The United States has a problem.  It’s called the National Debt. School Districts have a problem.  It’s called eroding tax bases, which means cutting education expenses. Families have a problem.  It’s called credit card debt. College graduates have a problem.  It’s called student loan debt. Anyone see a pattern? Education News recently did, and found…

We’ve all heard the expression, “Use it or lose it.”  It applies to skills; it applies to possessions; it applies to memory; and it applies to learning. “Teaching to the test” simply puts knowledge into short-term memory.  If what we learn is not reviewed through a “spaced repetition” process, we will retain little of what…

This article is the first of five highlighting five problems which work together and create a system which makes improving education a difficult task.  Tackling each of the problems individually may require a significant amount of effort, but when all the elements of a system work in concert with each other, if they’re all not…

A number of schools, in conjunction with their STEM, STEAM and STREAM efforts, are building coding classes into their curriculum.  Resources such as those available at https://code.org/educate/curriculum and https://www.kodable.com/ offer resources for educators who want to incorporate this important learning to students eager to learn how to build games and create apps that might be able…

Technology is becoming more and more prevalent in schools: One-to-one initiatives, giving a computer or tablet to every student in the school, and potentially replacing textbooks; Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiatives, allowing the school to protect itself from having to repair, service, or replace expensive technology, as well as absolve itself from potential inappropriate…

Homeschooling seems to be a growing trend.  According to a report from Education News in May 2012, homeschooling has continued to grow due to the dissatisfaction with the public school system (Source: http://www.educationnews.org/parenting/number-of-homeschoolers-growing-nationwide/. Accessed 4.13.2019). The article also states that the cost of homeschooling is about $600 a year compared to the nearly $10,000 per…

Several years ago, a clothing store which used the slogan, “An educated consumer is our best customer,” filed for bankruptcy.  An “off-price” retailer, Syms began in 1958, incorporated in 1983, and, in November of 2011, it filed for bankruptcy and all stores were closed at the end of that year.  The Sy Syms Foundation, however,…