Helping English-Language Learners Avoid the Summer Slide
Growing up in Denver, my mother made me attend a summer reading program at a public library every year. And every year I endured being made fun of by my classmates who didn’t understand why I had to be...
View ArticleWhy I’m Not Disappointed Opt Out in Oregon Has Lost Its Steam
Last year, parents, educators and community advocates across Oregon joined forces in a campaign to fight standardized tests in schools and the evaluations that arise from them. Many of these advocates...
View ArticleWith These Graduation Rates, Oregon’s Got Nothing to Be Proud Of
People here are proud of Oregon, especially of its natural beauty and progressive politics. And my sense is that if you took a poll, most Oregonians would say we’re ahead of the pack when it comes to...
View ArticleWant to Help Oregon’s Dismal Graduation Rate? Check Out These Superstar Schools
The latest stats on Oregon’s performance in education are disheartening at best. When it comes to graduation rates, we’re performing worse than 46 other states. Oregon has attempted a number of...
View ArticleThese Are the New York City High School Students That Helped Passed a...
As a climate science advocate, I am always surprised to meet individuals who can’t explain the difference between weather and climate. There is a clear knowledge gap between the potential impacts of...
View ArticleHer Daughter Was in ELL Classes for Nine Years and She Had No Idea
I’m an education policy expert, but I know that the real experts when it comes to schools are parents. Recently, over 40 parents of public school children in Oregon met from across the state to discuss...
View ArticleWant to Know If the New Standardized Tests Are Working? Ask the Students.
Few could deny the need for assessments in education. States use them for funding and accountability. Districts and parents use them for comparison. Administrators use them for evaluation. For...
View ArticleHere’s What I Learned When I Sat Down for All the Standardized Tests My...
Many people—not just students—cringe when they hear the word test because it triggers fear in some and anger in others. Educators know that tests are an important part of teaching. I tried hard to make...
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How States Are Approaching School Accountability
For the most part, what states measure for school quality has already been decided by federal law under the Every Student Succeeds Act. Every state, for example, has to track student test scores to see...
View ArticleTeachers, We Are Failing Our LGBT Youth. But There’s Something You Can Do...
I’m a numbers guy. I love a good debate or emotional plea, but nothing moves me more than good old solid math. If you want to shift my mood from “that’s terrible” to “I have to do something about this”...
View ArticleThis Story About Justin Bieber and Mac and Cheese Is Why I Love Teaching
I want to tell you a little story about macaroni and cheese and the battle of Lawrence Welk versus Justin Bieber. I could not write about why I #LoveTeaching without finding myself flooded by thoughts...
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Stephen Hawking Showed Us That Every Student Has Hidden Talents, Even Those...
Last night, I heard the news of Stephen Hawking’s passing. He and I had been corresponding these past few weeks and I knew he had been ill. As a teacher of medically fragile students, I know how even...
View ArticleI’m Sick of Being a Token, It’s Time for Some Real Student Voice
With the surge of student activism after the Parkland, Florida, mass shooting, such as student walkouts, students have entered a critical moment: Are decision-makers finally going to listen to us? I...
View ArticleI Thought I Knew How to Support Students of Color Until I Learned This
A few months into my time as Oregon’s Teacher of the Year I was asked to speak to the largest gathering of teachers in my state. As I stood at the podium, addressing an auditorium full of teachers, I...
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I’m a Teacher Not a Boxer, and I’m Tired of Being Beat Up by My Students
I had a job interview recently. Even though I am pretty well known for my work with older students I was interviewing for a K-2 special education classroom. There are lots of reasons for the change but...
View ArticleYes, I’ve Been Hit by Students, But I Still Believe Suspensions and...
Betsy DeVos wants to end the Obama-era discipline guidance that addresses the over-suspension and expulsion of students of color. Betsy DeVos is wrong. And I say that as a special educator serving...
View ArticleWe Have to Treat Every Student Like They’re Our Own, That Includes...
Our job is about a promise to every parent who leaves their child with us. We promise to watch over their children and teach them. We promise to do no harm and to stand in harm’s way to protect them....
View ArticleMy Student Turned His Life Around Thanks to Hands-On Learning
When I first met Oscar, a junior at Health & Science High School in Beaverton, Oregon, he was an extremely disengaged, cynical young man. He skipped school all the time and when he did show up, he...
View ArticleI’m One of the Most Well-Known LGBTQ Teachers in the US and I Was Called Out...
I messed up today. I messed up, and a nine-year-old called me out. In front of the whole class. That’s right, one of the most well-known LGBTQ teachers in the United States was called out by a fourth...
View ArticleDeVos Has Dramatically Scaled Back the Protection of LGBTQ Students
This week a report from the Center for American Progress showed that the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has dramatically scaled back protecting the rights of LGBTQ students....
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