Valiant, Etc.

News and Resources for Thoughtful Educators





450 Views

New School of Thought / Personal Intelligence Management

Filed under: Learning and the Brain — Dr. Bob Valiant at 7:21 am on Wednesday, November 9, 2005
Learning and the Brain

Watch this page for articles introducing a new topic to our selection: PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE MANAGEMENT. First to appear will be a presentation given to the Washington ASCD Conference in Seattle by Dr. Robert Valiant and his son, Bob Jr. This will be followed by a more comprehensive article that describes the components of a “New School of Thought” and details of what it takes to construct and manage one’s own intellect.

To read an earlier article on this topic “CLICK HERE”
(Read on …)

386 Views

HIGHER LEVEL THINKING: COLLECTING AND ORGANIZING DATA by Bob Valiant

Filed under: Thinking Strategies — Dr. Bob Valiant at 7:16 am on Saturday, June 25, 2005
Thinking Strategies

Introduction

In the introduction to thinking skills article “HIGHER-LEVEL THINKING SKILLS: BECOMING A SKILLED THINKER”, we discuss three classes of thinking strategies: gathering, assessing or considering, and applying data. In this article we will focus on gathering data.

Among the data-gathering skills, collecting and organizing the data are not often made explicit. Students need to learn to sift the relevant from the irrelevant and then organize into a useable format the data that has been collected.
(Read on …)

334 Views

WHERE’S THE OUTRAGE OVER CHARTER SCHOOL PERFORMANCE? by Gerald W. Bracey

Filed under: Curriculum Planning — Dr. Bob Valiant at 7:08 am on Saturday, May 28, 2005
Curriculum Planning

Printed with permission of the author, Gerald W. Bracey

Near the end of the 1969 film, “Easy Rider,” Dennis Hopper extols all the fun and wonderful things he and biker buddy Peter Fonda have been able to accomplish with the cash from their big cocaine deal that begins the movie. Fonda looks at Hopper and says, “We blew it.”

I’ve lately been reviewing the data from charter school evaluations around the country. That scene kept coming to mind. If I could line up the zealots who’ve been touting charters for over a decade now, I’d say, “You blew it.” If charter schools had been invented by and championed by some part of the “education establishment” like the NEA, the Right would have long since proclaimed charters yet another failed fad (in fact, charters were first popularized by the AFT which later rejected them as having failed to deliver on their potential).
(Read on …)

342 Views

SELNET NEWS 2005: Submitted by Elizabeth Manning

Filed under: SELNET-ASCD — Dr. Bob Valiant at 7:12 am on Friday, April 22, 2005
SELNET-ASCD

SELNET-ASCD RGV writes “Download PDF of 2005 SELNET News Letter

For the past 3 years VALIANT, etc. has been pleased to host ASCD SELNET. They will soon have their own website and will be moving information there. When that occurs we will maintain what is already here, but will inform our readers of the move.

NEWSLETTER EXERPT:


“The recent preoccupation of the nation with reshaping academics and raising academic performance has all but overpowered a task of equally vital importance—educating our young people to become engaged members of their communities as citizens…. Citizenship in the American tradition is more than a status conferred. It has always aspired to the much higher level of personal participation, and is a continuing affirmation of the role of the self in self-government. But citizenship in the American tradition also carries with it the expectation that we will both enlarge its boundaries and pass it on to our children. We appeal to all Americans to broaden our concept of public education to embrace civic learning and engagement.”

from Restoring the Balance Between Academics and Civic Engagement in Public Schools, a policy initiative directed by the American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) and The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Download the Report at www.ascd.org

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