Notes based on educational research
While my son was in elementary school I wrote a regular column for the school’s newsletter that provided parents, teachers, and administrators with a brief exposure to findings from educational research. I hoped these brief notes would stir discussion, and indeed they did. The results of research sometimes run counter to the common sense, or common nonsense, that prevails and so my short notes occasionally raised the ire of all three groups for whom I was writing. Not because there is anything particular controversial in anything I wrote, but because stakeholders bring prior experiences and values to their current experience with school and their responses reflect those perspectives. In evaluation, this is a critically important feature of the context to understand and incorporate into the evaluation process in a meaningful way.
Homework
Calculators and computing
Video gaming and learning
Learning to read
ESL
Arts education
Citizenship and social responsibility
Printing, cursive, keyboarding
Multiculturalism
Education and Longevity
The importance of play
Understanding Bullying
Anxiety
Learning from mistakes
Why study music
The value of small classes
FSA
Grading practices
Parent involvement
Difference and deficit
Learning in the summer
Follow
