Uncategorized Archives - Thomas R. Guskey & Associates

29 Jan When Parents Question Grades, They Aren’t Asking About Rigor

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Why transparency matters! Originally published in Peter DeWitt & Michael Nelson's Finding Common Ground, Education Week 1-20-2026 Citation: Guskey, T. R. (2026). When parents question grades, they aren’t asking about rigor. Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/opinion-when-parents-question-grades-they-arent-asking-about-rigor/2026/01. Educators attempting to implement standards-based grading and reporting encounter a range of challenges. Among...

18 Dec School Leaders Struggle with Teacher Buy-in: What to Do About That

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Four key strategies to make lasting changes to instructional practice. Citation: Guskey, T. R. (2025, December 11). School leaders struggle with teacher buy-in: What to do about that. Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/opinion-school-leaders-struggle-with-teacher-buy-in-what-to-do-about-that/2025/12. One of the most common questions I hear from school leaders is, “How do I get...

19 Aug Why Are So Few Educators Aware of Research in Their Own Field?

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Lacking that knowledge hampers progress. By Thomas R. Guskey, Professor Emeritus, University of Kentucky. Originally posted in Education Week, Finding Common Ground, May 28, 2024. I recently had sad experiences at two national education conferences. As part of presentations at the ASCD annual conference and the American...

10 Dec How to Keep Your Standards-Based Report Card Simple and Family Friendly

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By Thomas R. Guskey, Professor Emeritus, University of Kentucky. This article is adapted from Chapter 5 in Engaging Parents and Families in Grading Reform by T. R. Guskey (Corwin, 2024). School leaders engaged in grading reforms all struggle with revising the report card. They recognize that...

24 Apr Should Curriculum Teach Students to Obey or to Improve Society?

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By Thomas R. Guskey, Professor Emeritus, University of Kentucky originally posted in Education Week, Finding Common Ground, April 24, 2023 Education improvement efforts are impeded today by debates over how best to break down the curriculum. Arguments abound about how to deconstruct curriculum elements, how to...

17 May Let’s Not Forget the Concept of Honor

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By Thomas R. Guskey, Professor Emeritus, University of Kentucky originally published in The Lexington Herald Leader, May 16, 2022. Photo: World War II veteran and recipient of the Medal of Honor Hershel Woodrow Williams puts his hand over his heart during the invocation at the National...

27 Feb Wordle and the Power of Success

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By Thomas R. Guskey, Professor Emeritus, University of Kentucky originally posted in Education Week, Finding Common Ground, February 8, 2022 Like many others, I’ve been amazed by the phenomenal rise in the popularity of the game Wordle. If you spend any time at all on Twitter, you’ve...

21 Dec Is Standardized Testing a Bad Thing?

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By Thomas R. Guskey, Professor Emeritus, University of Kentucky originally posted in Solution Tree Blog, December 16, 2020 “Standardized testing” is one of the most frequently used yet most commonly misunderstood expressions in education today. Some consider standardized testing to be an important, foundational component in...

09 Sep What to Do About Cheating on Assessments in Virtual Learning?

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By Thomas R. Guskey, Professor Emeritus, University of Kentucky Originally posted in Education Week, Finding Common Ground, August 30, 2020 As we reopen schools with a return to virtual instruction, teachers remain concerned about how to prevent students from cheating on assessments. To provide meaningful grades, teachers...

08 Jul Why Should We Allow Students to Retake Assessments?

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By Thomas R. Guskey, Professor Emeritus, University of Kentucky Originally posted in Education Week, Finding Common Ground, July 6, 2020 As schools look ahead to update grading policies when they reopen, one hotly debated issue is whether students should be given the opportunity to retake assessments. Proponents...

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