Who Gets to Think? Who Gets to Speak? Who Gets to Lead?
Preparation, Empowerment, and the Equity We Must See in Every Classroom A question I have been repeatedly contemplating seems really simple on the surface but …
Education & Equity
How Misalignment at the Top Damages Trust, Focus, and Students
Why the Board-Superintendent Relationship Must Be Strong Enough to Survive the Hardest Days There are few relationships in public education more consequential than the one …
We Can’t Cut Our Way to Better Schools
The Hard Choices Districts Must Make Before Scarcity Becomes the Strategy All across the country, school districts are involved in a very important and impactful …
Schools Didn’t Create the Literacy Crisis. But We May Be Helping Sustain It.
What if the greatest threat facing American education isn’t declining reading scores? What if it’s that we’ve stopped expecting students to think deeply at all? …
The Summer Illusion
Why School Improvement Doesn’t Happen Between June and August A familiar ritual unfolds in school districts across America every summer. Strategic plans are updated. Cabinet …
Why Student Engagement Matters More Than Test Results
For years, educators have been sounding the alarm that something deeper is happening beneath the surface of declining engagement, rising disconnection, and narrowing definitions of student success.
Now the data is telling us what students, teachers, and communities have been feeling.
This moment demands more than concern about scores. It demands an honest conversation about what we have prioritized, what we have neglected, and what kind of learning experiences truly prepare young people for the future they are inheriting.
We Are Asking Schools to Do More With Less—And Expecting Better Results
Why the Current Model Is Broken—and What Must Change Over the course of the past decade, public education has been experiencing a tension that has …
COMMENTARY: WHEN SCALE OUTPACES EVIDENCE—A SUPERINTENDENT’S REFLECTION
I recently read a blog piece—“i-Ready: 13 Million Students, Zero Meaningful Evidence”—with both concern and recognition. Concern because of what it reveals. Recognition because, if …
Effective School Governance During Superintendent Scrutiny
When news breaks that a superintendent is under federal scrutiny, the instinctive response across a district is fear. Fear of instability. Fear of reputational damage. …
Why Teaching Kids AI Literacy Can’t Wait
It wasn’t that long ago that teaching students how to use technology meant showing them how to type, navigate the internet safely, or build a …