By Luis Valentino In the annals of leadership history, one of the standouts will undoubtedly be Steve Jobs, CEO and Co-Founder of Apple Computers, and now a force to be reckoned with at Disney, Inc.. His influence has been felt not only in the computer industry, but the entertainment industry has become the recipient of his need to affect technology forever. There are numerous descriptors for Jobs which give insight into his philosophy of leadership. One of the key features of his leaders

By Bonnie Kerrigan Snyder Myth #1: “Public schools aren’t as good as private schools.” First off, this is rather a meaningless assertion to begin with, since there’s no such thing as a “typical” public school. Because the American public school system is decentralized, quality varies tremendously. The fact is, however, that, depending on what indicator you choose to use, many public schools outperform private schools. It is important to understand that knowledge has no address. Knowledg

Bright Minds and Innovation: Do Teachers Tackle Educational Reform?by Jean Locicero ShankleDirector of Training, AretaoJean, an Aretao (www.aretao.com) consultant, tries to read all the great material on education that shows up in her in-box. Recently, two showed up with “at Risk” right up front. She decided to investigate. This is her report.    The Education Report Card on the effectiveness of the nation’s schools by the US Chamber of Commerce (February 28, 2007) and the article

by Matt Maginley The world as we know it is changing in leaps and bounds on a daily basis. Our children are growing up knowing and using iPods and computers with gigabytes of data storage for all their music and video files. High-speed Internet has become a way of life where more young people subscribe to www.myspace.com, read, chat, and communicate with friends online than ever before. As the Internet marketplace continues to expand rapidly, and technologies afford education access from th

In February of 2004, Court decisions in Massachusetts regarding same-sex marriage  again brought this social conflict to the forefront. Many school district administrators are receiving requests from students to support the National Day of Silence to recognize and protest the discrimination and harassment of those who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered This is a growing movement and many districts that have not heard about it before are likely to hear about it this year. 

Don't get nervous when you hear more talk of school prayer these days. The law regarding prayer in public schools has not changed, but the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 amended the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require the Secretary of Education to issue guidance on constitutionally protected prayers in public and elementary schools. Also, local educational agencies who receive federal funds will have to certify in writing that it has no policy that "prevents, o

**Wanted: One Million Guerrilla Teachers**A very nice lady in Texas told me (in no uncertain terms) that I must read “The Art of Teaching” by Gilbert Highet. So I did! I have to report that this book, from the perspective of modern educators, is woefully quaint and curious.Poor old Professor Highet actually had the audacity to insist that a teacher “must know what he teaches...It is not enough for a chemistry teacher to know just that amount which is taught in schools and required for the final

By Ruth Wells You may have read this headline in your local newspaper this week: "Dropout Rate Getting Worse." The article noted that despite all the advancements made in our society, we still do not know how to ensure that we fully educate all of our young. The new studies show that fewer than half of the 9th graders in many of the nation's largest cities, ever graduate. The studies clearly show that the dropout rate isn't dropping. And, in particular, the dropout rate isn't dr

By Joel Turtel Contrary to popular notions, teacher licensing in public schools does not insure teacher quality. A license also does not even insure that a public-school teacher knows much about the subject she teaches. In fact, in our upside-down public-school system, licensing often leads to ill-trained and mediocre teachers instructing our children. As we will see, it turns out that teacher licensing is a protection racket. The notion that only state-approved, licensed teachers can gua

By Paddy Swan "A Headteacher's Safety Management Toolkit Article" The Health and Safety Executive(HSE) as the body responsible for enforcing safety laws in our schools believes that up to 80% of accidents and incidents can be attributed to what they are calling now “Human Factors”. An indication of how Human Factors integrate with the HSE’s Regulatory function can be seen in the where they emphasise such as contributory factors. The list below shows where HSE have identified Human