School of Thought

For more than 40 years, Finland’s economy has consistently developed – shifting from a poor timber and agriculturally-based economy into a modern technologically-based nation, according to Vivien Stewart, author of A World Class Education.

For more than a decade, Finland’s education system has regularly ranked among the best in the world. The puzzle is, why Finland? Click the title of this blog post to read the entire article.

I decided to share a few thoughts about homework because, in my opinion, it tends to be overly emphasized and misunderstood as well as one of the most misleading topics in schools. Too often a school’s academic focus is judged by the amount of homework it doles out. In our concern for who scores the highest on standardized tests at home and internationally—in essence, who “wins”—we have panicked and forgotten about growth and development, and that education is a student-centered, cooperative and collaborative process not to be judged by the quantity of homework. Click the title of this post to read it in its entirety.

I recently read “When Will We Learn?”, an article written by Fareed Zakaria in the November 14, 2011 issue of Time Magazine. Essentially, the piece calls out that education is the engine of social mobility and it’s sputtering, and Americans have two options: improve our schools or accept a lower standard of living. Click the title of this post to read it in its entirety.

Those of you who know me or have discussed standardized testing with me won’t be surprised at how delighted I was when I heard of President Obama’s recent request to Congress. His request was for a rewrite of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law to be sent him before the start of the 2011-2012 school year. Click the title of this post to read it in its entirety.

As parents, we want the very best education for our children. We are in an era of school choice where families can select from traditional and non-traditional public schools, a wide variety of private—including independent—and parochial schools and home schooling options. As we look carefully at the choices available to us, we look at how each might meet our children’s specific needs and at the advantages that each offers. When taking a close look at independent schools, it is clear to see that the advantages are many. Click the title of this post to read it in its entirety.