But it doesn’t take very long to do so. In fact, it seems with each passing year the time spent reviewing the document has dropped significantly.

One reason is that it is no longer truly a local newspaper. Instead, so as to cut costs yet provide a product, several dailies in Maine are now under one umbrella where the content is written once yet printed multiple times across the state.

A second reason is the lack of timeliness with so much of what is published. So many of the printed articles used are available on the web for reading the evening before making what appears in the paper truly seem like old news.

Then there is the editorial board, the one that has delivered so much support for our current Governor (particularly his school district consolidation proposal) pointing out the obvious to us. Sadly, given the state of education in Maine those in the field could not come together in support of a government application seeking federal “Race to the Top” funds.

I am still waiting for this board to question what has happened since Governor King left office. To ask aloud how the state has moved from a position of leadership and high educational performance (one of the nation’s highest performers in fact) to its current position where it is seen as out-of-touch with current reform measures being discussed.

But once in a while the paper does seem to get a piece of the puzzle right. Of course, this time it is yet another case of one editorial being written and resold (in the Portland Press Herald, the Kennebec Journal, the Morning Sentinel) but at least there is some merit to the main discussion point.

In this instance, the editors were discussing the upcoming visit of Education Secretary Arne Duncan to Portland. They nailed the title:

Our View: Duncan delivers dual message to teachers

Because the message being carried from the nation’s capital is one of educational change, the natural tendency is to assume the work teachers have been doing does not measure up. The editors note:

The secretary of education says he supports their work but also asks them to change.

They then correctly point out what is an amazing dichotomy – that educational leadership “must enlist teachers to bring new ideas into the classroom” yet the teacher’s union is opposed to so many of the reform measures being proposed: the expansion of charter schools, tying pay to performance and evaluating teachers by measuring student progress.

How well Duncan can strike a meaningful balance in this arena is critical. It will take enormous skill to walk this difficult line and we will see over the next few years whether Duncan possesses the talent to bring about some much-needed change in our country.

But it will be next to impossible to do so here, in our home state, given the current environment. To get teachers on board, Duncan will first have to overcome the current ill will that transcends the classroom, the pervasive negative spirit that is in place due to a school consolidation manifesto that unfairly targeted rural and less affluent communities, and has been subsequently fueled by deep budget cuts that have made the daily working lives of educators ever more difficult (if not downright impossible).

Sadly, after expressing the challenge so well, the paper rears it lack of understanding. They write:

Duncan’s programs are seen by some as anti-teacher, but they are not. Recognizing and rewarding the highest performers, while weeding out the ones who are not getting the job done, Duncan is betting that schools will be able to decrease the gap between rich and poor.

Furthermore, the issues, according to these editors, must be placed firmly at the foot of those currently in the field and their union leadership:

The onus is now on Maine’s teachers and their unions to explain why continuing to operate under current rules will do more to give children the tools to succeed than Duncan’s data-driven attempt to make room for innovation and elevate the teaching profession.

What a crock of …….

The editors demonstrate a complete failure to comprehend the individuals who have toiled so long in what was once a proud profession. The idea that teachers are not interested in giving children the tools to succeed can only come from people outside this traditionally people-focused career.

Instead, those in the profession are concerned that this rush to improve test scores will in turn lead to fewer students graduating. The concern is always that school is about children first and foremost.

Of course it is highly possible that education can have both. New, innovative methods and different school structures could well mean improved student performances and improved graduation rates (i.e., that what is being proposed is good for all children from all of Maine’s diverse communities).

But leadership must convince the profession that the changes are not analogous to throwing out the baby with the bath water. Leadership must help staff transition to a new era where teachers are in fact paid different amounts based on what they teach and how well they do it.

Those who have worked diligently for 20 plus years to ensure that no child is left behind cannot fathom a model where student performance becomes the one driving focus. Not when their experience tells them that nurturing is a far more important focal point for children from homes where such an element is missing.

No, it is not the teachers that must convince anyone. I would contend that leaders are called leaders because it is their job to help subordinates through challenging times. Even more importantly, leaders are called leaders because of an ability to inspire others to do what is right for the greater good and to put self-interests aside.

Once upon a time Maine was an educational leader – its test scores were among the best the nation could offer and its educational system held up as an innovative model for others.

To get there once more, I contend that the state will need some real leadership once again. It will begin in the Blaine House and spill over to the state’s next Commissioner of Education.

In fact, with the right people at the helm, this incredible dichotomy facing the field just might become manageable.

