I was listening to NPR radio last week when a phrase caught my attention: People, Process, Product. This phrase, from my quick search, was first used by Motorola in their development of Six Sigma, the set of techniques and tools they developed for process improvement in the late 1980’s. Six Sigma hit the big time when Jack Welch used it … Read More
CACE Introduces Senior Fellows
The Center for the Advancement of Christian Education (CACE) at Dordt University is pleased to announce the hiring of three senior fellows: Dan Beerens, Chad Dirkse, and Paul T. Neal. As recognized experts in the philosophy and practice of Christian schooling, CACE senior fellows represent a variety of fields and capacities. Fellows will assist in CACE’s mission of helping innovate, … Read More
Why CACE? Why Now?
Good questions for sure! And, ones I have been asked a few times this past month. My personal response reflects two thought paths. The first comes from Philippians 2:1-4: Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united in Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then … Read More
Content Knowledge
There are countless of quotes floated about attributed to Albert Einstein. I’m sure many of them–probably most of them–are authentic. Some are probably not. To his credit, he did have a lot of good stuff to say about a great many topics beyond physics. I think the above is a good example, and a worthy admonishment for all educators. Of … Read More
Don’t Smile ’til Christmas
Fellow educators: what was your number one growth area during your first years of teaching? I know what mine was: Classroom management. As a beginning teacher, I felt pretty confident in planning lessons. I knew my content. I believed myself to be a competent assessor. But classroom management? Not my strongest suit. To be honest, I had a lot to learn. … Read More
Improving Testing
My students in Introduction to Education recently had their first exam of the semester. Some came in very confident, others very nervous. One student admitted to me, “I just get so anxious every time I have to take a test!” I thought that was an important comment–very honest! Many students are fearful of tests. Test anxiety is a real thing. … Read More
Take One, Leave One: CACE as a Marketplace of Ideas
As we navigate the best ways that CACE can help meet the needs of Christian schools, we have heard this phrase, “marketplace of ideas,” from a number of educators. This phrase has definitely stuck and helped us focus on some specific ways our web presence might facilitate this need of Christian schools. Thus, to learn from the merchant and marketing … Read More
Where Are They Now? A “First Look” at 2002 High School Graduates
First Look is an intriguing longitudinal study that tracks the 2002 class of sophomore students through their next ten years of life. Not an easy undertaking, so I was excited to see what the Institute of Education Sciences uncovered through this study. This research was meant to paint a picture about the factors and circumstances related to the performance and … Read More
“Not now Mom, I’m multitasking!”
Does this scenario resemble a study session at your house? Kayla is in her room, papers and technology spread across the floor. The Algebra book is open as is the World History text. There is music playing from the iPhone which is wirelessly connected to a Bluetooth speaker on her desk. She is talking out loud, seemingly to herself until … Read More
The wisdom of crowds…
James Suroweicki wrote a fascinating and thought-provoking book with this title in 2005. He tells tales such as that of Sir Frances Galton, a man obsessed with the measurement of physical and mental qualities, statistics, and breeding. Galton decided to put his obsessions to the test at a livestock fair in London in 1884. A fat ox was selected and … Read More