EDUCATION: Will schools provide what students need?

EDUCATION

An excerpt from the book Learning Every Day by David Wilson, available on Amazon.com.

Students tell us school is boring and doesn’t have a direct connection to real life. Businesses say many graduates aren’t prepared for the working world. Universities frequently tell us high school graduates cannot successfully begin college level work. And media outlets often report American students are not keeping up with their counterparts in many industrialized countries. Clearly, changes are in order.

The entire picture, however, isn’t bleak. In schools throughout the country, educators have begun to look at research, collect data, and make decisions about practices that will get the best results.

Many schools are becoming more flexible in every area and there is a great opportunity for improvement.

And improve they must.

Making the changes to support what today’s students need will require communities all across the country to support a school model very different from the schools of the last 100 years. The biggest question is, will they?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The coronavirus scare ended what appeared to be a very promising XFL 2020 season but the league should thrive in 2021. One of the great things about the XFL is in it's timing. Games are played in the spring, after the Super Bowl and before summer. Defender linebacker Jonathan Celestin signals fourth down in a March 8 home game. Because it is a slow time in the sports calendar (beginning before March Madness and before Major League Baseball's opening day) it fills a real void and meets a real need. I was hooked for a lot of reasons, but the big question is, what did the XFL have that really resonated with you? Fans on Twitter readily share their views. Jones143 is a true fan that went all out purchasing XFL gear, and he said he likes the newness of the game: "New rules, the kickoff, and extra points. I like the team jerseys, logos, and the look. It's just quick and fun. You don't get bored." Others Tweeted similar sentiments: ...

Insights from school leaders

The following column ran in Northwest Arkansas newspapers on April 25, 2018 My time as an educator was extremely rewarding, enriching, and eye-opening. At every stop along the way, I had the privilege of working under a supervisor or supervisors who taught me a lot about life in general and about education in particular. The following paragraphs have some good nuggets of wisdom that I learned from each. It is good stuff to consider, whether you are an educator or whether you just want to be a big help wherever you work. During my first position as an administrator, my immediate supervisor was a lady just a couple of years older than me, and she made a great impact upon my life and on my career because of her encouragement. “I rely on you more than you know,” she told me more than once. And she would often add, “I don’t know what we would do without you.” It wasn’t hard at all for me to be loyal to a boss like that. Another supervisor once said, “Some stude...

You don't have to like baseball to enjoy spring training!

BASEBALL Column published in newspapers on March 7, 2018 by David Wilson My Dad loved watching St. Louis Cardinal baseball but my Mom didn’t like it much. But somehow, they made the marriage work. In recent decades Dad had a Cardinal game on television almost every night and every weekend. Mom sat with him in the living room, and I could say that she suffered in silence, but actually, she wasn’t always silent about it. I told Mom once that she and Dad should go to Florida during March and watch the Cardinals in spring training. “Oh I can’t do that—” she said. “Wait a minute Mom,” I said. “It won’t be like going in to St. Louis and fighting the crowds to see a game. You will be around a different group of people, including a bunch of retired folks. And the weather won’t be like sitting in the heat and humidity of St. Louis in July. It will be pleasant.” Mom was listening. “Just go with Dad for one game,” I continue...

Search This Blog