Flickr photos courtesy of American Progress and jimmywayne.

But the sorry state of Division I college sports, from the poor graduation rates of athletes to the salaries being paid coaches who have a record of NCAA rules violations to game forfeitures in the name of money, has become nothing short of mind boggling.

A focus on money has led many institutions down a path that teaches nothing about the essence of athletics. Instead, at too may institutions, Division I athletics is about winning at whatever cost, a mindset that has college athletics selling its soul to the highest bidders.

One Shining Light

But at some schools there are still coaches who understand that there is more to athletics that winning and losing. Indeed, there are many individuals who no doubt understand that their leadership can help their young athletes become better people in addition to making them better players.

Andy Talley, the head football coach at Villanova in Philadelphia represents just such a man. Talley was reportedly so affected by a radio show nearly 20 years ago that promoted the dire need for donors of all types that he instituted a bone marrow donor program on campus.

As for his football players, Talley makes participation as a donor a part of his greater football program. His efforts to get a program started has led to nearly 20,000 potential donors who have been tested and entered into the national registry.

Those efforts have led to at least three of his tested players over that period becoming donor matches for someone in need. It is the story of one such donor this past year that demonstrates the difference a coach can make in the life of an individual.

Star Athlete

One of Talley’s most talented athletes, Matt Szczur got his cheek swabbed when he was a freshman as part of the coach’s marrow donor program. Szczur was not a highly recruited football player but the young man had demonstrated incredible talent on the baseball diamond – so much talent that he was drafted out of high school by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

But instead of the world of professional baseball Szczur opted to attend college where he wanted to play football and baseball. He was such a strong athlete that he worked his way onto the football field as a freshman before settling into his main sport, baseball.

The hard-working athlete soon became a star, a legitimate two-sport professional prospect, for the Wildcats programs. But as rare as two sport athletes are, Szczur was actually rarer still.

Because he learned that despite there being just a 1 in 80,000 chance he’d be a match for a stricken patient he was in fact a match for an infant girl. And once he found out, his response was truly something special.

“As soon as I heard that, I was so excited,” Szczur reportedly told Dan Gelston at the Associated Press. “I was so pumped. My roommate was like, ‘What’s wrong with you? It’s like you were drafted or something.’”

Initially, the donation was to take place during the team’s postseason football run. Both Talley and Szczur deemed the chance to help save the life of a little girl to be more important than winning a football title.

But as luck would have it, medical scheduling changes allowed him to play and help his team to the national title. For his part, he was voted the Most Outstanding Player in the FCS National Championship game.

Instead, the procedure was moved to May where he ended up missing 10 games out of the Wildcats’ baseball season. Those missed games came right before the Major League Baseball draft.

Confidentially rules prevent Szczur from knowing who he specifically donated his stem cells to. He does know the little girl is between 1 and 2 years old and that a year from now he can be told who she is. At that time he could also be given contact info so as to be able to get in touch with her.

There is much more to the Szczur story including his being drafted again, this time by the Chicago Cubs, the bonus he received and his playing minor league baseball. His first major purchase with his baseball money was a necklace for a childhood friend who has also been battling leukemia, a young lady who has been in remission for five years.

He purchased the chain with a dove (representing faith) on it at Tiffany’s. And if he should have the chance to meet one very special youngster next May, it is his goal to deliver a similar gift to her as well.

A Team and a Coach Worth Rooting For

This incredible young man has since returned to Villanova for the upcoming football season (NCAA rules allow athletes to play professionally in one sport while remaining an amateur in another). He, of course, will be playing for Andy Talley, a man who understands what it means to be an educator and leader.

It needs to be said that for his part the coach was presented the Person of the Decade Award by the Temple Bone Marrow Transplant Program of Temple University Hospital last spring.

And after winning one championship last year, his team is ranked number one for the upcoming season in a number of FCS preseason polls.

Both are truly more significant forms of recognition than I could ever offer. But one thing is for sure, this native Mainer has found one college program he can root for come fall.

Our new, wired world has brought forth many positives. One of the simplest, yet powerful, of the new tools available is the ability to bookmark worthy Internet materials for future use.

Even more powerful is the ability to share those materials indirectly through the use of sites like Delicious. We subscribe so as to have the most popular education bookmarks forwarded to us on a daily basis.

Over the last few days, two noteworthy pieces have proven most popular. The first is a copy of a speech given by a teenager at her graduation. The class valedictorian’s address essentially articulated that famous quote from one of America’s most celebrated writers, Mark Twain.

