The Answer Sheet: Alfie Kohn


Posted at 04:10 PM ET, 09/19/2011

Yes, there are stupid questions
By Valerie Strauss
Whoever said there is no such thing as a stupid question obviously never looked very carefully at a standardized test. Alfie Kohn explains.

By Valerie Strauss  |  04:10 PM ET, 09/19/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Alfie Kohn

Posted at 04:00 AM ET, 09/06/2011

What we don’t know about our students — and why we don’t know it
By Valerie Strauss
Alfie Kohn writes about why so many kids are unengaged in school and how adults can make changes to change that.

By Valerie Strauss  |  04:00 AM ET, 09/06/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Alfie Kohn

Posted at 02:08 PM ET, 08/10/2011

Teaching strategies that work!  But for what?
By Valerie Strauss
Alfie Kohn writes: “Lots of educators cheerfully declare that they don’t care about theories; they just want something that works.  But this begs the (unavoidably theoretical) question:  What do you mean by ‘works’?”  

By Valerie Strauss  |  02:08 PM ET, 08/10/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Alfie Kohn

Posted at 02:00 PM ET, 07/29/2011

Kohn: Why we have to save our schools
By Valerie Strauss
Alfie Kohn explains why modern school reform is off base and what we need to do to fix it.

By Valerie Strauss  |  02:00 PM ET, 07/29/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Alfie Kohn

Posted at 02:45 PM ET, 01/28/2011

Do tests really help students learn -- or was a new study misreported? -- Kohn
By Valerie Strauss
A new study that received attention was said to have concluded that kids should "take a test to really learn." Except, as Alfie Kohn explains, the study doesn't support that conclusion.

By Valerie Strauss  |  02:45 PM ET, 01/28/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Alfie Kohn, Alfie Kohn, Alfie Kohn | Tags:  alfie kohn, high-stakes testing, new york times, rote learning, standardized testing, student on testing, testing, testing study

Posted at 10:38 AM ET, 12/28/2010

A hard look at education research
By Valerie Strauss
Here's a back-and-forth between authors of a report hailing Florida's school reform and a critique of that report. It shows how controversial education "research" really is.

By Valerie Strauss  |  10:38 AM ET, 12/28/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Alfie Kohn, Alfie Kohn, Alfie Kohn | Tags:  education research, florida school reform, florida schools, heritage foundation, school reform

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 12/09/2010

Kohn: Remember when we had higher standards? Neither do I
By Valerie Strauss
When, Alfie Kohn asks, haven't we been complaining about low standards in public schools and calling for accountability? The answer: Apparently, never. A golden period never existed.

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:00 AM ET, 12/09/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Alfie Kohn, Alfie Kohn, Alfie Kohn | Tags:  accountability, alfie kohn, common standards, education system, nation at risk, reagan administration, school reform, standards

Posted at 01:43 PM ET, 11/19/2010

Kohn: What 'ready to learn' really means
By Valerie Strauss
Alfie Kohn explores the real meaning of what he calls the "rather odd" phrase "ready to learn" as it is applied to young children.

By Valerie Strauss  |  01:43 PM ET, 11/19/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Alfie Kohn, Alfie Kohn, Alfie Kohn | Tags:  David McLelland, alfie kohn, early childhood education, martin haberman, readiness to learn, ready to learn

Posted at 09:00 AM ET, 10/22/2010

Kohn: The pretend reformers
By Valerie Strauss
Alfie Kohn writes: " Real education reform would require us to consider the elimination of many features that we’ve come to associate with school, so perhaps the reluctance to take such suggestions seriously is just a specific instance of the 'whatever is, is right' bias that psychologists keep documenting."

By Valerie Strauss  |  09:00 AM ET, 10/22/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Alfie Kohn, Alfie Kohn, Alfie Kohn, Alfie Kohn, Alfie Kohn | Tags:  alfie kohn, davis guggenheim, duncan, george bush, george w. bush, joel k lein, obama, school reform, seymour papert, waiting for superman