The AVID Miracle

Educators everywhere are anxiously searching for answers to reverse the educational declines published in recent reports.  John Eger of the Huffington Post defines “The AVID miracle”:

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The AVID Miracle

December 10, 2010

The movie Waiting for "Superman" did all of us a service pointing out that our schools are a mess.

We rank 25th in math and science on International tests. No denying that, and we have to change this dire situation.

But let's cut to the chase.

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Deep in the Heart of Texas

Texas Blog Series (2 of 3)

The Public Education VISIONING INSTITUTE, comprised of 35 savvy Texas superintendents, agrees that deep in the heart of Texas’s education troubles is determining how to truly transform school systems. One answer, they submit, is helping schools become “community-owned institutions” where “employees are knowledge workers and students [are] the primary customers of knowledge work.” This structural change will require eliminating bureaucracies while maintaining “well defined processes,” thus creating a climate for vibrant accountability systems and rich learning environments.

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AVID Loses an Outstanding Leader

Last week, when Don Phillips died suddenly at age 62, we lost a colleague who contributed a great deal to thousands of lives, including students, educators, and community members.  I knew Don for nearly 25 years, and I had the honor of working with him when he was a principal, deputy superintendent, and superintendent.  Don retired last year as superintendent in Poway Unified, a California district he led with a highly effective approach toward embracing college and career readiness for all students.  He had previously served as superintendent of Mountain View-Los Altos and Palo Alto, where he introduced and strengthened AVID and worked tirelessly towards equity and acceleration.

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What I Love About Texas

Texas Blog Series (1 of 3)

Everything is big in Texas, including the state’s potential budget deficit of $25 billion.  What vision will direct the upcoming legislature as they work to provide a quality education for all students with deep budget cuts looming?

Standardized curriculum and the corresponding high-stakes standardized tests are damaging the education system.  Keenly aware that such "one-size-fits-all" standardized learning approaches too often ignore the individual identity of students, the Public Education VISIONING INSTITUTE in Texas focused on “examining the culture and structure needed in schools to meet the needs of learners in a more global environment with attendant new expectations.”

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Black male students –the “BAD” and the “Brotherhood”

A report regarding the disturbing racial gap in education was released recently from the Council of the Great City Schools, an advocacy organization for urban education.  Sadly, facts like, “Black males were nearly twice as likely to drop out of high school as white males,” or “Black male students nationally scored an average of 104 points lower than white males on SAT reading exam” are not new issues.

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