The second piece drawing extensive attention involved a visual representation of what it means to study for a Ph.D. While far less incendiary, it nonetheless gave this reader some very negative vibes.

But the two in total offer a very important lesson for those who work with young people.

The Speech

The valedictory address from Erica Goldson begins with this simple little story:

There is a story of a young, but earnest Zen student who approached his teacher, and asked the Master, “If I work very hard and diligently, how long will it take for me to find Zen? The Master thought about this, then replied, “Ten years ” The student then said, “But what if I work very, very hard and really apply myself to learn fast — How long then?” Replied the Master, “Well, twenty years.”

“But, if I really, really work at it, how long then?” asked the student.

“Thirty years,” replied the Master. “But, I do not understand,” said the disappointed student. “At each time that I say I will work harder, you say it will take me longer. Why do you say that?” Replied the Master, “When you have one eye on the goal, you only have one eye on the path.”

Offering rare insight for one so young, Goldson acknowledges that book learning is not the same as wisdom. The valedictorian notes that her position at the top of the class is not as meaningful as most would have it.

“…in retrospect, I cannot say that I am any more intelligent than my peers. I can attest that I am only the best at doing what I am told and working the system. … I have successfully shown that I was the best slave. I did what I was told to the extreme. While others sat in class and doodled to later become great artists, I sat in class to take notes and become a great test-taker. While others would come to class without their homework done because they were reading about an interest of theirs, I never missed an assignment. While others were creating music and writing lyrics, I decided to do extra credit, even though I never needed it.”

Of course, what makes the speech so impressive is how unassuming this young thinker is. Yes it is a scathing rebuke, but it is clear that this young lady is someone of merit, even if she wants to toss her class ranking on the scrap heap. She clearly did more than learn how to regurgitate facts, developing some incredible thinking skills along the way.

In mid-stream, she further displays wisdom beyond her years as she turns to those who helped shape her education over the last few years:

”For those of you that work within the system that I am condemning, I do not mean to insult; I intend to motivate. You have the power to change the incompetencies of this system. I know that you did not become a teacher or administrator to see your students bored. You cannot accept the authority of the governing bodies that tell you what to teach, how to teach it, and that you will be punished if you do not comply. Our potential is at stake.”

And most notably, she in turn gives thanks to her classmates for the role they played in who she has become to date:

“So, here I stand. I am not standing here as valedictorian by myself. I was molded by my environment, by all of my peers who are sitting here watching me. I couldn’t have accomplished this without all of you. It was all of you who truly made me the person I am today. It was all of you who were my competition, yet my backbone. In that way, we are all valedictorians.”

Everyone involved in the field of education should read and contemplate the content put forward in this magnificent speech.

The Illustrated Guide to a Ph.D.

Biased to a fault, I think educators are a special breed of people. One of the strengths the best teachers display is the ability to break down sophisticated ideas into easy to assemble chunks.

Such is the case with the second piece earning so much attention, Matt Might’s post. In it the assistant professor in the School of Computing at the University of Utah shares with readers a presentation he uses each fall to explain to first-year Ph.D. students just what a Ph.D. is.

Given the challenges of articulating such a concept in words, Might uses a great set of visuals to express the concept concretely. The visuals represent another element that great teachers consistently employ, the concept of modeling.

The model in fact may do the job too well. By the time his concentric circles and protruding radii reach the outer point where the Ph.D. appears, the bump that forms represents yet another analogy we have heard all too often (something about the pimple on the behind of…).

Indeed, while the presentation completely expresses what it means to earn a Ph.D., it does not conjure up positive educational thoughts for this writer. Instead, it reeks of what the young lady so artfully railed against, book-learning versus what we might call wisdom.

Even the bachelor’s degree imagery is less than flattering to this reader. My guess is it would reinforce the notion of those who see a college degree as a waste of time for so many students.

And the final image? Well it articulates that pimple analogy far too well.

The Educational Challenge

In a nutshell, these two pieces represent the challenge teachers and professors face as they seek to motivate the next generation. There is little doubt that pure knowledge is not necessarily a bad thing – not for individuals and certainly not for society as a whole.

But the world will move forward only when knowledge is combined with that element we have come to call wisdom. As educators, our task is to understand this critical difference, to be certain that we instill in our charges an understanding that there is a difference between these two concepts.

Perhaps our system does promote one without the other – after all we do seem to place so much emphasis on the accomplishment (high school graduation, earning a Ph.D., or becoming class valedictorian) that we have little opportunity to recognize the process. But that is where individuals can and should make a difference.

