Blog
23 blog posts in 2019
The Year in Review (Part II): Schools’ Pursuit of Effective School Discipline, Classroom Management, and Student Self-Management Strategies
Prevention, Disproportionality, Trauma, and Seclusions & RestraintsDear Colleagues,Introduction With the whole New Years thing going on, and our transition into a new decade, I was in the mood to st...
Read Full ArticleThe Year in Review (Part I): Schools’ Pursuit of Academic Achievement and Student Proficiency
Curriculum, Instruction, Intervention, and EquityDear Colleagues,Introduction It seems that every day this month, I’ve received yet another e-mail or Blog from a national educational organization, n...
Read Full ArticleMaybe It’s the (Lack of) Money that Explains the Relationship Between Black-White Achievement Gaps and Disproportionate Disciplinary Suspensions?
Analyzing the Results of a New National Study: Why Some “Two-Dimensional Problems” Need “Three-Dimensional Thinking”Dear Colleagues,Introduction Every day, I get e-mail briefings discussing or analy...
Read Full ArticleClosing Secondary Students’ Significant Academic Skill Gaps: Teach at Their Grade Level or Their Skill Level? (Part II)
Reviewing Two Recent Studies of Math Deficient StudentsDear Colleagues,Introduction Two Blog messages ago (on September 28th), I began a two-part discussion on:Closing Academic Gaps in Mid...
Read Full ArticleThe Traps and Troubles with “Trauma Sensitive” Schools: Most Approaches Are Not Scientifically-Based, Field-Tested, Validated, or Multi-Tiered
A National Education Talk Radio Interview (Free Link Included) Puts it All into PerspectiveDear Colleagues,Introduction Given the wide range of family, community, school, peer, virtual, an...
Read Full ArticleClosing Academic Gaps in Middle and High Schools: When Students Enroll without Mastering Elementary Prerequisites (Part I)
The MTSS Dilemma—Differentiate at the Grade Level or Remediate at the Student Skill Level?Dear Colleagues,Introduction I do a great deal of consulting in middle schools and high schools ac...
Read Full ArticleInequities in the Distribution of School Funds to Individual Students Revisited: Required Transparency, ESEA/IDEA Funding Flexibility, and Multi-Tiered Efficacy
Reminding Schools of their Responsibilities and PossibilitiesDear Colleagues,Introduction Earlier this Spring, near the 65th anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case, I wrote two...
Read Full ArticleAs Cyberbullying Increases, Positive School Climate Decreases
Student Involvement Must Be Part of the Solution. . . How to Do ItDear Colleagues,Introduction I receive about fifteen or twenty e-mails a day from different national organizations, education news f...
Read Full ArticleAren’t Schools with Positive, Safe Climates Already “Trauma Sensitive”?
Unmasking the ACEs, and Helping Students Manage their Emotions in SchoolDear Colleagues,Introduction The new school year started this week in many districts across the country. And m...
Read Full ArticleAn Open Letter to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Regarding Its Report, "Beyond Suspensions: Examining School Discipline Policies"
Begin with the End in Mind: It’s about Root Causes and Intervention—Not About Policies or PositionsDear Colleagues,Introduction Over the past year (at least), I have been writing som...
Read Full ArticleRevisiting the School Seclusion and Restraint Epidemic: The Federal Government Says It's Worse than Thought
While the Numbers are Important, We Need to Focus on the Reasons and SolutionsDear Colleagues,Introduction Back in March, we wrote a two-part Blog Series on the issues related to the number of seclu...
Read Full ArticleAnalyzing Your School Discipline Data Now . . . to Prepare for the New School Year (Part III)
Conducting “Special Situation Analyses” for Your Hallways, Bathrooms, Buses, Playgrounds, and CafeteriaDear Colleagues,Reviewing Parts I and II of this Blog Series, and Introducing Part III This thr...
Read Full ArticleAnalyzing Your School Discipline Data Now . . . to Prepare for the New School Year (Part II)
Conducting “Special Situation Analyses” for Common School Areas and Peer-Related Anti-Social BehaviorDear Colleagues,Prologue Later this week, I will be attending a small, interdisciplinary working...
Read Full ArticleAnalyzing Your School Discipline Data and Your SEL (PBIS or School Discipline) Program (Part I)
Students’ Discipline Problems are Increasing Nationally Despite Widespread SEL UseDear Colleagues,Introduction Happy June !!! With everyone consumed with testing, end-of-year a...
Read Full ArticleThe Journey toward Real School Equity: Students’ Needs Should Drive Student Services … and Funding (Part II)
The Beginning of the Next School Year Starts Now: The “Get-Go Process”Dear Colleagues,Introduction Last week, on May 17th, the 65th anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education...
Read Full ArticleSolving Student Crises in the Context of School Inequity: The Case for “Core-Plus District Funding” (Part I)
When Schools Struggle with Struggling Students: “We Didn’t Start the Fire”Dear Colleagues,Introduction The last two weeks have been a blur. Just over two weeks ago, I landed in Singapore to keynot...
Read Full ArticleHow Hattie’s Research Helps (and Doesn’t Help) Improve Student Achievement
Hattie Discusses What to Consider, Not How to Implement It . . . More Criticisms, Critiques, and ContextsDear Colleagues,Introduction By the time you read this Blog, I will have just lande...
Read Full ArticleThe Art of Doubling Down: How the U.S. Department of Education Creates Grant Programs to Fund and Validate its own Frameworks
Call Congress: The Tainting of RtI, PBIS, MTSS, and SELDear Colleagues,Introduction In Poker, a player “doubles down” when they have a losing hand, but they want the other players to...
Read Full ArticleStates Take Note: How to Really Address the School Seclusion and Restraint Epidemic (Part II)
What State Departments of Education Need to Learn If Using PBIS to “Solve” This ProblemDear Colleagues,Introduction The number of seclusions and restraints in our nation’s schools—whether involving...
Read Full ArticleCongress Take Note: How to Really Address the School Seclusion and Restraint Epidemic (Part I)
The U.S. Department of Education Keeps Pushing PBIS, but PBIS Ain’t Got Nothing to GiveDear Colleagues,Introduction Seclusions (including isolation) and physical restraints (including mech...
Read Full ArticleRedesigning Multi-Tiered Services in Schools
Redefining the Tiers and the Difference between Services and InterventionsDear Colleagues,Introduction During the past month or so, I have been updating my electronic monograph, A Multi-Ti...
Read Full ArticleNew Rand Corporation Study Finds Restorative Practices Produce Mixed and Underwhelming Results
New Rand Corporation Study Finds Restorative Practices Produce Mixed and Underwhelming Results: But Some Publications are “Spinning” the Outcomes and Twisting these ResultsDear Colleagues,I...
Read Full ArticleThe Year in Review: Successful School Safety and Equity in School Discipline (Part II)
Putting Politics Aside to Protect our Kids—A Review of the Federal Commission’s School Safety ReportDear Colleagues,Introduction Happy New Year !!! I hope that everyone had a great H...
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