In This Issue:

  1. Key shifts to give low-performing students a coherent experience

  2. Built to last: the characteristics of durable school success

  3. Teaching reading, writing, and discussion in an AI-saturated world

  4. Elena Aguilar on PD that actually helps teachers

  5. How Montessori education is sometimes misunderstood

  6. Using AI to generate decodable texts

  7. “Managing up” when your boss suffers from insecurity

  8. Four ways of thinking about philanthropic giving

  9. A tribute to psychologist Edward Deci

10. Recommended books for young teens

 

Quotes of the Week

“AI is a teenager now, roaring into the world, testing limits, rebelling against authority, itching to usurp the old guard and remake the planet in its image.” 

            Maureen Dowd in The New York Times, March 1, 2026

 

“Today’s children are growing up in a world where their very humanity can feel inconvenient, slow, and even scary. It’s simpler to text than talk. It’s safer to ask a bot than a friend. It’s faster to get an AI-generated summary rather than to read, to think, to express yourself. Yet, we know that in an era of artificial intelligence, humanity – including the skills, experiences, and stories that define the human experience – matters more than ever.”

            Humanities teachers’ manifesto (see item #3)

 

“ELA teachers know there’s something special about students finishing narratives they conceived, featuring characters they invented, set in worlds they imagined. When students work with an original concept, they feel genuine ownership over both process and product. That ownership gives them the chance to think, It may not be perfect, but it’s mine.” 

            Matthew Kay in “Protecting Productive Struggle in Writing” in Educational 

Leadership, March 2026 (Vol. 83, #6, pp. 58-59); Kay can be reached at 

[email protected]. 

 

“Schools that depend on brilliance or burnout eventually run out of both… The relevant question is not whether today’s staff is extraordinary, but whether an ordinary future staff could succeed under ordinary working conditions.”

            Robert Pondiscio (see item #1)

 

“I just need one thing I can actually use tomorrow.”

            A teacher’s whispered plea during a PD session at her school (quoted in item #4)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Built to Last: The Characteristics of Durable School Success

            In the third in a series of Education Gadfly articles on schools and districts that keep getting beat-the-odds student achievement despite turnover of teachers, principals, and superintendents, Robert Pondiscio suggests what we might look for to predict if a high-performing school will continue to be successful:

            • Curriculum, routines, and culture – Newly hired teachers receive clear direction and support on classroom management, student behavior, pedagogy, classroom materials, instructional pacing, collaboration with colleagues, and professional norms – a detailed statement of how we do things around here. The school doesn’t rely on hiring extraordinary teachers and expecting them to work unsustainable hours. “Schools that depend on brilliance or burnout eventually run out of both,” says Pondiscio. “The relevant question is not whether today’s staff is extraordinary, but whether an ordinary future staff could succeed under ordinary working conditions.” 

            • No, we’re not doing that – “Education is notoriously fad-happy,” he says; “wave after wave of new programs, each accompanied by persuasive research, compelling advocates (or vendors), and even genuine moral urgency.” A key is knowing when to stick to existing programs that work and not overwhelming the bandwidth of staff members with new initiatives.

            • Bench strength – Beyond a strong principal, schools need assistant principals, instructional coaches, and teacher leaders who understand the instructional model and can sustain it when a leader inevitably moves on. “The professional culture of education often encourages teachers and leaders to see themselves as individual change agents and advocates for children,” says Pondiscio, “– roles that might be morally admirable but not always aligned with the quieter institutional discipline required to seek out and preserve what works.” 

            • Governance that gets it – This is the durability factor that school-based educators have the least control over, Pondiscio acknowledges: “In public education, leadership flows through school boards and the political imperatives and enthusiasms surrounding them. Boards hire superintendents, set priorities, and respond to incentives that reward visible reform more than quiet continuity.” This creates a bias toward change and doesn’t reward quiet success. The challenge is building understanding and belief at every level so policymakers continue to support what’s working for students. 

            “None of this means sustained success is impossible,” Pondiscio concludes. “But it does mean it is unlikely to emerge by accident, and even less likely to persist without deliberate institutional design and discipline. The conditions that undermine durability – leadership churn, reform cycles, political pressure, initiative overload – are not temporary aberrations. They are inherent features of the system. Any school or district that manages to sustain excellence over decades is therefore doing something unusually difficult: not merely achieving strong results but building structure and cultures capable of surviving the very forces that typically erode them.”

