The Atlantic Monthly Article about Finland Mainly Leaves Me with More Questions

Education / By

So, in case you didn’t hear, Finland keeps scoring at the top of PISA tests for education. It’s a big deal. Their kids don’t study like crazy. They don’t test like crazy. Their teachers are highly unionized. They are experiencing an expanding, yet equally well educated, immigrant community. They also have teachers that, on average, …

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Yeah, but are the kids learning? – Thoughts on improving the Ascendly assessment system.

Education, Business, Start-up / By

Yeah, but are the kids learning? – Thoughts on improving the Ascendly assessment system. Ascendly’s after-school engineering classes are popular, but are they good? In other words, “Are the kids actually learning?” Every organization needs to know if its latest changes, both purposeful and accidental, are affecting improvements, or are they just making things worse. …

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Think!

Other / By

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/ascendlyJJ/status/128455791727480832″]   mansionwb /Foter

Praise effort

Other / By

HBR says, praise effort over ability to help smart kids cope with the tough times. http://t.co/Dja93KAF — JJ Rohrer (@ascendlyJJ) December 6, 2011

Read to your kids, give them a better life (and better test scores)

Education / By

The debate about the sources of weakness in American students’ test scores vis-a-vis those students in other countries continues. The most recent addition to this debate comes in the form of some research recently released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation (OECD) in conjunction with the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and recently reported …

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LEGO® Safety: How not to choke, break a tooth, lose an eye, or throw out your back

Other / By

I’m injured.  I’m lying on the couch, trying not to move.  Cursing the day they invented the LEGO® brick.  Well, actually, I’m cursing my stupidity in lifting 9,000 LEGO® bricks with my back, instead of my legs.  So, other than lifting too many of them, can LEGO® bricks really hurt anyone?  Here is a list …

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How it’s done in Finaland

Other / By

Just finished watching The Finland Phenomenon. Cool documentary on why Finland is at the top. Sadly, not on Netflix. http://t.co/5QnE0LRt — JJ Rohrer (@ascendlyJJ) October 21, 2011

Distance Learning

Other / By

RT @lisa_rohrer: The University of Wherever: http://t.co/yVR3yt1E Higher Ed disruption. Can this apply to after school programs? I hope so — JJ Rohrer (@ascendlyJJ) October 4, 2011