K-12 Greatest Hits: Your shortcut to what works in education

Education Secretary Arne Duncan talks with NAESP's executive director Gail Connelly on the role of principals in education reform. Duncan shares his thoughts on principal evaluations, managing with limited resources and amending No Child Left Behind.

Are American students falling behind in their ability to think and solve problems creatively? Is the focus on standardized testing and high stakes accountability obscuring our ability to truly prepare students for work and life in the 21st century? Are testing and developing creativity mutually exclusive? What can teachers do to encourage creativity in a climate where the emphasis is on standardized testing?

With the new administration we have a new blueprint for education. But our guest says that the new plan is even more unrealistic than the old plan. His comment on the plan's proposal to replace principals at under performing schools is particularly troublesome. Listen in as Rothstein makes a compelling case for rethinking the new one.

Dolly Parton's Literacy initiative is called the Imagination Library project. The program gives a book a month to over 600,000 children from zero until their fifth birthday. Beginning in Tennessee, the program now reaches over 1200 communities in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Tune in and discover how this program is promoting literacy in the 21st century.

Increasingly early childhood professionals are being confronted with inappropriate sexual behaviors by the children in their care. We're seeing young children mimicking sexual acts, touching each other's body parts and displaying sexual curiosity far beyond their age. What is normal? What is not? What is developmentally appropriate? How should parents and early childhood professionals best handle these behaviors?

What if all the children in your program are white? All the teachers are white? Attracting staff and children of color may seem impossible. What if all the children are black? All the teachers are black? Should attracting teachers and children of other ethnicities be a priority? After 55 years of desegregation, segregated schools are alive and well. At this point does it really matter?

Gay, lesbian, bisexual

and trans-gender educators are with us. Many have never heard this subject discussed openly...until now. Is don't ask, don't tell the education community's unwritten policy on LGBT educators? What should it be? Listen to this thoughtful, provocative and insightful segment, with commentary by Jay Mathews of the Washington Post.

When children fight, should you be a Paris peace negotiator or an Ultimate Fighting Challenge referee? Typically neither teachers nor parents are taught how to manage conflicts between children. Tune in now and get some solid, tested guidance on what to do when children are ready to rumble.

Doug Lemov went out into the field to discover and thoroughly document what great teachers are doing in the toughest classrooms in the toughest neighborhoods in his community. His findings were distilled down to 49 specific techniques that can help create exceptional learning environments and provide useful insights to administrators, directors, teachers and parents.

Many teachers fear touching children and many schools have no touch policies. Our guests say that children need to be touched. In fact, they assert that low-touch-teaching retards children's development and creates social dysfunctions that can last a life time. In this segment we'll talk about embracing touching in the classrooms, why it's essential and consider the practical issues and risks.

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