Best of the Blogs
School Administrator, October 2018


“Teachers seek out districts and schools where faculty are trusted, respected, and appreciated. With the ever-increasing demands for accountability, following a common core curriculum, local and state mandates, teacher autonomy is a rare commodity.”

From “The Case for Investing in Teacher Agency and Trust: Solving America’s Teacher Shortage Problems” by Glenn “Max” McGee (president, Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates, Schaumburg, Ill.) on his eponymous blog


“Students spoke candidly about learning how to ‘game’ the system to get the required points needed for a certain grade. They talked about memorizing information for a test, but then not really remembering that content later. … There were a few bold ideas for completely rethinking how we approach grading.”


From “Words of Wisdom: What Does a Grade Mean?” by Theresa Alban (superintendent, Frederick County Public Schools, Frederick, Md.) on her blog Off the Cuff with Dr. Theresa Alban


“From time to time we debate the value of high school sports. Clearly at times there is an over-emphasis on winning. There are many examples of the adults who are in charge of high school athletics acting irresponsibly. ... But I believe in high school athletics.”

From “Can Breaking and Filling Hearts Teach Lessons?” by Steve Matthews (superintendent, Novi Community School District, Novi, Mich.) from his blog The Superintendent’s Chair


“[T]he most proficient dancers can dance together regardless of age. You don’t have to wait until a certain age or date in time to move on … dancers move on when ready! Could my noble profession learn something from this concept?”

From “Children’s Dance Recital Parallels the Work of Schooling” by Dennis Carpenter (superintendent, Lee’s Summit, Mo.) on his blog The Learning Changes Daily



Read the full postings of these and other members’ blogs at www.aasa.org/SAblogs.aspx.