Deer Creek’s story was similar to so many Christian schools’ in metropolitan areas around the country. The school was started by a church 25 years ago. There was a lot of excitement and passion. The school grew…quickly. Then, at about the 18 year mark, populations shifted, and the church moved. Enrollment declined. The budget was squeezed. Teachers took pay cuts. … Read More
Opportunity Costs of the Common Core, or Any System of High Stakes Test Accountability
One of the highlights for me in my work with EL Education is our annual national conference, and the highlight of the conference was always the keynote presentation from the students. Over the past few years we were enthused by 6th graders in Rochester, NY, with their proposal to revitalize the city by rewatering the Erie Canal; stirred by 8th … Read More
Amplifying Talent – Part II
In Amplifying Talent – Part I we shared some of Dr. Carrie Leana’s recent research which challenges the current ideology on school reform. I hope that the phrase school reform is not an offensive one to you. Rather, I hope that you embrace this phrase and consider a slight modification. School re-form, the act of continuously finding innovative (simply defined … Read More
CACE Study: Lessons from Score Group 1
Lessons that come easy are not lessons at all. They are gracious acts of luck. Yet lessons learned the hard way are lessons never forgotten (Don Williams, Jr.). In our recent webinar: CACE Study: Lessons from Score Group 1, the CACE Fellows and school leaders from Score Group 1 shared lessons learned in the areas of board governance and team … Read More
More Choices for Parents?
The US educational landscape moved into a new and potentially significant direction last week with the nomination of Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary in the new Trump Administration. Some in non-public (defined in various ways as parochial, or parent controlled, or private) education as well as those in charter schools were delighted with the choice, seeing the possibility that more … Read More
“We Got Next…”
With our apologies to the English teachers and English departments around the world for the title of this announcement, CACE is excited to reveal the next group of schools who will constitute Score Group II. The phrase “we got next”, at least to our knowledge, originated in the world of pick-up basketball. Groups of players forming a team to play … Read More
Building an Engaged School: Management Matters
“Hire good people who hire good people, and let them do their job.” Tom Ricketts A World Series and Organizational Change: In six seasons, Tom Ricketts was able to lead the transformation of the most dismal or unlucky professional baseball team depending upon your view of the prior 100 years. Much analysis will be done on the Chicago Cubs as … Read More
Amplifying Talent – Part I
The year was 1985 and I had just purchased my first car, paid for with a short lifetime of lawn-mowing, grocery aisle-stocking, bean-walking earnings that had been lying dormant for several years, anxiously awaiting this withdrawal. It was a two-door Chevrolet Impala, some shade of orange that could fit seven to eight teen-agers comfortably. It was quite an upgrade for … Read More
Why?
According to Simon Sinek (2011), great leaders and organizations have one thing in common that distinguishes them from their counterparts. It is this: their entire mission, company, or product begins with the WHY. It doesn’t start with what they do or how they do it. Instead, the focus from the beginning is on the purpose, belief, and sense of calling … Read More
Why Teach Math?
I’ve never met a math teacher who was not asked to answer the inevitable moan from her students, “Why do we have to learn this?” Unfortunately, the most common response: “It’s going to be on the test.” What kind of message does that give about learning, and about math? Is working to get a grade on a test the kind … Read More