Q: A recent court case found that Detroit students were denied their constitutional right to an education by their state because the conditions in their low-performing schools were so poor. Ar…
My child often has trouble going to sleep. Based on the advice of another parent, I have started giving her a melatonin supplement. It seems to help, but I wonder if it’s safe.
Q: Parents are getting frustrated with distance learning and a lot of them are giving it up entirely. They say there are too many apps, video chats and emailed assignments to deal with, especi…
Q: What is your take on the Maximum Failing Grade? Often we don’t know what is going on in a child’s life away from school. Students could be navigating a divorce, death or illness. Kids often…
Q: Teachers seem to be doing their best to teach online. To help with equity, my district is providing devices and hotspots to families that need them. However, teachers have been told that si…
Q: What advice can you give to parents whose kids are missing important social milestones in their schooling? It must be devastating for so many kids to be missing their senior prom or their g…
Q: My child’s high school is considering changes to the dress code for next year. These include banning shorts that are too short, yoga pants and form-fitting clothes. They’ve already banned p…
Q: I’m curious to know how much learning will take place during this time when children are out of school. Will more parents become attracted to online learning because their child seems to be…
Q: I’ve received emails from my child’s teacher outlining everything to do during the quarantine down to the minute. It includes when to wake up, when to have a snack, when to have family time…
Q: My wife checks our children’s grades online constantly. She says this helps her to help them do well in school, but it only seems to stress her out every time they get a low grade. I think …
Q: I have twins, a boy and a girl, both in middle school. They both this year have gotten caught with their cell phones. My son got a week of lunch detention. My daughter got nothing but a lec…
Q: My son is an elementary student on the spectrum. Do you feel that children who struggle with “flexible thinking” due to factors such as Autism should be allowed to use the strategy that wor…
Q: Several weeks ago, you talked about “instructional coaches.” What are these and do they help the cause of education?
Q: We’re convinced. We’ve decided it’s best to wait to give our children smartphones. The problem is I have a sixth-grader and everyone else in her class has a phone. She doesn’t understand wh…
Q: I saw on the news a video of some high school JV basketball players in Newark, N.J., who brutally attacked their own coach when he tried to stop them from bullying another teen. The video i…
Q: I think that punishing children (with extreme lengths of grounding, not letting them play little league, making them drop out of their youth group, etc.) for having less than ideal report c…
My child’s teacher refused to accept his late homework assignment and gave him a zero for it. I can understand taking a few points off, maybe even half, but it seems extreme to refuse it at all.
Last week we began a discussion of PBIS. Not to be confused with the usual classroom incentives that teachers have used forever, PBIS is a systematic nationwide program designed to shape stude…
Q: I went on a tour of a school and the principal bragged that it was a PBIS school. What is that?
Q: My child’s geography teacher still makes students memorize states and capitals. I thought memorization of facts went out with the Common Core. Why would they still be doing this? The aim of…
Q: My son wants to join the high school marching band, but it costs over $1,000 to participate. We can’t afford that. Do I have any recourse?
Q: I’ve emailed my daughter’s teacher four different times this year about different things, but she never emails me back. What is the best way to handle it?
I’m often asked about resources to help parents navigate the tumultuous world of school-aged children. Believe it or not, some of the best lessons of good parenting can be found in films that …
Q: My child’s school has started an FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) club. This is really scary and unconstitutional. Schools in the 21st century should be aware of the separation of chu…
Q: My son was attacked by another child at school. Although the boy who hit him was suspended, the principal told my son that he “shouldn’t do things that annoy the other students.” Even if my…
Q: I made a big mistake giving my children smartphones at too early an age and it has destroyed my relationship with them. Will you please tell your readers to think twice about giving phones …
Q: In my district, every school has its own goal to increase standardized test scores. For example, at my child’s school, 75% of students passed their reading and math tests and this year the …
Q: My son puts his all into the papers he writes, and when he gets them back, they’re marked up with errors, but very little of the good writing is praised and he’s demoralized. Another proble…
Q: My son has needed a tutor for every science class and most math classes he’s taken in high school. They’ve helped him get better grades, but it’s expensive and time-consuming. Is it the rig…
Q: There’s no evidence that school uniforms increase student performance and uniforms go against our students’ freedom of expression. Shouldn’t they be able to express themselves through their…
Q: My son got a detention for talking in class. He didn’t serve the detention. I know that was totally wrong. He should have served it, but he said he forgot. The teacher sent him to the princ…
Q: My son’s middle school teacher insists on writing all of his notes in cursive, which my son cannot read. In his elementary school, they did not teach cursive, so it’s not his fault. I’ve as…
Q: I understand you teach at Moultrie Middle School, which was recently ranked as the No. 1 neighborhood middle school in the state and No. 2 out of all 330 middle schools, second to only one …
Q: My son has a teacher that lets the students have their phones in class. Not for academic purposes. Just to use. The teacher says she’d rather they have them out than to secretly use them an…
Q: I saw a study recently about the “homework gap.” It said that as grade levels increase, teachers are more likely to assign homework that requires access to the internet. However, teachers a…
Q: Legalization of marijuana now seems inevitable. What might be the impact on students?
Q: My child’s school, which has a reputation for high student achievement, recently did away with its Accelerated Reader program. They used it for many years. Why would they drop it? What’s wr…
Q: Why do schools still rely on punishing students for misbehavior? Google “Does punishment work?” and you’ll find hundreds of articles showing that it doesn’t. When is enough enough for today…
Q: My daughter’s class has already been punished for talking too much and this is just the first week of school. What can I do to help her avoid a long, miserable year?
“Enter at your own risk!”
Q: School is starting back and my goal for this year is to increase communication with my child, particularly about what’s going on in school. When I’ve tried in the past, usually all I get ar…
Q: Some officials are considering shutting down a high school in my area because in the entire graduating class, only two students are college-ready and the average graduate reads at a fourth …
Q: Oregon schools are now allowing kids to take five mental health days each school year. It was pushed by a group of high school students who want to lower Oregon’s very high teen suicide rat…
Q: My child has been spending a lot of time on a social media app called Lipsi. It seems to be causing a lot of drama. What is it and should I be concerned?
Q: I volunteer at my child’s school, usually multiple days per week. At the end of the year I asked the principal if next year she would please let my child have a certain teacher for science.…
My child has had a number of long-term substitutes in his classes because they can’t find a certified teacher to fill the position. From my perspective as a parent, I don’t think they will be …
Q: I’ve been reading about the new SAT “adversity score.” Sounds good on the surface, but are there any potential problems?
Q: I am a parent of children in school but I am also a teacher. From that perspective, I can see that one of the things that would help education is if school boards and superintendents and pr…
Q: My middle school son has ADHD and is receiving a school 504 Plan (an individualized educational plan for students with medical disabilities to ensure that they have academic success). The a…
Q: My son got a detention for using a curse word at school. I’m not complaining about that. He said it and he knows he shouldn’t have. But I am wondering why schools have to treat it so harshl…
