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Although I have over 20 years coaching experience, with stints at the college and high school levels, my first year as a youth football coach has been the most rewarding. I was able to coach my son for the first time and our team won the Super Bowl! But I would like to emphasize that WINNING IS ONLY A BYPRODUCT OF DOING ALL THE "LITTLE THINGS" WELL. It is my intent to share 5 of the "Little Things" that I believe made our year Fun & Exciting.…

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I have been a student, athlete, teacher, coach, athletic director, administrator and parent.  I have benefited from an excellent education with terrific teachers and have experienced the best times of my life in the athletic arena. But I am confused by how our society places higher prestige on athletics than it does on academics. Here are some examples I have experienced and some possible solutions.  Please note that some of my solutions are tongue in cheek, but hope this post will open deeper… Continue

In Steven Johnson’s book Where Good Ideas Come From The Natural History of Innovation, he tells the story of a nineteenth century French obstetrician, Stephane Tarnier, who noticed a chicken incubator on a visit to the Paris Zoo.  As he watched the chickens toddle around in the warmth of the device, he thought about the number of babies he delivered that had died.  Those babies had been born too soon and as he watched, he wondered if an incubator was the answer to this problem.  With…

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Why this topic?



I recently received a tweet highlighting a contest sponsored by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt called “The Global Education Challenge,” and immediately clicked on the link to learn more. The sponsors declare that “through the Global Education Challenge, we hope to find truly original ideas… Continue

I imagine it will be anti-climatic when the bureaucratic button is finally pushed to close Part I of this year's biggest data drama. The Special Education Snapshot is - or will soon be - done.



For those of you who will not start watching until Season Two, the special education snapshot - or the annual count of all New York State students who receive special education services as of the first school day in December - was reported this year, not through aggregate counts, but via… Continue

Three changes have affected education in the United States; all involve access.



All children now have the right to access educational services. There are no more places to hide those students who are harder to teach or slower to learn.



All customers of educational services - students, teachers, parents, and other taxpayers - now have a right to access educational data. There are no more places to hide those teachers and those practices that fail to educate.



And,… Continue