers' Challenges
You've all heard the stories about how difficult the first year of teaching can be, and many of you have probably endured it yourselves. When are we going to get serious about reforming teacher education in a way that actually addresses the problem?
School & District Management
Opinion
We Owe It to Ourselves to Fix Funding for Public Education
I know I may be preaching to the choir here, but our collective failure to secure better funding for education is a national embarrassment. Until we get serious about overhauling how we pay for education we're going to have a hard time solving all the other problems on our plate.
School & District Management
Opinion
Let's Talk Solutions to the Teacher Shortage Problem
Last month Las Vegas was desperate for teachers; now Hawaii is too. Is there anything we can do to address these chronic teacher shortages?
Curriculum
Opinion
Real Reform Happens When Teachers Are In Charge
Sammamish High School, a diverse, comprehensive school in Bellevue, Wash., has quietly been in the process of reinventing itself. Education reformers should take note of what's happening there.
School & District Management
Opinion
How the Rhetoric of Failure Props Up Education Reform
The students I teach who want to become teachers know all too well that testing has taken over, that the work of teachers is increasingly micromanaged by people who often don't really know how to do it, and that teachers don't get even half the respect they deserve. And, yet, everything is their fault. What if we changed our frame of reference on that?