Three Things I Learned in My First Year as a Principal and a New Year’s Resolution

If you ask an educator to think back to their first year of teaching, you will probably get a wide range of reactions, but the…

Being a School Principal and a Parent of a Special Needs Child Took Me Under, But I’m Coming Back

For five years, I was principal of one of the most difficult schools in my urban district. In those five years, I had eight supervisors.…

Explaining Social-Emotional Learning to Families Can Be Tough. Here’s Three Things You Should Know.

Eighty-two percent of Americans think it’s very important for schools to help students develop interpersonal skills like cooperation, respect and persistence. Despite this, schools have…

How Kentucky’s Superintendent of the Year Got Autonomous Schools to Adopt the Same Curriculum

Understanding that the content we put in front of children matters, 50CAN, a nonprofit network of citizen advocates, recently held a session on the importance…

How My School Blocked Me From Teaching ‘The Hate U Give’

While “The Hate U Give” is a best-selling book and top-rated film, I’m getting some real pushback from my administration about having my students read the…

10 Issues We Could Solve in Education If We Really Wanted To

With another school year upon us, here are 10 issues facing public education in no particular order. They range from the structural to the cultural…

It’s Time to Transform Our Schools, and Teachers Should Lead It

I’ve always known the education system is a like a large, slow freighter. Teaching in a public school for two decades reveals to anyone that…

It Won’t Always Be the Right Call But Sometimes Suspension Isn’t the Answer

Her name is Alexandra. She was a student in a school where I used to work and she was one of those kids who challenges…

Molly Cole on Opening Brooke East Boston Charter School and Becoming One of the Top Schools in the State

Molly Cole, founding principal of Brooke East Boston Charter School, was honored this school year with the Ryan Award for exceptional school leadership, a national…

This Small Federal Investment in Principals Could Pay Off Big

Here’s the good news: The field of education has the knowledge to make schools better. Not just a little better. A lot better. I know…