BP Oil Spill Worst in US History. What can we Learn?

The government has deemed the BP oil spill the worst in U.S. history.  BP has reported this past weekend that the “Top Kill” procedure which was a specialized pumping procedure was not working.  Hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil continue to spew into the ocean waters effecting the ecosystem in a disastrous way.  The [...]

How do we Help Students and Families that Attend High Poverty Schools?

Collected data reveals that students  from high poverty schools routinely score lower on tests of reading, math, and the arts.  This data is normally tracked and collected based on the number of students identified and qualifying for free or reduced lunch.  These numbers are rising.  Data trends show a positive effect for the number of [...]

Gulf Oil Spill needs to be an Important Lesson for our School Aged Children

Every day is another opportunity to learn valuable lessons from the Gulf oil spill.  This catastrophic event has been every day news around the world since late April.    This is, as President Obama might term, a teachable moment.  Teachers around the world can take this opportunity to teach children about science and responsibility.  For educational [...]

Obama Administration Endorses “Race to the Top” for Education Reform

President Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan are endorsing national education standards.  Educational reform is upon us and a method for this reform is to get each individual state to agree to adopt a set of core national standards in education.  Currently, states determine their educational standards independent of each other and this has [...]

Paying Students to Go to School – Is there Still “Value” in Education?

One controversial way of improving student achievement is to actually pay students for reaching specific levels of achievement.  Some districts have even attempted to pay students for attending school on a regular and consistent basis.  Should students be paid for performance?  Well, a recent Harvard study actually promotes this type of system.  Some call it [...]

The Pay-For-Performance Debate Rages On and School Reform is Making a Change

Some schools are beginning to test the waters of the pay-for-performance model.  This model is very controversial in the field of education due to the difficulty controlling for extraneous variables that might skew achievement results.  Teacher unions are generally against the pay-for-performance model.  The question of fairness is often raised when discussing such a model.  [...]

Praise and Positive Reinforcement is Proven through Evidence Based Research to be an Effective Way to Modify Student Behavior and Increase Student Achievement

Research has shown that positive reinforcement is most effective at the elementary level.  Teachers can present a stimulus following the target behavior (the behavior they expect in a given situation) intended to maintain or increase a target behavior.  Some of the easy to implement reinforces that I have used relate to adult approval and preferred [...]

Teachers can Teach Problem Solving Skills and Increase Student Self Perception and Student Ability to Interact with Peers

One method I use to help children problem solve and process through their behavior is a modification of the “FAST” strategy (Vaughn 1998).  The acronym stands for: Freeze and think – What is the problem? Alternatives – What are possible solutions? Solution Evaluation – Choose the best one and check to see if it is [...]

Teachers can use Positive Reinforcement to Modify Student Behavior and Achieve Learning Objectives

Reinforcement refers to an increase in the frequency of a response when that response is immediately followed by a certain consequence.  Many people often think of a consequence as negative, but it can be positive as well.  If the consequence of a behavior results in something that is preferred by the individual, then that behavior [...]

Public Education is hit with Budget Cuts Across the Nation and School Programs are Being Eliminated

Across the nation, those in the field of education are feeling the effects of budget cuts and are not happy.  More teachers, staff, and after school programs are being cut or eliminated now.  Research has shown that teachers play a primary role in the achievement and learning of our young children, but the cuts and [...]

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