In a time of shrinking budgets and increasing pressure to succeed in a way that has never been expected before, effectiveness will of necessity be linked to cost. Evaluations of the interventions we employ will be conducted through the lens…
Author Archives: Nancy Connor
In Praise of ‘Seat Time’
April 10, 2012 – 1:58 pm
“Seat time.” That’s the classic concept of education. Spend three, four or five hours a week in a classroom and get credit for knowledge of the subject. Of course, to get the credit, one has to “earn” a grade. Don’t…
Second Language Learning, Brain Development and Content Mastery
February 29, 2012 – 10:31 am
My granddaughter attends the Denver Language School, a charter school in the Denver Public Schools (DPS), where she is enrolled in the Mandarin immersion program. When I asked my son about this choice, he said that if China could someday…
HQTs Offer Portal to ‘A Wrinkle in Time’
February 16, 2012 – 3:10 pm
On February 15, 2012, the Obama administration proposed a $5 billion competitive grant program that Education Secretary Duncan said would “change society’s view of teaching from the factory model of yesterday to the professional model of tomorrow where teachers are…
HQT: What the Doctor Ordered?
January 24, 2012 – 8:00 am
During tough times over the years I have heard more than one non-educator say, “If I lose my job, I’ll think about teaching. I’ll just get my substitute license and use that as my fallback position.” It makes one wonder:…
Consolidating Funds in Schoolwides: Is It Worth It?
January 4, 2012 – 3:02 pm
One of the more puzzling “flexibilities” available under the ESEA is the option to consolidate state, local and federal funds in schoolwide Title I schools. Consolidating services and programs is sensible — it is a great relief to be able…
Courts, Taxes and ED Funding
January 3, 2012 – 3:23 pm
While many of us are waiting impatiently for approval of Colorado’s NCLB waiver application, or looking over the funding levels passed in last week’s omnibus appropriations package for 2012, there are some very interesting developments in education finance here in…