 

“The 10-Year Test for Durable Schools” by Robert Pondiscio in Education Gadfly, March 5, 2026; Pondiscio can be reached at [email protected]. 

 

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2. Key Shifts to Give Low-Performing Students a Coherent Experience

            A missing piece in many schools, says this report from TNTP, is instructional coherence for struggling students. Here’s one fifth grader’s experience:

-   Tier 1 ELA class – Ana reads The Phantom Tollbooth with her class.

-   Intervention – Ana works with an adaptive computer program reading a below-level text about endangered species.

-   Tutoring – Ana practices identifying sight words from a list her tutor found online.

-   Multilingual supports – Ana practices cause-and-effect in an article about the water cycle.

“On paper,” says the TNTP report, “this student receives hours of additional support each week. In practice, little of that time reinforces her core learning or addresses specific grade-level gaps… By the end of the week, this student has been exposed to a patchwork of topics and instructional approaches within the same subject and is left to make sense of those inconsistencies on her own. As a result, learning slows and gaps persist.” 

            TNTP researchers found this kind of incoherence is what the vast majority of struggling students experience. But in a few schools, teachers orchestrated a much more coherent experience for low-performing students. Here’s an example:

-   Tier 1 math – Ethan’s class adds and subtracts fractions with unlike denominators.

-   Intervention – Ethan practices adding fractions with common denominators.

-   Tutoring – Ethan practices with diagrams to build his conceptual understanding.

-   Homework – Ethan completes fluency practice adding common benchmark fractions.

“This tightly linked approach,” says the TNTP report, “helped Ethan engage with the work in his core math class, even when it was not easy… Every part of Ethan’s experience… reinforced his ability to engage with challenging grade-level content.”

“We refer to these schools as trajectory-changing schools,” the report continues, “because they did more than improve test scores; they fundamentally altered students’ academic paths.” In schools like Ethan’s, students gained on average 1.3 additional months of learning over the school year. Students in the lowest-performing group achieved an average of 1.8 months of additional learning over the school year. Students who started third grade a year behind were able to catch up; by middle school, they were reading on grade level.

            Working with the Knox County Schools in Tennessee, TNTP designed and implemented an early literacy initiative focused on coherence. Teachers overwhelmingly preferred it to their past practices, and the results were impressive. The program has been implemented with success in other school districts. It involves three key shifts:

            • Diagnose and group students not by cutoff but by need. Knox County Schools used curriculum-based diagnostics and universal screeners to identify and group students by the specific areas where they needed support. Teachers could thus form intervention groups by the skills those students needed to work on – for example, letter-sound correspondence, blending consonant-vowel-consonant words, decoding r-controlled vowels, working with multisyllabic words. This allowed for targeted, accelerated instruction aligned with where students were in the skill progression. 

            • Use aligned high-quality curriculum across all supports. Knox County Schools eliminated the patchwork of programs used in different classes and tutorials and adopted materials aligned with what was used in Tier 1 classes. Thus students received the same routines, terminology, and instructional structures wherever they went, and intervention reinforced rather than contradicted the foundational, grade-level skills taught in Tier 1. Because teachers were all on the same page, they confidently delivered aligned content in Tier 1, intervention, special education, and tutoring. 

            • Track meaningful data to inform collaboration and instruction. The schools created diagnostic skill trackers that allowed teachers to monitor progress toward specific foundational skills in real time. “Instead of waiting over a month to look at broad assessment data,” says the TNTP report, “teachers could see within days whether students were mastering targeted phonics patterns and could adjust instruction accordingly.” That meant teachers frequently shared data and instructional time was used more efficiently and effectively. 

            The TNTP report suggests four steps for districts that might consider replicating Knox County’s approach:

-   Reflect on the instructional experience and outcomes of low-performing students by looking at data and shadowing a student through a school day.

-   Identify the sources of incoherence, including district policies, adopted curriculum materials and assessments, and school-level routines and practices.

