Jim McLaughlin's Blog

Timeless Stories for My Brain and Yours

Blog

  • Another Meaningless Statistical Analysis of School Performance

    One great benefit of my having sat on a school board for the past 15 months is that it has forced me to dig into the details behind some of the bold statements made almost daily by well-meaning, but mathematically-challenged individuals who regularly tell us on what’s wrong with education in the US.  As a Read more

  • Six of Seven District Schools Earn State Achievement Award

    Congratulations to our hardworking students, families, teachers, and administrators for their efforts to make Cheltenham shine in 2010! Read more

  • Going Beyond the Core

    Almost from the start of my term on the Board, I have struggled with how to understand value and affordability metrics in education.  As an engineer, I’ve been taught to analyze any system for its structure of performance, feedback, and control.  This is the essence of any accountability system. Of course, the difference is that Read more

  • Improving Family-School Partnerships

    At the recent PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference, I enjoyed a good discussion on this topic by a presenter from the National PTA.  True, our district is based on the National PTO group, but a good idea is a good idea, and I will “steal shamelessly” (to quote GE’s Jack Welch) when it can help. The Read more

  • PSBA Releases White Paper on Charter/Cyber Charter Costs

    At the 2010 PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference, attendees were provided with the most recent analysis of the costs for charter and cyber charter schools.  The report includes five significant recommendations aimed at producing an equitable financial relationship between districts and charter schools.  Because of the inequities in what charter schools are paid (per student) versus Read more

  • Interesting, Happy Times

    This recent summary of the challenges facing school boards everywhere is indicative of the concerns I feel as well.  If you are interested enough to follow this blog, then I encourage you to review the article and note just how many complicated and conflicting issues there are surrounding the actions of boards. I’m rapidly approaching Read more