The question is – what do you place the greatest emphasis on with the students in your classroom?

Today you can easily accomplish both as open source modules continue to explode. If you are operating in a Linux based environment you can offer your kids any one of these five free keyboarding/typing modules to help him or her develop those 21st century skills.

GNU Typist

GNU Typist or gtypist offers a number of typing exercises that will help your youngster learn to type correctly. It has typing tutorials in Czech, English for both the Qwerty and Dvorak keyboard, Russian, Spanish, German, French and Norwegian.

The software allows for the modification of existing tutorials and the ability to create new ones according to your child’s needs and your skills.

TuxType

Designed with elementary students in mind, TuxType is great for helping inexperienced youngsters navigate their way around the keyboard. Offering basic typing lessons as well as a couple of typing games, TuxTyping actually will work with both Windows and the Mac OS X software in addition to Linux.

Klavaro

Klavaro is another free touch typing tutorial that is both keyboard and language independent. The site notes that such a step saves computer memory in addition to time and money.

The latest release offers incredible internationalization: English, Bangla/Bengali, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Esperanto, French, Galician, German, Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Urdu and Vietnamese. It also offers the following keyboard layouts: Qwerty, Dvorak, qwertz, azerty, jtsuken and AlphaGrip5.

A basic type of course is available for memorizing proper finger positioning on the keyboard in addition to other exercises that focus on adaptability, velocity and fluidness. To be sure to appeal to the competitive nature of children, progress charts and scoring schemes are available.

Though the software works with both Windows and Linux operating systems, it does not feature game formats, something we think appeals more to youngsters.

TypeFaster

This free typing tutorial comes in three separate versions: Standard, Accessible and Spanish. The site notes that the program focuses on teaching students how to touch-type.

Once again, this free open source option supports multiple keyboard layouts including Danish, Finnish, French, French-Belgian, German, Hebrew (no lesson files), Italian, Norwegian and Portuguese, along with UK-English, US-Dvorak and US-English.

Also featuring a 3D typing game, TypeFaster can score progress and features an option that allows for the practice of the least accurate or slowest key uses. If you want to get the whole family involved, check out the multi-user option that allows each family member their own login which then stores the progress of each user.

TypeFaster also operates on both Windows and Linux operating systems.

KTouch

KTouch is yet another option that focuses on touch-type. Claiming to offer an easy way to learn to type quickly and correctly, the software begins by honing in on a few keys at a time.

KTouch features the keys to press as well as the appropriate fingers to use to hit a specific key. KTouch is part of the KDE-EDU package and is included in most linux distributions that include KDE.

So we are extremely partial to the resources that readers can access without shelling out their hard-earned cash. For that reason, we have watched closely, and with subsequent disappointment, the folks at the New York Times who appear destined to begin keeping some of their highly-valued content behind a paywall.

It seems that the Times might want to rethink that decision based on the recent data coming out of Europe and a similar step being taken by media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

The publishing titan and mastermind of the immensely popular Fox News recently began placing the London Times behind such a paywall and the results appear to be extremely negative. According to the Times arch-rival, the Guardian, Murdoch’s paper has “lost almost 90% of its online readership” since February. The site made registrations mandatory in June.

The Murdoch process works this way: if you are not a registered user of the Times sites, you are “bounced” to a membership page where the reader must register to be able to view the content. According to published reports, just one in four readers bounced to the membership page proceed to sign up. The remainder take their curiosity and their interests and head for other media sources.

Overall, visits to the Times site have apparently fallen to 4.16% of UK “quality press online traffic.” Prior to the mandatory registration, the site saw a 15% visitation rate but sources indicate a “93% fall” in visits when compared with May.

Perhaps most importantly, 15,000 registrants have agreed to actually pay money. Contrast that number with the published stats of 1.2 million online unique visitors a day.

In simplest terms, experts predicted that readership would fall off by about 90% when the site moved to a paid-access model instead of free access. And the results appear to back that up.

Furthermore, there are approximately 150,000 Times print subscribers who receive an online registration free. That would mean a total subscription level of about 165,000 in total, again a far cry from the 1.2 million claimed.

With advertising sold on the basis of x number of viewers, it will be interesting to see the overall impact of the paywall experiment. Will the new revenues generated offset the loss in potential advertising rates based on only 165,000 potential unique visitors a day?

And what of the future? As some writers immediately postulated, the first wave of registrations “are likely to be the biggest burst that the paper gets.” In other words, it is likely all downhill on those numbers as the days progress.