-   Decide how to strengthen coherence by identifying the highest-leverage obstacle and starting small to build momentum.

-   Support coherent implementation at the school level. “Even the strongest system-level design will fail to produce coherent student experiences if schools do not have the support, tools, and guidance needed to bring it to life,” says the report. “School leaders, teachers, and interventionists must clearly understand how core instruction and intervention work together, how to use aligned materials effectively, and how to make informed decisions based on student needs and progress.” This requires a clear district-level vision, training in new processes and materials, and monitoring results. 

 

“Coherence by Design” from TNTP, March 4, 2026

 

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3. Teaching Reading, Writing, and Discussion in an AI-Saturated World

            A group of 25 educators from across the U.S. was convened last fall by Liza Garonzik (R.E.A.L. Discussion) to reflect on the role of the humanities today. Here are their conclusions, edited for length:

            “Today’s children are growing up in a world where their very humanity can feel inconvenient, slow, and even scary. It’s simpler to text than talk. It’s safer to ask a bot than a friend. It’s faster to get an AI-generated summary rather than to read, to think, to express yourself. Yet, we know that in an era of artificial intelligence, humanity – including the skills, experiences, and stories that define the human experience – matters more than ever. In this new world, schools certainly should equip students to become skilled, ethical users of AI… But we believe that in this landscape, schools also have an obligation to defend, practice, and celebrate humanity on a daily basis. We see humanities classrooms as the heart of this work.”

• Teaching reading in an AI world – We believe reading is an opportunity to teach students to do something slow and difficult in a culture that prizes speed and ease; a method for creating common experiences and knowledge; an invitation to study the intentional use of language; and a context for sharpening critical thinking skills in a world where misinformation and disinformation abounds. Given these beliefs, we commit to the following actions in our schools and classrooms:

-   Advocate for time for students to read during the school day.

-   Continue to assign and expect students to read full-length novels and primary sources.

-   Provide students with differentiated scaffolds for reading complicated texts.

-   Design experiences that prompt students to connect reading with their own lives.

• Teaching writing in an AI world – We believe writing is a tool for engagement in critical thinking, analysis, persuasion, or sense-making; an intrinsically valuable process; an opportunity to practice revision; and a human art form. Given these beliefs, we commit to these actions in our schools and classrooms:

-   Designate class time for writing assignments to see what kids can do on their own.

-   Design at-home writing tasks that are difficult to outsource wholly to AI.

-   Assess the revision process by having students draft extended pieces. 

-   Sometimes give students prompts that treat writing as play, meditation, and invention.

• Teaching discussion in an AI world – We believe that discussion is a deeply human experience that should be celebrated in classrooms; a uniquely human skillset that needs to be taught and assessed; an important opportunity to slow down and be present with one another; an opportunity to build community, even across lines of difference; and a context for “cross-training” the skills students need to become ethical users of AI. Given these beliefs, we commit to these actions in our schools and classrooms:

-   Help students verbalize and delight in their lived experience and our course content.

-   Teach and assess discussion skills, not just “have discussions.”

-   Commit to cultivating every student’s voice in every discussion.

-   Scaffold respectful disagreement so students gain experience across differences.

-   Model good discussion practices in our own lives and with our colleagues.

 

“Humanities and Humanity in an AI World: An Educators’ Manifesto” from R.E.A.L. Discussion, February 2026; Garonzik can be reached at [email protected]. 

 

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4. Elena Aguilar on PD That Actually Helps Teachers

(Originally titled “Why Most PD Doesn’t Work – and What Actually Does”)

            In this article in Educational Leadership, Elena Aguilar (Bright Morning) remembers that during an especially irrelevant school PD session, a teacher whispered to her, “I just need one thing I can actually use tomorrow.” Aguilar believes schools can do better with their PD if they focus on these three principles:

            • Know your people. Anyone conducting professional learning should start with the question, Who are the learners in front of me today, and what do they most need? “Adults learn best when they feel respected, emotionally safe, and connected to the learning,” says Aguilar. “When facilitators jump straight into content without understanding the humans in the room, they inadvertently undermine learning before it begins… Even excellent strategies fall flat when teachers can’t see how they connect to their context, grade level, or current reality.” 

