In the early 1980’s, I became a teacher.  I had been hired by a local Catholic parish as a cantor, but was seeking full-time employment in my field.  When I was introduced to the parish staff, the principal asked me what I did for a living, and, when I told her that I was between…

To be clear, this doesn’t mean there should be prayer in public schools (although there used to be, and there’s nothing that stops private prayers from happening…especially before tests).  Actually, if the local community wants prayer to be present “in” the public school, it should be allowed…but that’s another topic for another article. Regardless of…

For the summer months of June and July, edu-cat-ion.com will repeat its “Continuous Improvement =/= Transformative Innovation” series of articles.  But first, a little more about why this site was created. Why do we need another Web site that talks about education? Why is there a picture of the space shuttle blasting off? And why is…

In our current educational discussions of standardized testing, core curriculum, STEM, the elimination of arts education and the concern for special needs/gifted student/non-English speaking student education, not to mention the ever-changing role of the use of technology in the classroom and its impact on the learning experience, as well as societal issues such as bullying,…

“I need help.” As a teacher, that’s something you may hear every day from your students.  In fact, it’s one of the reasons why many young adults who graduate high school aspire to be teachers.  Their learning may have been significantly impacted by a teacher, and they want to be able to offer that same…

Faith-based K-12 schools do miraculous things. If you don’t believe that, analyze the academic achievements of their students, and, 35 years later, see what their graduates are doing. I am constantly amazed at what my 173 high school classmates are doing today, not to mention the three years of students that came before our class…

For quite some time now, parents have been lobbying lawmakers to use the tax money which they pay to fund educational initiatives relative to where they want their children to be educated.  The rationale is that the public education system in some parts of this country is “broken,” since children are, in their opinion, not…

The next 5 articles may sound like they’re only for faith-based and/or private schools, but with cyber schools, charter schools, and home schooling, the public school needs to be aware of these fundamental principles which drive today’s marketplace. Today’s article focuses on relationships, referrals and perceived performance. When one mentions marketing to a public school…

A few years back, there were several articles that were published in the United Kingdom stating that education in that country could be in trouble because there are fewer and fewer young adults interested in entering the teaching profession. Here in the United States of America, that’s not necessarily a problem…yet.  But if things keep…

When formalized mandatory education in this country began, students were not required to attend school during the summer months.  At that time, our country was still primarily agrarian in nature, and many children were necessary to assist in the chores of the family farm.  Therefore, “summer vacation” really wasn’t a vacation.  It mean laboring in…