Surviving back-to-school night
Here's an updated version of the first piece I published on The Answer Sheet exactly a year ago today. This first anniversary finds me on vacation, but I'll keep posting new pieces each day until I return to full-time blogging next week. An administrator at a school in Montgomery County welcomed several hundred parents at back-to-school night by relating his extensive experience as an educator and as a soldier. Then he said, “So you can see I am very qualified. So, do I know more than you do about the curriculum? Yes I do. Do I know more about [student] placement? Yes I do. Do I want your opinion? No I don’t.” The crowd was effectively cowed. This, admittedly, is not the best way to start back- to-school night, but it points to two problems that can mar the evening when parents and teachers meet at the start of the
