Thursday, January 21, 2010

Happy blog-birthday (and teaching quality again)

To celebrate the Prichard blog's first year, I've taken a table at my beloved Hub cafe, and I'm planning to spend the day trying to integrate the different threads of the teaching quality discussion.

As an overview, I'm convinced that differentiated instruction, professional learning communities, and assessment for learning are at heart versions of the same approach. They're the recipe for getting the next generation ready for work and college and global competition and the path to closing achievement gaps.

Only, the idea is just complex enough, and just different enough from how most of us were taught, that it's hard to keep the varied threads connected the right way.

My goal for today is to describe the connections better. I'll do that with multiple posts, each starting from a different angle and working in toward the center. I want for the result will read like a single web of thinking: I'm sure the connections can be made but less sure I'm ready to explain them all.

If you want to join the celebration, please do send comments: ideas, anecdotes, opinions, hard questions, and simple questions are all valuable parts of sorting this out.

3 comments:

  1. Happy Blog Birthday!!! I have come to depend greatly on finding relevant education news on prichblog. What a help it has been keeping up with all major education trends, and issues.

    Teacher quality is indeed complex and inter twined. I look forward to learning how to eat this elephant one bit at a time with your help and the help of your bloggers! thanks for keeping me informed! Have a cuppa on me!

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  2. Happy Blog Birthday and congratulations Susan on a year's worth of dedication to providing valuable insight and information to the involved public that cares about Kentucky's path to high-achievement. I am a new-comer to the blog, I was inspired to keep update through my Education Advocacy class that has spent alot of time learning about the history and mission of the Prichard Committee. What an amazing organization that really seems to have pulled itself up by the bootstraps and not only make change happen, but take the long and hard road of making sure that change is sustained and continuing to progress. Thank you for your work Susan. I especially look forward to reading your future blogs that will continue giving me insight on the world of education and teaching, and better prepare me for the job I'll soon be entering into with Teach for America.

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  3. From a Prichard Committee perspective we are indebted to Susan for her good work this first year. Thank you for your invaluable contribution to education in Kentucky Susan!!

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Updates and data on Kentucky education!