1. On my post yesterday, a commenter made a series of good points about middle-class white achievement in DISD schools. But said commenter also asked why I blog so much about DISD’s struggles in educating poor black kids, especially men. Well, one reason is because 5 percent of our high schools are responsible for 50 percent of our young black men who won’t graduate. And these schools are often in large urban districts in the south. I don’t see how you couldn’t spend a lot of time talking about it.
2. Fascinating article on how the latest research in neuroscience and developmental psychology is influencing the way teachers make assignments in innovative schools.
3. I spent a few hours at Big Thought the other day talking about its new “Dallas City of Learning” program and summer education programs in general. I’ll have a story up about them in the next few weeks. In the meantime, here’s a good KERA story that outlines what the program hopes to accomplish.