by KYW's Dr. Marciene Mattleman
Jay Mathews, well respected education reporter of The Washington Post, has lived through many school district cutbacks. He suggests some ideas, put together with teachers, for school success without spending a dime.
Replace homework with daily reading—at least 10 minutes a night for first graders, 20 minutes for second graders and so on. Read with parents if possible and have teachers ask a few kids each day what they’ve read to motivate shirkers!
Have teachers call or email parents with praise for their children. Jason Karmas, 2005 Teacher of the Year in D.C., would dial parents on his cell phone while standing at a student’s desk.
Ask parents to call teachers with praise and not take them for granted.
Encourage teachers to call on every student every day. Teachers with exceptional results talk about education being a conversation.
Every student should read at least one non-fiction book before graduation. Furlough everybody—including teachers, students and parents—for an unpaid national reading holiday.
And of course read to babies; when they get to school, they’ll love books.
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