In addition to the negative impact on ad rates, we have also noted that such firewalls will have a disastrous effect on blogging references. If we bloggers are unable to cite an article that our readers can further access, then we will simply will not be linking to it. And given that links represent the fuel that feeds any internet site, the paywall experiment could prove to be a dismal failure.

Yes we are biased – but it is with a sense of satisfaction that we note that charging for online news appears to be a thing of the past.

Unfortunately, whereas we once viewed American colleges and universities as exemplars for the entire world, in recent years the sheen has begun to erode. First came those reports of a system that was accepting only the best and brightest students yet was only graduating those students at rates that we will not accept from our high schools.

In recent times, there has been a shift towards an examination of the extraordinary costs associated with earning a degree and the mountains of debt students have taken on in their effort to earn that coveted diploma.

New Online Tool

In regards to the latter issue, those interested in examining the cost-effectiveness of higher education now have access to a new cost-comparison tool. Thanks to the Delta Project on Postsecondary Costs, Productivity, and Accountability, it is possible for analysts to examine how thousands of the nation’s colleges and universities are spending their resources.

The Delta report – Trends in College Spending 1998-2008: Where Does the Money Come From? Where Does It Go? What Does It Buy? – focuses on the period from 1998 to 2008. Using that accumulated data, the folks at Delta have created TCS Online, a web-based application, that allows individuals easy access to individual institution details.

As for the soaring rates in tuition over the past decade, the Delta Project reveals some very important insights. Sadly, the results reflect poorly on our priorities as a nation and the priorities in place at our colleges and universities.

Those Ever-Rising Costs

One significant factor in the overall increase in costs centers upon the chase for students. According to the report, “sharp increases in spending between 1998 and 2003 by a handful of colleges and universities” created “competitive pressures on spending everywhere.”

But in most cases, college tuition is “not increasing because spending is going up. They are going up because of cost-shifting—meaning that instead of cutting spending in the face of revenue declines, institutions consistently shift to higher tuitions.”

To get at some hard numbers, “at public research universities, nearly all of the revenues from student tuition increases from 2002 to 2006 (92 percent) were used to offset revenue losses from other sources, primarily state appropriations.” Over that same period “the share of educational costs represented by student tuition rose from just over one-third to nearly one-half at public four-year institutions.”

It is important to realize that while our politicians, from President Obama on down the line to our local state representatives, pronounce their support for higher education, their actions speak differently. The findings of the Delta Project reveal a “shift away from public funding of institutions” meaning that new money to pay for increased costs must come from “tuition and fees, private gifts, and grants and contracts.”

Private universities are said to be doing better because they have actually decreased the percentage outlay for students. While still a positive step, students are paying between 75 and 85 percent of the full cost of their education at these more expensive institutions.

Wrong Priorities?

Sadly, while costs to students continue to escalate, “the share of educational spending dedicated to classroom instruction declined at all types of institutions from 2002 to 2006. The share of spending going to pay for instruction has consistently declined when revenues decline, relative to growth in spending in academic and student support and administration.”

Even more disappointingly, “this erosion persists even when revenues rebound, meaning that over time there has been a gradual shift of resources away from instruction and towards general administrative and academic infrastructure” including general academic support, student services, and maintenance.

As for those extra dollars helping more students, there seems to be one positive. Over the past ten years “spending per completion (certificates or degrees) has remained fairly steady at public colleges.”

Still, it is alarming to note that the student services category includes such items as intramural athletics and student centers. Here again, the dollars are instead chasing the students in the hopes of increased enrollments.

“This is the country-clubization of the American university,” Richard K. Vedder, a professor at Ohio University who studies the economics of higher education, told the New York Times. “A lot of it is for great athletic centers and spectacular student union buildings. In the zeal to get students, they are going after them on the basis of recreational amenities.”

Better Education?

There is little doubt that the United States has the world’s wealthiest postsecondary education system. According to the research of Delta, American institutions spend on average about $19,000 per student. That is more than double the $8,400 average cost of other developed countries.

Furthermore, community college costs average about $10,000 per student while private institutions average $35,000. Such numbers make it easy to see that our current system of higher ed is also perpetuating the stratification of our society.

The Delta report does not get at the heart of the quality of the educational product. But it does clarify that we have real problems embedded within our current system, especially if our goal is to help provide students from all walks of life a chance at a college degree.

Our politicians need to match their actions with their rhetoric and ensure adequate funding for our public colleges. But at the same time, those institutions of higher education need to find ways to cut costs that ultimately do not directly affect classroom academics.

