Ingrid Shafer has team taught at the college level for 40 years at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma. She is a Professor of Philosophy and Religion and more degrees to boot.  She is a new friend and I asked her how we should teach our quicker learners. That's where our conversation started.  I hope you enjoy listening to Ingrid as much as I enjoyed thinking with her.

Healthy Schools- Pamela Wolfberg forward thinking educator lets us see her vision of future education and how we plan for the rising rate of Autism in "We are all included" part 2

Rachel Cytron-Miller is the Deputy Director for Programs for Harlem RBI and after school program that reaches 650 at risk kids in a disadvantaged section of NYC.  Surrounded by gangs, violence and a school system in distress, this program is making a difference.

In our Briefing Room

Jake Vigdor is Associate Professor of Public Policy Studies and Economics of the Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy of Duke University. Their latest study looks to see if K-6 is better than K-5 for children.  The Duke research has a chart that shows a significant improvement in behavior in the K-6 environment vs. the K-5 and that that behavior change carries forward for several years.  It also mentions that the students were behind in scores and caught up during the sixth grade in K-6, although that finding needs more thought.  There is also the factor that if you configure schools K-6, 7-9, 10-12 the ninth graders would have a more immature social structure and possibly reduce some of the issues connected with being a ninth grader in a high school.

Homework has been the mainstay of American education for the last 75 years.  Like hemlines, the perceived need rises and falls as the market demands.  Homework can be a polarizing issue. Some parents crave more homework assignments for their children while others seek a way of removing their children from what they view as a treadmill going nowhere.  Within families there may be sometime divisiveness and acrimony over homework and some parents would rather retire from their role as the homework warden in the eyes of their children. ...more