A few weeks ago, one of my readers shared a really interesting book with me. Written by Blake Boles, Better Than College: How to Build a Successful Life Without a Four-Year Degree argues that, rather than assuming that a college degree is necessary, we should consider that some students would be better off pursuing their own paths to success. I was raised with the certain knowledge that I would be attending college upon high school graduation; I raised my own children with th

A couple of months ago, I wrote a column advocating for more recess time for children. Recently, I’ve read some research that indicates that active movement is actually critical to healthy neurological development. The human body has a vestibular system which contributes to balance and a sense of spatial orientation. When we were children, we spent lots of time outdoors developing this vestibular system: running and jumping, climbing trees, rolling down hills, spinning on swi

Walt Disney famously said, “If you can dream it, you can do it.” Too many children and teenagers don’t have dreams for the future; they may not even have goals for next week. This is one of the underlying reasons for the chronic absenteeism that plagues many inner city and rural schools; why bother going to school if you don’t see how it will impact your future? That is why a non-profit organization called The Future Project has made it their mission to help students identify

Last year, Google’s Senior Vice President of People Operations Laszlo Bock told the New York Times that, "GPA's are worthless as a criteria for hiring, and test scores are worthless." In fact, Google no longer asks applicants for transcripts, GPAs, or test scores because they have found that they are not a good predictor of success in the work place. This dramatic statement – from a company that receives more than two million job applications every year – is actually echoed b

Last week, I had the privilege of talking with a Rhode Island public school teacher; she told me that, in her opinion, one of the biggest challenges in our schools today is absenteeism. She told me that she routinely sees students who miss 30 or more days in a school year! Chronic absence, defined as students who have missed ten percent or more of the school year, can dramatically affect learning – not just for that absent student, who misses instruction time and often has ga