To be frank, it is the method most often chosen when working with young people. Take the worst-case scenarios and then use them to scare the bejesus out of our kids.

It has been utilized for years to try to keep our youth from using alcohol, tobacco, and harder drugs. It is also used all too frequently when discussing sexual activities including the risk of HIV.

And all too often it has been used to try to dissuade our youngsters from using social networking sites.

Unfortunately, the scare tactic approach has not proven to have the impact adults would like it to have. Not too surprisingly, a new report reveals that using similar tactics when discussing online safety is not the way to go either.

The Online Safety and Technology Working Group (OSTWG), a federal entity created by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, recently released an online safety report (pdf) that provided specific recommendations for students, teachers, and parents. Instead of making students fearful about the perils of the internet or blocking such access altogether, the report encourages a broad approach to online safety that features both media literacy and digital citizenship.

Safety a Legitimate Issue

Referring to the Internet as a “living thing,” the task force did not minimize the importance of internet safety for our youngsters. But their report did indicate that scare tactics did little to influence the behavior of adolescents.

As expected, research indicates that both preteens and teenagers spend a significant portion of their waking hours on tech-based communication forms including interacting on social networking sites. Such interactions provide one of the greatest fears for many adults, that a child will fall victim to an online predator.

Those adult fears often lead directly to our use of scare tactics to try to keep our youngsters from using these sites. But, according to the researchers, recent studies have shown, “the statistical probability of a young person being physically assaulted by an adult who they first met online is extremely low.”

That finding is consistent with a 2008 report that appeared in American Psychologists indicating that young people’s use of social networking sites did not increase their risk of victimization. Furthermore, while “sexual predation on minors by adults, both online and offline, remains a concern, bullying and harassment, most often by peers, are the most frequent threats that minors face, both online and offline.”

Yet another common concern is the growing issue of sexting and the latest trend of sharing explicit photos. Unclear as how to handle such behavior, many communities have allowed local police to handle the matter with a heavy-handed, punishment-oriented approach. Those few, highly-publicized situations have provided yet another rationale for using scare tactics with our youngsters.

The report discourages such an approach, insisting that a united effort that takes advantage of the protective tools offered, but works in collaboration with parents and school personnel, is the best way to proceed. Furthermore, the task force insists that schools can safely incorporate the use of social networking sites into the classroom.

Education Critical

The educational approach should feature programs that model the appropriate use of technology and the sites frequented by our youngsters. In other words, instead of using horror stories and focusing on negative behavior, adults must model positive and productive use. To ensure the approach is effective, that modeling must come from all adult caregivers and not just educators.

From the report:

“Because the Internet is increasingly user-driven, with its “content” changing in real-time, users are increasingly stakeholders in their own well-being online. Their own behavior online can lead to a full range of experiences, from positive ones to victimization, pointing to the increasingly important role of safety education for children as well as their caregivers. The focus of future task forces therefore needs to be as much on protective education as on protective technology.”

As for the greatest threats children face online, the report indicates that cyber bullying is far more common than most people believe. The latest form of bullying begins as early as second grade and generally is initiated most often by a students classmates or peer group.

One interesting development of the report was the rather novice suggestion of looking to young people as experts in online tech usage to help guide adults in developing a set of best educational practices.

For more, read the full report (pdf).

Free education for all.

And that we license our work under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Given our fundamental commitment to providing cost-free educational resources, we featured a three part series on the need for a free, unregulated Commons, a series that featured Ahrash Bissell of the Creative Commons and highlighted some of the amazing projects underway based on the Creative Commons concept.

Our support for the movement today leads us to help the folks at CC with their new effort, the Catalyst Campaign, a program designed to raise seed funding for projects around the world devoted to increasing access and openness.

Launched June 1st and continuing for the entire month of June, the Catalyst Grants program is designed to help individuals as well as organizations harness the power of Creative Commons. Grants could theoretically support a study of entrepreneurs using Creative Commons licenses to create a new class of socially responsible businesses or enable a group in a developing country to research how Open Educational Resources can positively impact its community.

Jane Park, Communications Coordinator at Creative Commons, explains the Catalyst Grants will “empower individuals and communities that are deeply rooted in the principles of openness and sharing” while spurring the capacity for “CC adoption in much needed areas” including education.

“With the Catalyst Grants program, Creative Commons will seed activities around the globe that support our mission,” explains Park. “Our goal is to scale our community’s efforts and support them in becoming self-sustainable—hence, the grant sizes are around $1,000-$10,000 to catalyze communities into action.

