Accountability in Education Student outcomes involve far more than proficient standardized test scores, and accountability for outcomes is a shared burden that extends outside the school. Families, communities, businesses and policymakers- these parties and more are all stakeholders in student outcomes and need to meet the challenge of empowering learners in a collaborative way, with […]
Dan McConnell
Husband, father, and teacher. Hoping to earn full redemption through the written word and shaping the dangerous young minds of tomorrow.
Posted inFrom the Front Lines
My Journal From Working in a Rural School- Entry One
Mr. McConnell’s Rural Schools Journal Entry 1 (7/7/2016) What it looks like, lives like, what I’ve seen In a rural area, the suppression and exclusion of the hardest working and neediest among us can readily be seen in almost any school that serves struggling populations. It probably looks different and it comes at you different, […]
Posted inTeacher Leaders
Classroom Engagement: Signals that Work
It’s my favorite lesson to plug into the start of the school year. Before I start I want to say that, in the tradition of great teachers and great teaching, I totally stole this and then adapted it to suit my needs. This writing will deal with the idea itself, how and why I have […]
Posted inOpinion
Take the Sham out of VAM
The selective and convenient use of VAM (valued added measures) by reform advocates, along with other statistics lingo, has helped to frost over the veritable turd cake of ill-conceived reform efforts and the lack of accountability in areas it’s sorely needed. It’s true that there is no excuse for giving up on the obligation to help children […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
More Sensible Education Policy in New York State
”It Takes a Village.” It’s the title of a book written by a regrettably presumptive and chronically evasive presidential nominee, but also true. All people involved make some difference in the lives of my three daughters as they navigate towards adulthood. But not so long ago, public education became the sole focus of accountability for […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
NY Assembly Seeking Better Education Policy
Contact your N.Y. Assembly representative! Recently, four bills were sponsored in our N.Y. State Assembly, and I have no idea how the legislative process works in great detail, but the spirit behind and purpose of these bills is encouraging. It certainly could be part of what has some of the lobbyist/wealth-funded school privatizers running around […]
Posted inFeatured
Experiences Matter in Education
I am thankful for my childhood, my family, and all the experiences I have had. I catch myself sometimes making a reflexive mental diagnosis for students who come from broken homes and bad influences.; judgments regarding why work doesn’t get done, why they behave a certain way, and so on. Despite what education attackers want […]
Posted inFeatured, Teacher Leaders
A Teacher’s Intuition..The School Reform Model
Education reform needs to include a renewed respect for the teaching profession, along with respect for the knowledge and intuition that teachers bring to the classroom. It may be uncomfortable for the drivers of the current reform narrative to admit, but it needs to be discussed because many of the “choices” pushed to the forefront […]