Blog

24 blog posts in 2017

The Year in Review: What We’ve Learned about Effective Educational Practices to Increase Student, Staff, and School Success

Reflections on Policies, Practices, Pronouncements, and ProgressDear Colleagues,IntroductionAs I begin to write this message—at 35,000 feet. . . finally heading home after four weeks of uninterrupted...

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Teaching Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Self-Management Skills to All Students: The Cognitive-Behavioral Science Underlying the Success of The Stop & Think Social Skills Program

Don’t We Really Just Want Students to “Stop & Think”? [Part III of III]Dear Colleagues,Introduction We have known for decades that students’ social, emotional, and behavioral competency and self...

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Teaching Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Self-Management Skills to All Students: The Cognitive-Behavioral Science Underlying the Success of "The Stop & Think Social Skills Program"

Don’t We Really Just Want Students to “Stop & Think”? [Part II of III]Dear Colleagues,Introduction: Mindfulness (and Part I of this Series) Revisited In Part I of this three-part series, we dis...

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New Articles Again Debunk “Mindfulness” in Schools

Teaching Emotional and Behavioral Self-Management through Cognitive-Behavioral Science and The Stop & Think Social Skills ProgramDon’t We Really Just Want Students to “Stop & Think”? [Part I o...

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Improving Student Outcomes When Your State Department of Education Has Adopted the Failed National MTSS and PBIS Frameworks (Part II of II)

Effective Research-to-Practice Multi-Tiered Approaches that Facilitate All Students’ SuccessDear Colleagues,A (Re)Introduction [CLICK HERE to read or re-read Part I of this two-part Blog discus...

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Improving Student Outcomes When Your State Department of Education Has Adopted the Failed National MTSS and PBIS Frameworks (Part I of II)

Effective and Defensible Multi-Tiered and Positive Behavioral Support Approaches that State Departments of Education Will Approve and FundDear Colleagues,Introduction Over the past six weeks, as I c...

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Hattie’s Meta-Analysis Madness: The Method is Missing!!! (Part III of III)

Why Hattie’s Research is a Starting-Point, but NOT the End-Game for Effective SchoolsDear Colleagues,IntroductionThis three-part series is focusing on how states, districts, schools, and educational l...

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“Scientifically based” versus “Evidence-based” versus “Research-based”—Oh, my!!! (Part II of III)

Making Effective Programmatic Decisions:  Why You Need to Know the History and Questions Behind these TermsDear Colleagues,IntroductionThis (now) three-part series is focusing on how states, districts...

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The Top Ten Ways that Educators Make Bad, Large-Scale Programmatic Decisions (Part I of II)

The Hazards of ESEA/ESSA’s Freedom and Flexibility at the State and Local LevelsDear Colleagues,IntroductionAs we plan in earnest for the full implementation of the Elementary and Secondary Education...

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Back to the Future: What My High School Reunion Reminded Me about High School Reform

The Non-Academic Essentials for High School Students’ SuccessDear Colleagues,Introduction I hope that all of you had a great summer. . . but for some of you, the summer is over, and the new school y...

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School Climate and Safety, and School Discipline and Classroom Management

Building Strong Schools to Strengthen Student Outcomes—A Summer Review of Previous Blogs (IV of IV)Dear Colleagues,IntroductionI hope you are doing well, and that your summer has been both peaceful an...

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Students’ Mental Health Status and Wellness, and School Discipline and Disproportionality

Building Strong Schools to Strengthen Student Outcomes—A Summer Review of Previous Blogs (III of IV)Dear Colleagues,IntroductionAs our long, hot summer continues, I hope you are doing well.If you keep...

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The New Every Student Succeeds Act (ESEA/ESSA), and Multi-Tiered and Special Education Services

Building Strong Schools to Strengthen Student Outcomes—A Summer Review of Previous Blogs (II of IV)Dear Colleagues,IntroductionHappy (early) Fourth of July !!!Knowing that we are sometimes not able to...

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School Improvement, Strategic Planning, and Effective School and Schooling Policies and Practices

Building Strong Schools to Strengthen Student Outcomes—A Summer Review of Previous Blogs (I of IV)Dear Colleagues,IntroductionWhile some of you are still working, most educators are off “for summer va...

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Effective School-wide Discipline Approaches: Avoiding Educational Bandwagons that Promise the Moon, Frustrate Staff, and Potentially Harm Students

Implementation Science and Systematic Practice versus Pseudoscience, Menu-Driven Frameworks, and “Convenience Store” ImplementationDear Colleagues,IntroductionFor 30 years or more, “School Discipline”...

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A Multi-Tiered School Discipline, Classroom Management, and Student Self-Management Model to Guide Your FAPE (and even Disproportionality) Decisions

The Endrew F. Decision Re-Defines a “Free Appropriate Public Education" (FAPE) for Students with Disabilities (Part III of III)Dear Colleagues,ForewordOn March 22nd, the Supreme Court made history by...

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The Endrew F. Decision Re-Defines a “Free Appropriate Public Education" (FAPE) for Students with Disabilities

A Multi-Tiered Academic Instruction-to- Intervention Model to Guide Your FAPE Decisions (Part II of III)Dear Colleagues,IntroductionOn March 22nd, the Supreme Court made history by considering the dep...

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Special Education Services Just Got Easier. . . and Harder (The Endrew F. Supreme Court Decision in the Court's Own Words)

The Endrew F. Decision Re-Defines a “Free Appropriate Public Education" (FAPE) for Students with Disabilities (Part I of III)Dear Colleague,IntroductionOn March 22nd, the Supreme Court made history by...

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What Happens When School Leaders Make Decisions Not for the Greater Good, but for the Greater Peace

“You Can Please Some of the People Some of the Time. . . But You Can’t Please All of the People All of the Time”Dear Colleague,IntroductionAs many of you know, I consult with school districts all over...

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The Revolving Door of the Superintendency: A Case Study on Resetting the Course of a School District

When Mission, Vision, and Values Count More than Resources, Requirements, and ResultsDear Colleague,"A leader's role is to raise people's aspirations for what they can become and to release their ener...

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Federal and State Policies ARE NOT Eliminating Teasing and Bullying in Our Schools

Teasing and Bullying is Harming our Students Psychologically and Academically: Here's How to Change this Epidemic through Behavioral Science and Evidence-based PracticesDear Colleague,Introduction...

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ESEA/ESSA, School Improvement, Race/Ethnic Status, and Students with Disabilities

We Need to Differentiate Disability Just as We Differentiate Race and EthnicityDear Colleague,IntroductionHistorically, the 2001 No Child Left Behind version of the Elementary and Secondary Education...

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ESEA/ESSA Tells Schools and Districts: Build Your Own Multi-Tier System of Supports for Your Students’ Needs

Focus on Your Principles, Students, and Staff. . . and Verify the ESEA/ESSA “Guidance” Advocated by Some National GroupsIntroductionLast week, I was testifying as an expert witness in a Due Process He...

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Education Week Series on RtI Highlights Kentucky/ Appalachian Mountain Grant Site’s Successful (Project ACHIEVE) School Discipline Program

An Overview of the Scientific Components Behind this Success, and a Free Implementation Guide for Those Who Want to FollowDear Colleague,Happy New Year !!! I hope that your holiday season was filled w...

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