It is safe to say that the 2015-16 school year has begun in most schools across North America. In several of the Midwest states, legislation was passed to move back the first day of school. Iowa legislators decided that August 23 is the first day that schools may officially begin. The City of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, allowed citizens to … Read More
How Do Schools Get Better? (Part 7)
Doing the right thing…knowing the right thing to do. This is a question that we ask ourselves everyday as school leaders. Richard Elmore, professor of Educational Leadership at Harvard University, published a paper with this title through the NGA Center for Best Practices (can be found here). He offers suggestions and practical advice on how schools can get better. After … Read More
How Do Schools Get Better? (Part 6)
Doing the right thing…knowing the right thing to do. This is a question that we ask ourselves everyday as school leaders. Richard Elmore, professor of Educational Leadership at Harvard University, published a paper with this title through the NGA Center for Best Practices (can be found here). He offers suggestions and practical advice on how schools can get better. After … Read More
Positive Intersections
As a former driver’s education instructor, intersections were typically the most exciting part of the job. Riding alongside rookie drivers as they figured out who arrived at the four-way stop first, who was on the right, or how to navigate those unique intersections where cross-traffic did not stop, tended to provide some interesting interactions. Great decisions needed to be made at … Read More
How Do Schools Get Better? (Part 5)
**Doing the right thing…knowing the right thing to do. This is a question that we ask ourselves everyday as school leaders. Richard Elmore, professor of Educational Leadership at Harvard University, published a paper with this title through the NGA Center for Best Practices (can be found here). He offers suggestions and practical advice on how schools can get better. After … Read More
Student-Teacher Relationships
Are student-teacher relationships a significant component to growth? My answer is this: the single most significantly damaging element to student growth is arguably a student-teacher relationship predicated on the need of the teacher for any kind of personal significance within that relationship. Christian schools might be better served when dialogue begins with this question: are student-teacher relationships positively or negatively … Read More
Rethinking Recess
Some of my clearest memories of elementary school are the all-out sprints from the door to be the first to the basketball court, baseball diamond or the merry-go-round at recess. I remember, like it was yesterday, how hard it was to stay in the single file line from the classroom to the exit door, frustrated by how slowly the line had to … Read More
The Right People in the Right Seats
Jim Collins, in his book “Good to Great”, created several phrases that have become part of our institutional vocabulary. Expressions such as “The Hedgehog Concept”, “Turning the Flywheel”, and “Level 5 Leadership” have been used (and probably overused) in the last ten years. My personal favorite for schools, however, is “Getting the Right People on the Bus.” I like this … Read More
The 21st Century School Looks Radically Different, Yet the Same!
There are things about the successful Christian School that should never change: a commitment to Christ and a Biblical Worldview, outstanding teachers and leaders, families that invest in their child, and rigorous curriculum. However, there are some things that must change if we are to be relevant and successful in the way God defines it. These changes will impact students, … Read More
Teaching, Learning, and the Mind of Christ
It was very interesting to meet this week with the owner of a local architectural firm, who works with building new school buildings and modifying older structures. What was fascinating to me was his role as an agent of change in the teaching and learning process. It struck me how he could be an external, disruptive force for change – … Read More