When we punish students by kicking them out of school for nonviolent infractions, we’ve lost the opportunity to instruct them. But when discipline practices change, students’ outcomes change—for the better.
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Up for Debate
Thursday, December 12, 2013Relying on suspending or excluding students doesn’t get to the root of behavior problems or make them more interested in school. But a new video, Up for Debate, shows how the Baltimore Urban Debate League has helped students become motivated learners. Watch the video.
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Let’s stop rewarding truant students with more time off from school
Monday, September 22, 2008It’s good news that communities and schools are starting to pay serious attention to the problem of student absence and truancy. After all, teachers can’t teach children who simply aren’t there. Students who miss a lot of school are very likely to fail, drop out and struggle throughout their lives. Some of the renewed emphasis […]
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Using television for literacy skills
Monday, February 25, 2008My audacious idea is to use television to help children learn their letters and, maybe, even to read. This may be a surprising suggestion given that TV is cited as a main reason for the decline in children’s reading. But, this heretical idea comes to mind for three reasons: First, children watch a lot of […]
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Imagining a safe passage
Monday, September 24, 2007I propose a simple, but powerful, way for Baltimoreans to support the city’s youth and schools. It won’t cost a lot of money, or take a lot of time. It doesn’t require the overhaul of a bureaucracy. But it would help kids get safely to the safest place for them in the city: their school. […]
