Dr. John S. Knox’s Post

Why do schools often fail to develop students beyond minimum competency? Consider my experience where fully teaching our best students was met with constant administrative pushback. My article below went out nationwide today in the outstanding ADVANCE newsletter, the preeminent place to write on such topics. It’s the tip of the iceberg but illustrative of the daily battles we had to fight for our kids. We needed to sneak around and break rules so we didn’t get caught teaching. You read that correctly. It happens in many more settings than you may realize. The administrator here was one of many doing the philosophical bidding of those even higher on the org chart. You can refrain from specifically naming anything here (IYKYK—and some of you know or could figure it out), since it’s emblematic of what regularly occurs across the country especially in higher-achieving districts. Enjoy the quick read of my misfortune! Worse, the students lose. https://lnkd.in/eFatVRez "I Got Caught Teaching Advanced Students" Teachers must sometimes help high achievers surreptitiously to avoid professional difficulty, meaning optimal learning for these students is occurring in spite of some of the adults. JASON GORGIA AUG 20, 2024 “Come see me in the office.” Uh oh. I probably got caught teaching again. I got in trouble more often as a teacher than as a student. That happens when you advocate for those furthest from the norm in schools, especially advanced students. Richard Rusczyk, my CEO at Art of Problem Solving, has said that when he talks with the best classroom teachers about what they’re doing, “I hear a lot of rulebreaking.” You shouldn’t have to sneak around to do right by your kids, but I found it happens consistently in K–12 education. Before I taught in this school, I served as the Assistant Director of the American Psychological Association’s Center for Gifted Education Policy. I was well aware of the philosophical and logistical challenges to meeting such students’ needs in typical public schools. As a classroom teacher, however, I directly experienced administrative pushback for my efforts to address those needs. The setting was a seventh grade algebra program for high-achieving students in a large suburban district in the mid-Atlantic region. I took a seat in the office of an administrator who had just emailed her concerns that our curricular extensions were “too advanced” and “elitist.” (I still keep that email.) “Is this yours?” she inquired. It was from one of the other two teachers of the course, but it aligned with material I was teaching. The document in question was a math quiz accidentally left at a copier. The school year was nearly over, but as in many schools when state testing was completed, the school year essentially was over…except in math. We kept teaching. “We’ve had a parent complain,” she intoned gravely. I was confused. “About what?” Read the rest at https://lnkd.in/eFatVRez

If you are a secondary Georgia educator under the L4 grant join me for a FREE webinar series this school year with the Georgia Department of Education! Spots are limited: https://lnkd.in/e-AF5JPS I am thrilled to invite you to our upcoming FREE professional learning with the Georgia Department of Education! In this 4-session module (September 18th, September 25th, October 16th, and October 23rd held from 4:00-5:30 pm), secondary teachers will learn literacy strategies and practices that can be applied across multiple domains. Using these tools, teachers will explore ways to improve students' vocabulary and comprehension skills in reading, writing, speaking, and listening and equip them to engage in academic discourse while improving student achievement. In addition, this module will discuss how gradually releasing learning from being teacher-dependent to student-independent will lead to student ownership throughout their learning journey. I didn’t forget about my elementary schools! Comment “MORE DETAILS” to find out how your teacher can join in on the learning! #professionallearning #literacystrategies #studentachievement

Reading instruction is one of the most complicated topics in education policy, encompassing pedagogy, policy, and politics — all rooted in a long history of arguments about the best way to teach kids to read. https://lnkd.in/e_RBfBdu

An excellent read and sobering reminder that elementary educators are laying the foundation for later learning. Stamina is something we work on from day one and should continue at every grade level. Https://https://lnkd.in/gPgAz98P

Collaboration between #teacherprep and #k12 districts can help us unlock new solutions to staffing shortages and misalignments. Read more about the forward-looking work we're seeing and a part of in my latest in The Hechinger Report.

New Jersey has sought to waive basic skills requirements and ease unnecessary barriers for educators to attract more teachers at a time when fewer young people are completing teacher education training programs. It is believed that the shortage will only get worse and districts will need to tap into a pipeline that increasingly includes more teachers who find their way through alternate teaching programs, which allow those who have not completed a teacher preparation program to obtain a certificate of eligibility. They still must meet the basic requirements for certification such as academic study and test requirements. For the 2022-23 school year, there were 3,644 teachers in New Jersey who completed an alternate route program, more than double the amount for the 2019-20 school year, according to the latest statistics available from NJDOE. In addition, 4,309 provisional certificates were issued for that time period. https://lnkd.in/eveu8e9U

Discover how Swing streamlined their substitute teacher system, contributing to a remarkable 96% fill rate: https://lnkd.in/dFraNB7i

ERI got a shout out from faculty affiliate and expert Gerard Robinson in this article on WalletHub regarding a ranking of states’ school systems. As it states, our research “identifies why quality laws and regulations, instruction, and financial resources matter to the quality of life students experience during the 180 days or so they spend in school.”    Read the article to learn more about the top qualities in a high-quality education, including adequate school funding and high-quality educators: https://lnkd.in/ezWJtCzn 

2024 Education Predictions: NWEA’s expert voices from policy to research to professional learning weigh in on what they predict will be key issues facing educators and schools in the coming years. California Association of Latino Superintendents and Administrators Association of California School Administrators   

We learned a lot about what teachers DON'T want to hear from this new Education Week article, which begs the question... what DO teachers want to hear? Educators, what words or phrases do you want to see more exploration around? Let us know in the comments! https://ubnd.org/40BPsLo #EdTalk #Education #Educators #Teachers