Assessments should compare the performance of students to a set of expectations, never to the performance of other students.

Children learn how to make good decisions by making decisions, not by following directions.

Sometimes we have to put our foot down, ... but before we deliberately make children unhappy in order to get them to get into the car, or to do their homework or whatever, we need to weigh whether what we're doing to make it happen is worth the possible strain on our relationship with them.

We can't value only what is easy to measure; measurable outcomes may be the least important results of learning.

Independence is useful, but caring attitudes and behaviors shrivel up in a culture where each person is responsible only for himself.

If faculty would relax their emphasis on grades, this might serve not to lower standards but to encourage an orientation toward learning.

Being a team player should not imply a demand for simple obedience and conformity.