There is really nothing surprising about William Johnson’s op ed in The New York Times Sunday Review. Mr. Johnson eloquently describes the plight of many teachers in contemporary urban American schools under the peculiar and confused pressure of state and national efforts to reform education through reliance on high stakes testing. Mr. Johnson has the courage and patience to work with some of the most difficult students encountered in a public high school. These students do not receive high … [Read more...]
Slam Poet and Former Middle-School Teacher Taylor Mali to Speak at INSPIRE 2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEARLINGTON, MA, November 16, 2012—NISCE is proud to announce that Taylor Mali will be giving one of the two keynote presentations at INSPIRE 2013, its April 2013 conference on student-centered education.Taylor Mali is one of the best known poets to have emerged from the poetry slam movement and a vocal advocate of teachers. He spent nine years in middle-school classrooms, teaching everything from English and history to math and SAT test preparation. He has performed and … [Read more...]
Concerning Drop in Teacher Job Satisfaction
The 2011 version of the MetLife Survey of the American Teacher (28th Annual) shows that only 44% of the teachers surveyed are 'very satisfied with their jobs', down from 59% in 2009. The article reviews possible factors behind that drop and suggests areas of concern to anyone paying attention to the state of public education. Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers suggests that the study is a "wake-up call from teachers. They don’t like what's going on with budget … [Read more...]
Author, Lecturer and Education Neuroscientist Todd Rose To Speak At INSPIRE 2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEARLINGTON, MA, October 29, 2012—The National Institute for Student-Centered Education (NISCE) is proud to announce that Todd Rose will deliver the featured keynote presentation at Click here its April 2013 conference on student-centered education.A one-time high school drop-out, Todd Rose, is today a widely regarded educational neuroscientist and member of the faculty at the Harvard Graduate School of Education where his work is considered to be on the forefront of … [Read more...]
NISCE Seeks Proposals for INSPIRE 2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Educators, Experts and Others Invited to Share Ideas on Student-Centered Education ARLINGTON, MA, November 4, 2012 — The National Institute for Student-Centered Education (NISCE) seeks presentations for INSPIRE 2013: The First NISCE Conference on Student-Centered Education to be held on April 5, 2013 at the Hilton Boston (Logan Airport). The one-day event is open to education professionals and others interested in effective schools and curricula and will offer a series of … [Read more...]
Unequal and Unjust Public Schools in America
Marian Wright Edelman, President of the Children's Defense Fund and vocal advocate for our nation's children, has pulled important data from the most recent Department of Education Civil Rights Data Collection Survey. Citing the 2009-2010 version, she speaks to things we know all too well: "inequities in funding and educational resources place poor children in low-performing schools, with inadequate facilities and often ineffective teachers."The litany of practices that contribute to the … [Read more...]
Maybe We Should Think of Homework as Being “Diagnostic”
When reviewing another article in the seemingly endless debate about homework ("Are You Down With or Done With Homework?"), it struck me that educators and parents would be better off using this time-honored educational tradition as a way to zero in on an individual student's approach to learning or their grasp of the work being covered in class.Homework has far more potential as something to start the conversation between a teacher and a student than as the key to promoting greater academic … [Read more...]
NISCE To Host INSPIRE 2013: The First NISCE Conference On Student-Centered Education
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April Conference Offers Fresh Perspectives On Student-Centered Learning ARLINGTON, MA, October 15, 2012—The National Institute for Student-Centered Education (NISCE) will host Click hereClick here in Boston, MA on Friday, April 5, 2013 at the Hilton Boston Logan Airport. This is a one-day conference of lectures, workshops and presentations designed to bring together the latest thinking on the challenges and benefits of student-centered education.Education professionals … [Read more...]
Underachiever Wins Nobel Prize
Last week the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2012 was awarded jointly to John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotentGurdon discovered in 1962 that the specialization of cells is reversible. In a classic experiment, he replaced the immature cell nucleus in an egg cell of a frog with the nucleus from a mature intestinal cell. This modified egg cell developed into a normal tadpole. The DNA of the mature cell still … [Read more...]
Helping Students To Develop Self-Awareness
Many years ago, I took driver’s ed. my senior year in high school. I don’t remember seeing the graphic movies about irresponsible teenagers driving badly, but I do remember we practiced using machines called simulators. The simulator was a boxy affair that one sat in with the basic layout of a car—steering wheel, brake and gas pedal, turn signal. They were as realistic as the original bridge of the Starship Enterprise. All students sat in their simulators and watched a large movie screen in the … [Read more...]