“We are expecting at least a good number of CC jurisdictions to apply (currently, we have over 70 jurisdictions), and perhaps a few non-jurisdiction or jointly developed project proposals.”

According to Park, many of these jurisdictions could use the grant to jumpstart projects in open education, open web, open science, etc. The key is to help provide funding for those jurisdictions that are lagging behind other, more well-funded peers.

“We want to do all we can to help them become sustainable so that they can continue to do the great work they’re doing,” adds Park, “or start on innovative open projects that could transform the web.

The goal, to raise $100,000 from CC supporters, is off to a great start. The Milan Chamber of Commerce got the program off and running with a generous donation of EUR 10,000.

But the program could well rely on the basic generosity of thousands of small donors. With that in mind, donors offering pledging as little as $75 or more will be entitled to a limited edition “I Love to Share” t-shirts.

For more on how readers and fellow bloggers can ignite openness and innovation around the world, visit the CC Grants page.

But to most, John Wooden was respectfully known as coach. Most importantly, for all the educators and coaches of amateur athletics the man was an example of what we should all strive to be.

The Coach and Player

A talented basketball player in his own right, Wooden was a three-time college All-American guard. He earned the nickname the “Rubber Man’’ because of how quickly he would bounce back up from the floor.

But he is most well known for coaching accomplishments, achievements that defy description. Coach Wooden’s UCLA Bruins made 12 Final Four appearances and won 10 NCAA championships, including seven in a row from 1967 to 1973. All three of these accomplishments represent all-time NCAA records.

His 1971-72 team posted an average margin of victory of 30.3 points, also an all time NCAA record. He posted a career winning percentage of .813 and his teams went unbeaten four times. From 1971 to 1974, UCLA would win 88 games in succession.

Prior to his success on the national stage, he transformed the Bruins from an unknown to a conference power, winning five conference titles and taking UCLA to their first Final Four in 1962 where the team lost in the semifinals to Cincinnati, the eventual champion.

Amazingly, Coach Wooden was successful with teams with all types of players – those that featured a dominant post-player as well as guard-oriented teams that were devoid of size. He didn’t recruit players to fit a basketball style; instead he recruited individuals that he felt would fit into his belief of how the game should be played: a focus on “conditioning, fundamentals, and working together as a team.’’

He would be the first man to be named to the Naismith Hall of Fame as both player and coach. Only two other individuals in the history of basketball have matched that accomplishment.

John Wooden, Teacher

The former high school English teacher was actually best known by his players, not for the titles he helped them win, but for the life lessons he provided them. According to legend, Coach Wooden carried with him, at all times, a handwritten copy of his father’s credo:

“Be true to yourself. Make each day a masterpiece. Drink deeply from good books. Make friendship a fine art. Build a shelter against a rainy day.’’

Deeply religious, Wooden was known for being a man of principle and those principles never varied, no matter how important or talented the player. When one of his most gifted and free-spirited charges, Bill Walton, balked at getting his hair cut, Coach Wooden reportedly acknowledged his respect and even admiration for a young man who wanted to live by his own personal creed before stating:

“We’re going to miss you, Bill.”

For those in the education business, it is important to note that he insisted that there were four laws of learning: explanation, demonstration, imitation, and repetition. And for success in the most trying of times, i.e., for his basketball teams on the national stage, he insisted that “the goal is to create a correct habit that can be produced instinctively under great pressure.”

But as with most great teachers, his lessons were given by his actions. Bob Ryan, the great sportswriter for the Boston Globe referred to Wooden as “a 19th century man who somehow thrived in an otherwise alien culture.” It seems that when Wooden’s wife Nell Riley passed away on March 21, 1985, he continued to honor a lifelong commitment to his partner. On the 21st of each month, Coach Wooden would pay a visit to his wife’s grave and then sit down to write a love letter.

Not without flaws, Coach Wooden was known to tell a fib or two. As Ryan also wrote, the UCLA great always stood by those who had managed to handle his demands on the court. Apparently Wooden once expounded to Ryan on how much he had enjoyed coaching Sidney Wicks, a man pro coaches deemed uncoachable.

Though deeply religious, it is interesting to note that when his body failed him completely, he took a page from Scott Nearing and made the extraordinarily difficult conscious decision to end his own life. The general consensus is that when Wooden’s body had completely betrayed him he checked himself into a facility where he refused to eat and awaited the end.

“Death with dignity,” wrote Ryan, “is what he deserved and death with dignity is what he got.”

