I often comment that educational solutions cannot solely be a responsibility of the schools. Communities must take the reigns and help solve many of the dilemmas facing education, and the ETS seems to agree with me that poverty may be the largest obstacle to overcome when creating academic success. Here are some of the highlights from [...]

Here is a list of shocking statistics (at least I hope they are shocking) about high school students from the author Betsy Hart: “more than a quarter admitted stealing from a store,” “almost as many [a quarter of the students surveyed] admitted stealing from a relative in the previous year,” “82 percent said they ...

Back in September I posted about how my principal canceled Open House without informing the staff first, so we were bombarded with complaints and questions but didn’t know how to answer them. It was a PR nightmare, and we are still paying the price in lost support. Well, disaster may strike twice. A parent asked the principal [...]

A while back I had a student, Davy, reach the final week of his final semester in high school, and he had a 40% in my senior Mythology course while maintaining an attendance rate of 60% (and I think a blood-alcohol level of 2.0 most of the semester). I wouldn’t budge on giving “extra credit” [...]

Students today don't face the same consequences for misbehaving or not doing their work that their parents and grandparents faced.  One thing that really stands out to me is that a lot of parents are more likely to support their kids than the school.  It is seldom the child's fault.  Parents used to fly into action to support the ...

I was saving this email for another day. But today after reading Kary’s latest post, I needed to get this out IMMEDIATELY. I really want people to understand what they are getting into. Parents are not as involved as they used to be. . .back in the day. So [...]

Emerald Ridge High School’s student newspaper, the JagWire, recently published a set of featured articles centering on oral sex, and now the newspaper is under fire. Having read the four pages of material, I feel the students attempted to shed light on a topic, a potentially life-threatening topic, which no one else wanted to mention. [...]

A recent article explains how MySpace and Facebook postings are being used for discipline in schools. At my school the same thing occurs on a limited basis. One problem we are seeing is that students will post pictures of athletic code violations. Often, students or coaches will print off MySpace pictures to reveal athletes or students [...]

I finished the final grades in two of my classes, and for the first time ever, not one of my senior Mythology and Writing students failed the class. I know that sounds odd, and I’m not sure if it’s more of a commentary about my current or former students (or me then and now), but [...]

Hyperviolent and excessively gory. That is exactly how I would describe the new Rambo movie. I can’t say I’m altogether shocked; however, I did have one surprise while watching this brainless, Stallone-created ego trip: kids were in the theater! That’s right, kids. Decapitations, amputations, disembowelments, sadistic scenes of ...