Special Education Results: Why Spending More Isn’t Improving Student Success
Education like health care in the U.S. is significantly overpriced on a per pupil and per patient basis compared to comparable countries in the developed world. And test results for U.S. students and health outcomes for U.S. patients (life expectancy has gone down in the U.S.) are significantly worse than similar results for comparable countries around […]
How the “Learning Disability” Label Impacts Public Schools – The Politics of Education K-12
An excerpt from “The Politics of Education K-12” by Lonnie Palmer The Rise of Special Education as an Industry Shortly after the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was implemented, public schools across the United States experienced a significant increase in special education services. Principals and teachers, seeking to serve severely disabled students, formed consortiums […]
How Special Education Affects Public Schools – The Politics of Education K-12
An excerpt from The Politics of Education K-12. by Lonnie Palmer The Rise of Special Education After PL 94-142 Special education in public schools has evolved significantly since the late 1970s, following the introduction of PL 94-142 and the new category of “learning disabled.” Initially intended to support students with genuine learning challenges, the category […]
Special Education: Good Intentions, Bad Results in Public Schools
An excerpt from The Politics of Education K-12, available on Amazon. by Lonnie Palmer Shortly after I started my career as an educator, the federal government enacted Public Law 94-142[i], the Education of All Handicapped Children Act, which became widely known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, IDEA for short. The law was created […]
School Board Leadership: Why Politicians Shouldn’t Run Schools
An excerpt from The Politics of Education K-12, available on Amazon by Lonnie Palmer School board leadership often determines the success or failure of a public school district. Yet too often, politics and personal agendas overtake sound leadership, creating dysfunction that hurts students, teachers, and communities. In New York State and many other states, turnout […]
Should we abandon bubble sheet assessments?
An excerpt from “The Politics of Education K-12,” available on Amazon. by Lonnie Palmer Authentic assessment in education is crucial for building confident, capable students beyond test scores. Yet in a world obsessed with standardized testing, we risk missing what truly matters in learning. The bubble sheet test proponents frequently miss a key point in […]
How Poverty Shapes School Performance in America
An excerpt from “The Politics of Education K-12” on Amazon. Buy Book by Lonnie Palmer Real estate agents – and anyone in the Albany, NY, area — will tell you Loudonville Elementary School, which is adjacent to Arbor Hill Elementary (one of the schools in the Albany School District where I was superintendent) is one […]
The Truth About Testing: Authentic Assessments in Public Schools
An excerpt from The Politics of Education K-12, available on Amazon. by Lonnie Palmer Jim McMahon, a rookie English teacher in upstate New York, took a risk. Instead of relying on weekly spelling tests and bubble sheet drills, he had his “school group” students those with weaker academic skills and frequent discipline issues perform a […]
Another of China’s Five-Year Great Leaps Forward
An excerpt from “The Politics of Education K-12,” available on Amazon. by Lonnie Palmer On June 1, 2013, I started a one-year stint as interim school superintendent for Berne-Knox-Westerlo (BKW) Central School District located 25 miles southeast of Albany, New York. The first item on my list of things to do during that school year […]
It’s the health insurance, stupid
An excerpt from “The Politics of Education K-12” chapter: Where has all the money gone? by Lonnie Palmer When I started my first job as school superintendent in Albany, NY, in 1997, I quickly learned how teacher health insurance costs schools millions, draining budgets and complicating contract negotiations. I like many rookies who gained their […]