The Man and Father

A quiet, personally-reserved man, Coach Wooden was never one to sell the substance for the shadow. He hated flashiness both on and off the court.

He never swore at his players yet many would attest that he put enough venom into ‘Goodness gracious sakes alive!’ that he could make a Marine drill sergeant proud.

In a day and age when most men smoked Wooden did so himself though he would quit each season to ensure he was a proper role model to his players.

And his children, they had this to say of the man:

“We will miss him more than words can express,’’ his son, James, and daughter, Nancy Muehlhausen, said in a statement. “He has been, and always will be, the guiding light for our family. The love, guidance, and support he has given us will never be forgotten. Our peace of mind at this time is knowing that he has gone to be with our mother, whom he has continued to love and cherish.’’

Perhaps surprisingly, there are those who think he was a man that could not match his success in today’s world of college athletics. According to The New York Times::

“A dynasty like Wooden’s would be almost impossible now, because the best players seldom spend more than a year or two in college before turning professional. No N.C.A.A. men’s basketball coach has won more than four championships since Wooden retired.”

I beg to differ. Wooden was a teacher first and a coach second. He would recruit young men who understood the word commitment. And as a man who understood how to motivate and how to lead, I think he would still be the man everyone would be chasing.

As Mark Kriegel at FoxSports notes:

“This may be a cynical age, but no more distrustful than the ’60s and ’70s. Cities were burning. Many a campus found itself under siege. It was black against white, and young against old, (defined as anyone over 30).”

“…. it was the best work done by any American coach, in any sport.
The championship streak is wondrous enough. But the fact that those years — 1967 to 1974 — coincide with the most famously tumultuous stretch in youth culture, elevates the achievement. It wasn’t a sporting accomplishment so much as a societal one.”

In a day and age when we spend as much time talking about ineligible players and team’s being sanctioned for breaking rules, Wooden would represent a return to the spirit of college athletics, where winning was secondary to developing character.

In life and in death the man was ever the teacher and coach. The great ones are great for a reason, they understand and function at a different level.

Such was the case with the wondrous husband and father as well as the greatest teacher and coach ever to walk the planet.

Covey’s seven principles are universal, with the first two leading the way for any walk of life: a) take personal responsibility and initiative and b) be clear about what’s important to you and setting goals. In this writer’s eyes, these two elements represent the foundation for being successful, whether it is training for the world of pro sports or inspiring a classroom full of students.

Some educators may be surprised to learn that these seven habits once served to revitalize A.B. Combs Elementary School in Raleigh, North Carolina. Principal Muriel Summers transformed the poor performing school with low teacher morale into a model program by applying Covey’s seven principles to the school setting.

Implementing an inside-out approach, i.e. having the teachers and administrators learning, living and modeling the principles themselves first, Summers led a process that resulted in the principles of effectiveness being woven into every subject — math, science, social studies, art, etc.

Encouraged to Be Leaders

Dubbed The Leader in Me process, the seven habits educational approach has now been adopted in over 200 schools around the world. While every school is unique in its own way, these 200 all share a common mission statement: “Developing Leaders, One Child at a Time.”

Covey notes that many folks question the fundamental notion that every child can be a leader. But in the ‘Knowledge Worker Age,’ he insists that leadership is a life choice as opposed to a position that is assigned to people.

The Leader in Me process is not about the small number of people who will end up in significant leadership positions. Instead, it is about leading one’s life and being a leader among one’s friends and one’s family.

Covey considers this emphasis on leadership as the ‘highest of all the arts,’ and that by communicating to people their worth and potential they ultimately come to see it in themselves.

A Program Worth Considering

Perhaps it is Covey’s humility that makes his work so enticing. The man behind the seven principles does not take credit for what he calls the ‘set of universal, timeless, self-evident principles common to every enduring, prospering society, organization, or family.’ Instead, according to his own assessment, he ‘simply organized, sequenced and articulated them.’

But for this educator, it is the fact that Covey reverts to the very fundamentals of education in the Leader in Me program that is significant. The focus on students and not curricula, on character and not subjects, and most importantly, ‘doing the right thing even when no one is looking’ is one every school should take notice of.

Indeed, education has been and will always be about relationships. Covey’s focus on developing leadership features this fundamental prominently.

Educators interested in greater student achievement would do well to review the principles featured in The Leader in Me. Though a complete school approach would no doubt produce greater impact, teacher’s who implement these principles into their classroom will find students taking greater ownership in their learning.

And such ownership is at the heart of greater levels of student achievement.