Education Reform Central

Yesterday I shared a short video previewing the new documentary, "12 Million Minutes", produced by EDin08, the non-profit group funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Strong American Schools. Actually, their own promotional materials pretty-much sum up their funding and their mission. Strong American Schools, a project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, is a nonpartisan campaign supported by The Eli and ... Read More

In my efforts to try to keep you informed about what is happening in public education in the USA, I often mention how poorly our students fare in competition with other countries. Well, EDin08.com has produced a terrific documentary that shows exactly what is at stake for our students and for our country. I can't bring you the entire documentary, but ... Read More

My friend Garry Conn and his lovely wife, Angie, have just announced that they are going to be proud parents, again. This makes the fourth child for the couple and everyone who knows them is really happy for them. Garry is a Mad Blogger on the internet, with over 100 sites that he maintains. I work with him on a few ... Read More

There's been a lot of news stories recently about the violence in our schools, particularly cyberbullying, and the horrible consequences of student's feeling threatened and/or hopeless. When a catastrophe like Columbine occurs, it focuses our attention on the pressures and threats that students regularly experience. We all want to protect our children from harm, but there is another aspect of ... Read More

The internet can be a wonderful educational tool for our students, but it also presents a whole host of threats and problems that must be taken into consideration. Today's youngsters are quick to assimilate the skills needed to become proficient on the internet, but they lack the experience to always know when to be on guard against sexual predators, or others ... Read More

Yesterday I presented the National Report Card - Math, along with a colored map of the various states with improvements in the math scores of 4th and 8th grade students. Those results were pathetic! Exactly the type of report card no child wants to take home. But the Reading Report Card is MUCH WORSE!! Compared with 2005, ONLY 4 ... Read More

The Nation's Report Card, compiled by the National Center for Education Statistics, is now available. The map above is a representation of the results nationwide in Math. Students in 4th grade and 8th grade were tested and their scores were compared to previous years, especially 2005. And the results are: 14 states (Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, New ... Read More

This is an important week in the 2008 Presidential Elections. Michigan, Nevada and South Carolina are all three conducting primaries this week that could boost, or end, the Presidential campaign hopes of one or more of the candidates in both political parties. So what does that have to do with problems in American education? Well, let me ask you a ... Read More

Too many people think that schools are hopeless and that nothing can be done. Or they live in that dream world that says, "not here; not my school." This is exactly the same mentality that we old-timers saw at the early stages of what later became a nationwide drug epidemic. What all those parents who are so complacent about the alleged ... Read More

At last, what you've been waiting for. The New & Improved version of my very first ever, totally done by me video,"Set Our Teachers FREE!" I'm learning as I go along. This version is a little better, isn't it? Brennan The Kingsland Plan Save Our Schools! ... Read More