Originally posted on February 21, 2007 What would you expect to hear from a would-be superintendent if you asked him what he wants to change in the public school system? Smaller classes? Stronger academics? Improved test scores? These are often the words we hear proclaimed when discussing school improvement, so I was surprised and delighted […]
The other day, 20-year-old Andy said to me, “I just don’t know what I want to do with my life, and I worry that I’m not going to get a good job when I graduate.” In the past year, I have heard this concern so many times from students that I decided to write… An […]
Note: This is the third article in The Myths of Education™ series. Some babies walk at 10 months and others don’t walk until 17 months. Right from the start, we have a 70% performance gap, yet we accept this as normal so we don’t insist on rating babies’ walking skills. We understand that by the […]
Note: This is the second article in The Myths of Education™ series. Have you ever wondered why we urge teens to be the best possible student? Many parents, leaders, and educators say it’s because they believe this will get him into the “best” colleges and — the big assumption — that this will lead to […]
A “significant majority” of the 5000 self-made British millionaires struggled in school, says a BBC study. Think about that for a moment. One of the myths we tell about education is that kids who struggle in school are not smart, have learning disabilities, or are just plain lazy. Yet, I imagine these terms don’t normally […]
The future looks very bright for our teens– when we de-bunk three false, damaging myths. In a recent study, I found that—no matter what their GPA—teens will have great opportunities because world, corporate, and scientific prospects depend on a far broader set of characteristics than those we emphasize in our system of education. I’d like […]
“Do you agree there is too much homework?” parents (and sometimes teachers) often ask me. My short answer? “Usually.” So, if you’re one of those who question the amount of homework students get, you’ll be happy to see the 3 biggest reasons to reduce it. When my own daughters were going through high school (two […]
Imagine you were asked to help improve the future prospects of Jill, a high school junior with a GPA of 2.0 who daydreams in English, History, and Spanish. What would you advise Jill to do? a) Get screened for a learning disability and, if needed, take medication to focus. b) Visualize a report card with […]
Failure does not breed success when it comes to the brain, according to MIT scientist Earl Miller whose study of monkeys is cited in the Boston Globe article of August 3, “Why success may breed success.” When a correct response is rewarded, higher-intensity signals fire between the two learning areas of the brain. This increases […]
With all the focus on grades and scores, let’s take that to the nth degree. IF your child suddenly does a 180 and gets an A+ in every class between now and the end of college AND because he got perfect SAT scores, he went to Harvard, now what? “The world is his oyster,” you […]