By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO of Educational Policy Institute and EPI International This week saw the passing of a giant in the teaching field—Jaime Escalante. Escalante was made famous, in part, by Washington Post writer Jay Mathews in the book Escalante: The Best Teacher in America. But more famous through the movie version of the book, Stand and Deliver, in 1988 featuring Edward James Olmos … Continue reading Stand and Deliver
My summer reading thus far has included the book Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling (a novel about the painting of the Sistine Chapel) and Bounce, a story of “the science of success.” The first one was simply to impress (not true; great book!!). The second has significant meaning to what we do in education. Today’s commentary focuses on some of the tenets of Matthew Syed’s Bounce. Continue reading It isn’t NCLB’s Fault!
By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO, Educational Policy Institute All the major education rags focused on it today. The Chronicle of Higher Education, InsideHigherEd.com, and Education Week all covered US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s speech on teacher education at Teachers College in New York City, mostly because they weren’t sure what he was going to say. Only a few weeks earlier, Secretary Duncan lambasted … Continue reading Teacher, Teacher, Can You Teach Me?
By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO of Educational Policy Institute and EPI International This past week I was in San Francisco for the Annual GEAR UP Conference, held by my friends at the National Council for Community and Educational Partnerships, or NCCEP. This year marked the 10th anniversary of both GEAR UP and NCCEP, the latter started by my friend Hector Garza, who has created the … Continue reading GEARing UP for Success
By Watson Scott Swail, President and CEO of Educational Policy Institute and EPI International No, it’s not the economy. Not the Iraq and Afghan wars. Nor is it about Bill Ayers (who was on Good Morning America this morning; a must see interview). No, it seems the media (that bad, bad liberal media) is focused on… yes, where the Obama children will go to school (see our … Continue reading Public or Private: What Should the Obamas Do?
The Swail Letter on Higher Education 