Focus on Education Series

I spend a lot of time in the educational world both working in a school and working with my own children as they navigate the through their own education.  This series will focus on several key blogs about some of the biggest debated issues in education:

• Accountability:  This is a hotly contested and often discussed idea.  "Accountability" is a huge word that we often misunderstand and throw about way too often in education.  This post will focus on external accountability and internal accountability and why we need it.
• Creativity: Why teachers feel that they can no longer be creative, and why creativity is a MUST in this complex learning environment.
• Assessment: This is the hottest topic in education today, and everybody has an opinion about this.  I will delve into formative assessments, summative assessments and even high stakes assessment and discuss why we need assessment.
• Teacher Evaluation: Having been assessed as a teacher and as an assessor of teachers, I will discuss this controversial process, and discuss how evaluation can be a good thing.
• Instructional Technology: This topic is near and dear to my heart. For those of you who follow me on Twitter (@adhsapi) or Facebook (www.facebook.com/athenshs).

I will go ahead and disclaim that these blogs may make teachers irate or may inspire. I am not going to say that these ideas are true for all, but they are based on my experiences and beliefs, and I welcome your comments!