Good news! High profile education reformers are turning away from false god of testing and accountability. Bad news. They're pivoting to unproven, likely tech-mediated personalized learning. chalkbeat.org/posts/us/2018/… 
Here's students who have the sense to know that their personalized learning software is garbage that no one should have to accept. nypost.com/2018/11/10/bro…
Here's me on AltSchool, high profile education startup which believes (believed?) its personalized learning software would be a transformative for students. It wasn't. insidehighered.com/blogs/just-vis…
IMO, education is rooted in engagement, and research shows we have an engagement problem. Over half of students are either actively disengaged or not engaged with school. The longer someone is in school, the more their engagement declines. naesp.org/principal-sept…
Here's me 2 1/2 years ago arguing that we had an engagement crisis, back when reformers were still on the standardized testing tip. Personalized learning will do nothing to help this problem. In fact, putting students in front of screens will make it worse insidehighered.com/blogs/just-vis…
What students need from school is not mysterious. Physical and emotional security, freedom to be curious and explore passions, sufficient resources, and teachers who are not overwhelmed and can help students engage with those passions.
Here's my measurement for if school is working. 1. Ask child what they did in school. 2. Start stopwatch. 3. Time duration child talks. The longer the better. Ideally, you have to tell them to stop talking because you can't take it anymore.
I barely care what they're learning as long as students are engaged. The content knowledge will accrue as long as that engagement persists and they don't see school as a chore or something that is separate from learning.
Who wants to put me in charge of something? I swear I could do better than the think tank geniuses who lurch from fad to fad.
I do have a little something coming out soon which I think makes a pretty good case for changing how we approach the teaching of writing up and down the school ladder. Sneak peak: Engagement is key. amazon.com/Why-They-Cant-…
And then I got another little something coming which puts my money where my mouth is. Digging in to these writing experiences will allow for more growth than any personalized learning or standardized test accountability program. Guaranteed. amazon.com/Writers-Practi…
