“Effective schools” is a nebulous term. We could define schools in which students earn top scores on standardized tests as effective; likewise, we could define schools in which students write cogent essays (or create paintings, music, and dance) expounding the evils of standardized tests as effective. In fact, these schools may not be exclusive; perhaps Read More
Author: Gary Ackerman
In Case You Didn’t Know, Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution
I walked past the books in the discount retailer I was visiting to purchase storage supplies for my wife’s home office. When she arrived at the section she needed, she noticed I was not with her. When I finally caught up with her, she noticed the book in my hands: Walter Isaacson’s 2014 The Innovators: Read More
Learning Online: The Student Experience
George Veletsianos’s book Learning Online: The Student Experience is both very timely and ill-timed in the spring of 2020. We all now of the widespread and nearly-instantaneous move to remote teaching. Online teaching and learning is on our minds and urgent request for “how do I…?” are filling our inboxes. It seems a book (especially Read More
On The Nature of Schools
Schools can only be understood as multifaceted organizations, and the decisions that are made and the actions that are taken within them and the conclusions we draw about them only make sense if we are clear about how we are defining schools at the moment. Consider this incomplete list: Schools are political organizations. Public schools Read More
Conceptualizing Technology in Education
As information and computer technology (ICT) has become more deeply embedded in curriculum and instruction, technology planning has become an essential part of school leadership. School leaders are expected to take steps to ensure students use technology for diverse learning activities, so infrastructure must be installed and managed, and teachers must be trained in its Read More
On Continuity and Education in Spring 2020
Educators are beginning to show their true colors. As we move to remote teaching in the spring of 2020, teachers are preparing for “continuity.” According to the Oxford Dictionary (which was the first definition when I searched) continutity is “the unbroken and consistent existence or operation of something over a period of time.” Of course, Read More
How Will This Turn Out?
I write this in the midst of the pandemic. What the coming weeks and moths hold are unknown. All I can hope is that we are nearing the end of this rather than the beginning. For several days, I have been working with faculty to figure out how to teach online. We are preparing for Read More
An Elevator Pitch on Education Outcomes
Education is a technology that is built upon the natural phenomena of the human brain. It is only though changing the structure and function of this organ that we learn. Some experiences change the brain quickly and permanently; some experiences change the brain slowly and reversibly. Regardless of the outcomes a teacher plans, the results Read More
It Is Likely Your College…
Schools have always been political institutions, but recent decades have found them increasingly political. This appears to be grounded in the electoral benefits that can be gained by politicians who promise to “fix education.” Other societal factors including demographic changes, calls for accountability, financial influences of publishers and philanthropists, and rapidly-emerging industries have influenced school Read More
Leadership and Goals and Decisions
I’ve been fascinated by leadership for my whole life. The characteristics of leaders… how they react in different situations, especially when challenged… how they handle direction from others… how they frame their own contradictions of themselves… these are all interesting. They also tell me much about the direction of the organization, it’s potential for success, and the degree to which I Read More