            • Focus on one outcome. “Depth beats breadth,” she says. Teachers should leave a session with one idea, one protocol, one routine, or one way of looking at student work that they’ll be able to use in their classrooms. 

            • Build in hands-on practice. Teachers need to simulate and practice a new idea right in the session and get immediate feedback. “Even ten minutes of intentional application increases the likelihood that new learning will stick,” says Aguilar. “Application consolidates memory, reduces anxiety, and creates the conditions for habit formation.” 

 

“Why Most PD Doesn’t Work – and What Actually Does” by Elena Aguilar in Educational Leadership, March 2026 (Vol. 83, #6, pp. 56-57); Aguilar can be reached at [email protected]. 

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5. How Montessori Education Is Sometimes Misunderstood

            In this article in Montessori Life, Devin Veselenak says the lay public’s understanding of Montessori education “is all over the map: rigorous pedagogy for some, a parenting trend or ‘hippie’ philosophy for others… shorthand for ‘natural’ or ‘organic’… even tied to pseudoscience… Day cares can use it on their signage and charge triple the tuition, even without trained guides or Montessori pedagogy.” 

            This worries Veselenak, a veteran Montessori educator, because there’s more than a century of research, philosophy, and practice behind this approach to schooling. “Those of us who live the work,” he says, “cringe as the word’s misuse undermines the method’s credibility.” 

But he also worries that insiders’ use of specialized terms may not be helping: “If we don’t clarify what Montessori really means in language parents and policymakers understand, we lose the larger narrative,” he says. “To communicate effectively, we must preserve Montessori’s depth while also translating it for today’s audiences.” An example: normalization – to Montessori educators, this means inner order and joy, but to the uninitiated it may be heard as rigidity, conformity, and control. 

            Maria Montessori’s original writing in the early 1900s was for a small, homogeneous group of European educators, medical professionals, and reform-minded parents, reflecting the science and culture of the era. “What was once a philosophy serving a narrow cultural frame now seeks to speak to the entire human family,” says Veselenak. “Finding a common language for Montessori is both an act of translation and of humility – recognizing that a global movement cannot thrive on one dialect of understanding.” 

            Montessori “is at a crossroads, growing in visibility, yet often misunderstood or dismissed,” concludes Veselenak. “The challenge is to build a living vocabulary that honors the past, speaks clearly to the present, and carries Montessori into the future… If our language invites, clarifies, and connects, Montessori can step into the global role it deserves as a rigorous, humane, and deeply relevant pedagogy.” 

 

“Not Just Wooden Toys and Big Words” by Devin Veselenak in Montessori Life, Spring 2026 (Vol. 38, #1, pp. 24-25)

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6. Using AI to Generate Decodable Texts

(Originally titled “How to Create Custom Decodable Texts in Minutes”)

            In this Educational Leadership article, Barbara Culatta and Lee Ann Setzer (Brigham Young University and Systematic and Engaging Early Literacy) say that some decodable texts are dull and include words and structures beyond young readers’ current skills. The good news is that teachers can use free GenAI tools to quickly generate decodables geared to students’ interests and skills. Some tips:

            • Train your AI platform. It can remember and apply information on students’ current skills, what they’re working on, and examples of decodable texts that have been successful. 

            • Give it clear parameters. Prompt AI with specific instructions on length, the phonics patterns and words you’re focusing on, verb tenses, high-frequency words you want to use (is, get, put, the), words that signal text structure (but, is, not, has, does not have), a real-life context (things a dog can do), the types of words or grammatical elements to use and avoid, target words, tone, first-person or third-person, and audience.

            • Iterate and fine-tune. “Treat AI as a brainstorming tool; the interaction should resemble a conversation,” say Culatta and Setzer. “The first result is rarely perfect – that’s expected.” When you get text you’re not happy with, keep trying; tell AI what you liked and didn’t and use longer and more-detailed prompts.

            • Finish by hand. When AI produces a plausible text, do final edits yourself rather than perseverating with prompts. Culatta and Setzer suggests the 80/20 rule: AI handles 80 percent of the task, you finish the last 20 percent.

