Jim Dillon has been an educator for over 35 years, including 20 years as a school administrator. While he was the principal of Lynnwood Elementary in New York, he developed the Peaceful School Bus Program, designed to prevent and reduce bullying, and subsequently published The Peaceful School Bus (Hazelden, 2008). The program is now being implemented in schools across the country. He is the author of No Place for Bullying: Leadership for schools that care for every student (Corwin, 2013). Jim is currently an educational consultant for Measurement Incorporated. He makes presentations and conducts workshops on a variety of educational topics, including instruction, classroom management, leadership, and supervision. Jim has presented at many local, state and national conferences. …
Leader of Teacher Cheating Ring Sentenced to Seven Years
Clarence D. Mumford, Sr., the leader of a teacher cheating ring designed to help educators pass on certification exams, has received a seven year prison sentence. As part of the cheating ring, Mumford had prospective teachers in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee pay him to have other individuals sit for their certification exams. In the 15 years Mumford ran the cheating ring, he collected over $120,000.
From 1995 to 2009, Mumford’s cheating ring went undetected. As part of the scheme, he altered driver’s licenses to allow his test-takers to sit for exams in other states. In exchange for paying Mumford thousands of dollars, aspiring teachers were supposed to receive a passing score on the certification exam — which were taken by Mumford’s test…
Chicago Closes 49 Schools
In an attempt to address their budget deficit, the Chicago Board of Education voted to close 49 schools in the district. The vote to close the 48 elementary schools and one high school took place after numerous protests from concerned individuals. Since March, when the decision to close 53 Chicago schools was first announced, over 34,000 individuals have attended public hearings to express their outrage, but in the end, 49 of the 53 schools made it to the chopping block. Since 2003, the Chicago school district, the third largest in the United States, has lost nearly 145,000 students, leaving many of the schools to be cut only half full. By closing the schools and transferring to students to other schools, the district has the potential to save…
AFT President Calls for Delay in Common Core Standards-Based Assessments
As schools begin to implement the Common Core State Standards, many have begun to look ahead to how those standards will be assessed and whether adopting them will truly lead to gains in student achievement. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, thinks educators should hold off on implementing Co…
Driver’s Ed – Why Not Cyber Ed?
Jim Dillon has been an educator for over 35 years, including 20 years as a school administrator. While he was the principal of Lynnwood Elementary in New York, he developed the Peaceful School Bus Program, designed to prevent and reduce bullying, and subsequently published The Peaceful School Bus (Hazelden, 2008). The program is now being implemented in schools across the country. He is the author of No Place for Bullying: Leadership for schools that care for every student (Corwin, 2013). Jim is currently an educational consultant for Measurement Incorporated. He makes presentations and conducts workshops on a variety of educational topics, including instruction, classroom management, leadership, and supervision. Jim has presented at many local, state and national conferences…
States Consider Stricter Entry Requirements for Teacher Education Programs
In an era of increased teacher accountability, states and teacher education programs have begun to look at how they can demonstrate/quantify the quality of teachers who enter the classroom. However, as states consider increasing the grade point average (GPA) and licensure-test score requirements, they fear they may keep minority teachers, particularly African-American and Latino teachers, out of the classroom, as these groups statistically have weaker GPAs and test scores than other prospective teachers. While states want to place high-quality teachers in the classroom, they also want to attract teachers who represent their student populations. In districts with high concentrations of African-American and Latino students, African-American and Latino teachers ar…