As Bae (2018) suggests, one way to fill gaps between a holistic view of student learning and accountability policy implementation is to use multiple measures that reflect diverse perspectives of learning. The purpose of this commentary is to provide a discussion of issues, which need to be considered in order to achieve the desired outcomes of…

Building relationships is the essence of the community college. Higher education administrators learned long ago that building rapport with businesses, state and local government, and constituents is the best way to represent the interests of the community. But that does not make it easy. Board members come and go and the shifting dynamics of…

In this commentary, the author uses New Literacy Studies theories to examine the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI). Through analysis and critique of the CCSSI and related reform efforts underway in the United States, the author discusses how policy mandates can and have resulted in paradoxes. Corporate discourses of effectiveness and…

To manage effective grading reform, education leaders must engage teachers, parents, communities, and policymakers in a rational discussion about grading. Doug Reeves suggests that leaders start the conversation with a discussion of the principles on which all stakeholders can agree; make clear what will not change under the new grading policy; be…

Regardless of what one thinks of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the current national education legislation has demonstrated the power and potential of learning standards linked with systems of accountability to influence classroom experiences. Unfortunately, the changes promoted by the legislation have tied the professional hands and suppressed the…

School leadership has never been easy. However, some experts like Garcia (2005) wrote that current school leaders are facing a variety of difficulties that make sustaining school reform efforts exceedingly difficult. Collectively, these modern day challenges have the capacity to form the perfect storm. School leaders need effective strategies to…

Employing Searle's views, I begin by arguing that students of Mathematics behave similarly to machines that manage symbols using a set of rules. I then consider two types of Mathematics, which I call "Cognitive Mathematics" and "Technical Mathematics" respectively. The former type relates to concepts and meanings, logic and sense, whilst the…

Outsiders (i.e., regulators, adjudicators, and "messiahs") frequently arrive with insistent demands for school change. The demands of these interest groups should not be set ahead of those of legitimate stakeholders at the school level. Having some interest at risk and commitment are characteristics that distinguish stakeholders from…

In response to an initial soundings paper issued by the United Kingdom's Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, the Learning and Skills Development Agency (LSDA) presented its views on ways of enhancing the United Kingdom's existing vocational qualifications system. Selected points of the position that LSDA presented are as follows: (1) the time…

New Jersey's Task Force on Education and Workforce Quality was formed in 1995 to develop recommendations to ensure a strong, mutually beneficial relationship between New Jersey's education system and the needs of its evolving labor market. The task force conducted a needs assessment that was mailed to approximately 1000 New Jersey employers…