            “The resulting texts,” they conclude, “can significantly boost engagement and make early reading practice feel more meaningful to young learners.”

 

“How to Create Custom Decodable Texts in Minutes” by Barbara Culatta and Lee Ann Setzer in Educational Leadership, March 2026 (Vol. 83, #6, pp. 50-53)

 

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7. “Managing Up” When Your Boss Suffers from Insecurity

            In this article in Harvard Business Review, Jeffrey Yip (Simon Fraser University, Canada) and Dritjon Gruda (Católica Porto Business School, Portugal) report that about 36% of adults have an insecure attachment style and between 65 and 71 percent of leaders have imposter syndrome – the persistent fear of being exposed as incompetent. These leaders, say Yip and Gruda, “may appear confident and charismatic, but under pressure their unresolved fears of inadequacy and rejection quietly distort decision-making and can undermine collaboration.” They’ve found that insecurity comes in two flavors: anxious and avoidant:

• Anxious leaders crave affirmation and praise and are super-sensitive to criticism. “They may micromanage, overapologize, or change direction abruptly in reaction to the latest conversation or imagined slight,” say the authors. “They pull teams close and then, when overwhelmed, push them away.”

• Avoidant leaders appear calm and rational, but “beneath that surface is a discomfort with vulnerability that keeps them distant and hard to reach,” say Yip and Gruda. “They pride themselves on being self-reliant, shun open dialogue, reject criticism, and rarely show uncertainty. To work with them is to work around a wall built from a fear of needing others too much.” 

In their research, the authors have found that people working with insecure leaders often fall into these traps:

-   Overaccommodation – agreeing to everything or shielding the leader from criticism;

-   Withdrawal – disengaging, minimizing contact, communicating only when necessary;

-   Addressing issues too bluntly or too soon, making the leader shut them out.

Yip and Gruda suggest a 3R approach with insecure leaders, whether anxious or avoidant: Regulate, Relate, and Reason:

            • Regulate – With insecure leaders, say the authors, “no amount of logic or strategy will get through to them until their brains are calm.” Acknowledge their concerns, avoid mirroring their anxiety or dismissing their concerns, and through tone of voice and choice of words, slow down the pace and convey respect for their space and authority while showing your own competence: “We have time to address this.” “I’ve analyzed the options and have a recommendation.” 

            • Relate – “Because insecure reactions are rooted in early attachment patterns and stem from a disrupted sense of belonging or worth,” say Yip and Gruda, “they require a relational response. This doesn’t mean becoming overly personal or indulgent. It’s simply being present, attuned, and trustworthy. Leaders who feel safe are more likely to listen, reflect, and grow.” With anxious leaders, consistency is helpful – check-ins, being present with devices put away, sitting side by side (versus behind a desk), eye contact, follow-through, and being predictable. “Let’s explore this together.” “What’s your take on this?”

            • Reason – Once the leader feels regulated and connected, it’s time for feedback, strategy, and problem-solving. “Frame your reasoning within the relationship you’ve built,” say Yip and Gruda. “This not only invites collaboration but also strengthens the leader’s sense of agency.” “Now that we’ve identified the concern, what options do we see?” “I’m weighing two options and lean toward the second. What do you think?” After meeting, send a short e-mail confirming agreements and next steps. 

            The 3R framework is sequential, say the authors – “Regulate first. Relate next. Reason last” – but it’s flexible and adaptive: “Some situations require rapid cycling through all three phases, while others may need extended focus on regulation… The point is not to apply a rigid script but to be conscious of which mode you are in and not to skip ahead. You must read your leader’s attachment cues and respond accordingly.”

            Over time, conclude Yip and Gruda, the 3R approach “can protect your well-being, help your team stay steady, and channel a leader’s insecurity in ways that serve rather than undermine the common good.” 

 

“How to Manage an Insecure Leader” by Jeffrey Yip and Dritjon Gruda in Harvard Business Review, March-April 2026 (Vol. 104, #2, pp. 125-129)

 

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8. Four Ways of Thinking About Philanthropic Giving

            In this article in Stanford Social Innovation Review, Ariel Simon (Tambourine Philanthropies) says, “There are as many ways to give well as there are to waste money. But the right test of both is best defined by the intentions that drive giving, not by a singular theory of how philanthropy should work.” He offers the following breakdown of intentions:

• Communitarian: We want to…

-   Strengthen community – Giving to deepen belonging, solidarity, and identity.

