Many teachers are being called to teach these skills, and don't know how to. I've done many workshops with teachers to arm them with these skills. However, there is one issue that seems to be a roadblock for true implementation: assessment.

As a new semester begins, I hope to remind myself that a child who learns to ride a bicycle is free to roam. What kinds of freedoms am I helping my students develop? I have to accept that I can't predict their paths, and celebrate their many roads.

If education is to fulfill its essential role in America as the great equalizer, big achievement gaps and opportunity gaps must close -- and all students must receive a world-class education that genuinely prepares them for colleges and careers in the 21st century.

The Pearson footprint appears to be everywhere and taints academic research as well as government policy.

Local educators could do a lot to sidestep national policymakers by committing to do just three things this coming school year:

There's an underlying "disruptive" strain to #edtech that is, from my perspective, disconcerting. It seems that certain proponents of #edtech are pushing technology in order to completely "teacher-proof" the classroom.

In past classes, I've usually offered my students some opportunity to assess themselves, whether it was against a rubric, or a self designed criteria. It's shocking how many students struggle with this idea.

In school reform, we dramatically overvalue the importance of academic learning, and assume that merely focusing on better curricula and clearer standards will carry the day. Yet the research suggests otherwise.

How can any credible teacher education program that is constructed on the understandings and deep inquiry about the nature of children, the nature of teachers, and the nature of the teaching milieu continue to align with NCATE?

We're still new to using data in education. We quickly started trying to use state tests for everything. We've been relying on a few dozen data points about each student for a lot of important decisions.

It's time to use honest assessments and do the hard work of getting more of our students to clear the bar. Together, we can stop the race to the bottom for American students.

Whether a child succeeds has to do with a lot more than what a teacher does, no matter how good she is.

We will never get a new paradigm of learning in our schools unless we change our assessment system. Assessment, especially when coupled with accountability, drives how we teach and learn.

"Teacher accountability" traditionally ties teacher assessment to student assessment. And that's where I balk. There are no standardized tests by which you can assess Mr. Callahan's impact on me.