Author Archives: Rob Southworth

In these pandemic days, with COVID 19 cases increasing to records such as 15,000 new cases in one day in Florida, going back to school is hard to figure out. What does it mean to have children running around together … Continued

In the reading wars of 30 years ago, phonics vs. whole language, educators were forced to consider taking sides. This happens a lot in America. Have you noticed? Although we have a country that is comfortable with 40 different kinds … Continued

What is Equity? It is important to realize the exact nature of what it means to be working on and reforming equity in K-12 schools in America. An example of equity and the policy implications of using it can be … Continued

Dear SchoolWorks Lab’s Community, Although the protests are the most visible part of pushing back against racism, the discussions that are happening are also important. The protests have lifted the conversation to a new level and it is important to … Continued

Black lives matter. Brown lives matter. All colors, all races, all religions and all ethnicities—their, our, all of our lives matter. In the United States, however, it is hard to make that argument when so many protestors feel that success … Continued

There, climbing on the center island in my kitchen, is my 18-month old grandson. The lower rack on the island is full of wine bottles and he is stepping on those in order to get up. He has to step … Continued

One of the most successful arts funded research programs was the arts integrated curriculum model called Picture Writing/Image Making (PW/IM). The rest of today’s blog is given over to quoting from the published report at the RMC RESEARCH CORPORATION of … Continued

Emerging Performance Assessment Performance assessments have emerged as a school reform strategy because they collect better evidence of student learning and because they help guide teachers and students to more rigorous work. Standardized tests will still have a place when … Continued

Today’s blog is about a literature review for the characteristics of effective professional development as researched by the The Learning Policy Institute. But I want to make sure that we also consider a topic that teachers need meaningful discussion around: … Continued

In this new world of online learning, what evidence do we have of student learning? Teachers have heroically transitioned to online learning, produced curriculum, assigned homework, collected student writing and graded it. We do not have a full accounting of … Continued