-   Give back or memorialize – Giving motivated by gratitude, legacy, memory, or personal resonance.

-   Build and sustain the commons – Giving to create and preserve shared infrastructure, physical (public spaces, cultural assets) or relational (trust, norms, dialogue).

-   Share joy and celebration – Giving to foster delight, beauty, pride, and celebration.

• Transformative: We hope to…

-   Accelerate breakthroughs – Giving to spark scientific, cultural, and economic leaps forward.

-   Tackle a major problem – Giving to help address significant issues of broad concern.

-   Advance flourishing – Giving to benefit society by fueling inquiry, discovery, and creativity in science, art, culture, and other humanistic endeavors.

• Declarative: We feel compelled to…

-   Elevate virtues – Giving to advance specific cultural, moral, or professional principles, values, norms, and messages, frequently by celebrating excellence.

-   Build power – Giving to shift who has voice, agency, and influence over critical decisions and resources.

-   Take a stand – Giving that expresses and reflects moral convictions, even when systemic success may be uncertain or unlikely.

• Humanitarian: We’re called to…

-   Respond to a crisis – Giving to provide immediate relief or support long-term recovery during or after natural disasters, wars, pandemics, or other catastrophes. 

-   Offer a helping hand – Giving as an expression of shared humanity, love, and empathy.

-   Promote potential – Giving to support individual development and possibility among students, artists, leaders, thinkers, and changemakers.

 

“The Thirteen Intentions of Philanthropy” by Ariel Simon in Stanford Social Innovation Review, Spring 2026 (Vol. 24, #2, pp. 36-45)

 

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9. A Tribute to Psychologist Edward Deci

            Edward Deci, who helped revolutionize the field with his work on motivation, died February 14^th at 83. Some notable quotes:

-   The proper question is not, ‘How can people motivate others?’ but rather, ‘How can people create conditions within which others will motivate themselves?’

-   When kids feel autonomy, respect, and real connection, they develop motivation that lasts a lifetime, no bribes or threats needed.

-   Research shows that when kids get rewards for things they already enjoy, they lose interest over time because the reward takes over their natural motivation.

-   Punishment and bribes both send the same message: You won’t do the right thing unless I make you. This is a very dark (and misguided) view of children’s true nature.

-   Self-motivation, rather than external motivation, is at the heart of creativity, responsibility, healthy behavior, and lasting change.

 

“Edward Deci, 83, Dies; Found Key to Thriving Is Self-Determination” by Clay Risen in The New York Times, March 2, 2026

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10. Recommended Books for Young Teens

            In this School Library Journal article, school librarians Christina Chatel and Marcia Kochel say that for their middle-school students, many YA books are too old and many middle-grade books are too young. They suggest a new category – young teen literature – with these criteria:

-   Developmentally appropriate for ages 12 to 15;

-   Meeting this age group’s interest in adventure, sports, humor, romance, horror, and murder mysteries;

-   Between 180 and 300 pages long;

-   Highly engaging plotlines and shorter chapters that will hook and hold young teens;

-   Book covers that appeal to this age group – no childish or cartoon images;

-   Written in a variety of formats, including verse and graphic novels, and reflecting how young teens communicate through messaging and social media.

Chatel and Kochel recommend these ten books (for more suggestions, see their website

It’s Time for Young Teen Lit):

-   All the Blues in the Sky by Renee Watson

-   Boy 2.0 by Tracey Baptiste

-   Bye Forever I Guess by Jodi Meadows

-   Dropping Beats by Nathanael Lessore

-   The Last Dragon on Mars by Scott Reintgen

-   The Shadow Road by K.D. Kirchmeier

-   Slugfest by Gordon Korman

-   Stay Dead by April Henry

-   This Book Kills by Ravena Guron

-   The World Worth Saving by Kyle Lukoff

 

“Young Teen Lit Top 10” by Christina Chatel and Marcia Kochel in School Library Journal, March 2026 (Vol. 72, #3, 14-16)

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