-
Research WednesdayThe Toxic Impact of Homework
Dear Friends,
This week’s evidence is on one of my favorite subjects – the toxic impact of homework, especially on students from low-income families. The new article comes from a surprising source – Mike Petrelli of the Fordham Institute.
-
Research Wednesday
How to Support Substitute Teachers
This week’s evidence is on a topic I have not addressed before – how to support substitute teachers. This is a critical issue for many of our clients, some of whom are staffed 50% by long-term (or a series of short-term) substitute teachers. The evidence is from Edutopia (https://www.edutopia.org/article/supporting-substitute-teachers/), and some of the key findings include:
-
Research Wednesday
3 Counterintuitive Findings About Motivation That Teachers Can Use
This week’s research comes from Sarah D. Sparks. She covers education research, data, and the science of learning for Education Week.
3 Counterintuitive Findings About Motivation That Teachers Can Use
-
Research Wednesday
Classroom Discipline
Dear Friends,
This week’s evidence comes from the Eberly Center at Carnegie Mellon University. It addresses a pervasive concern of teachers – classroom discipline. This is important because even with fully certified teachers, their undergraduate teacher preparation programs provided little help in classroom management. Moreover, many districts have a large number of long-term substitute teachers and non-certified teachers who have had no training at all in dealing with student discipline.
-
Research Wednesday
Impact of Class Size Reduction on Students
Dear Friends,
This week’s evidence comes from a forthcoming study by Chingos of the Urban Institute. The question is the impact of class size reduction on students. A recently signed New York law caps class size at 20, k-4; 24 5-8; and 25 9-12. California had already run this experiment in the 90s, and it was a disaster. Some students went four years without a qualified teacher. Why is this very popular law so bad?
-
Research Wednesday
Brave New Words by Sal Kahn – Artificial Intelligene
Dear Friends,
Here’s the latest evidence of interest to educators and leaders. There has been a lot of ink spilled about artificial intelligence recently, but here is the single best source I’ve seen so far. It’s Brave New Words by Sal Kahn. I’ve been converted from skeptic to advocate by this book. I had worried that Kahn Academy was just helping privileged kids, who had great internet connectivity, get their homework done.
-
Blogs
What’s Wrong With School Plans?
The standards movement is now more than two decades old, yet the fundamental premise of standards – that students should be evaluated based on their performance rather than comparison – remains mired in controversy. The failure of grading reform is often a self-inflicted wound, with school systems falling victim to fads, unnecessary complexity, and silly controversies. Here are five ways to get grading reform unstuck.
-
Research Wednesday
Personalized Learning
Dear Friends,
This week’s evidence comes from our friends at Johns Hopkins University. Once again, I need to let the evidence get in the way of my preconceived notions. The study is about personalized learning.
-
Research Wednesday
Constructive Use of AI for Educational Planning
Dear Friends,
This week’s evidence is about how teachers can make constructive use of AI to cut the amount of time they spend on instructional planning.
-
Research Wednesday
Career and Technical Education (CTE)
Dear Friends,
This week’s evidence is about Career and Technical Education (CTE). It is often overlooked, as policymakers tend to focus only on state test scores. But on the metric that really has a life-long impact, CTE is an enormously important factor to consider.
-
Research Wednesday
Desirable Difficulties
Dear Friends,
This week’s evidence comes from a new (April 24, 2024) study by Professor Onan Erdem and colleagues on the subject of “desirable difficulties.”
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41539-024-00245-7
The authors found, not surprisingly, that students do not always seek out the path of challenge, what the Greeks called the Scholar’s Bench on the hill, but rather the value of indolence. I’m often the same way, so I can’t get very judgmental about students who prefer pleasure over pain.
-
Research Wednesday
Mary Murphy, “Cultures of Growth: How the New Science of Mindset Can Transform Individuals, Teams, and Organizations”
Dear Friends,
This week’s evidence comes from a wonderful new book by Indiana University Professor Mary Murphy, “Cultures of Growth: How the New Science of Mindset Can Transform Individuals, Teams, and Organizations” (2024, Simon & Shuster). Murphy was a graduate student of Carol Dweck at Stanford in the early 2000s and the exciting days of the original Mindset research. But now, almost 20 years later, Murphy provides powerful evidence that the previous emphasis on growth vs. fixed mindset at the individual level must be displaced by two realities.
Creative Leadership Blog
Dr. Douglas Reeves and colleagues regularly publish on relevant topics for busy educators. Whether it is a book, article, or blog, each contain facts and practical next steps for practitioners. As with all our resources, please share with colleagues and communities.