Back to School

I had the chance to attend the forum at CRLS on Closing the Achievement Gap.

Charlie Appelstein had a presentation on key principles and techniques for effective parenting. His presentation, while perhaps a bit cheesy at times, provided some useful information for parents (and teachers) on how to help our children succeed.

My one concern, which I raised at the forum, is how to balance the desire to give our children successes against the curse of low expectations, the concern that sometimes students, particularly students of color and/or lower income students, are treated as if they are not capable of excellence. Appelstein’s belief is that children will savor their initial successes and build upon them. Our challenge is to make sure that they do build upon those initial successes and achieve at the highest levels possible.