What would you ask Mike Schmoker?

[cross-posted at LeaderTalk]

In May I have the glorious opportunity to interview Mike Schmoker, guru of data-driven education and author of Results, The Results Fieldbook, Results Now, and The Crayola Curriculum. And, yes, I’m going to try and record it as a podcast.

I know that many of you are familiar with Mike’s work. If you were me, what interview question(s) would you ask him?

[cross-posted at LeaderTalk]

In May I have the glorious opportunity to interview Mike Schmoker, guru of data-driven education and author of Results, The Results Fieldbook, Results Now, and The Crayola Curriculum. And, yes, I’m going to try and record it as a podcast.

I know that many of you are familiar with Mike’s work. If you were me, what interview question(s) would you ask him?

Comments

[Vincent Baxter]

1.

Dr. Schmoker,
How are McREL (Mid-Continent Regional Educational Laboratory)and McDonald's similar in the way they think about individuals?

[Scott McLeod]

2.

@Vincent Okay, I give. What are you thinking? =)

[Vincent Baxter]

3.

I don't know. The "Mc" similarity is kind of funny. It would interest me to hear his response. I guess both organizations collect large quantities of data to make decisions on how to best serve individuals.

[Rick Tanski]

4.

@Scott, I have a couple.

In Chapter 3 of Results now he writes “our best ‘plan’ is to arrange for teachers to analyze their achievement data.” So much is made of quantifiable data and analysis tools. Many are woefully inadequate, much less as efficient, as teacher intuition and reaction in classroom. In the near-absence of efficient and responsive data analysis tools, where does teacher intuition fit in?

In what ways can educational technology and web 2.0 tools calm the “curricular chaos” he mentions in chapter 4?

Have fun! Sounds like a great opportunity.

[Ben Johnson]

5.

In your book, Results Now, you unequivocally lay the blame of poor student performance directly on the shoulders of the teachers. This being a hard pill to swallow, especially given the union-protect status of mediocrity, what has been the teacher response to this accusation?

[Lori Storer]

6.

In Chapter 6 you describe argumentative literacy. As we look at this for our classrooms, teachers are concerned about measuring the quality of the discussions. We believe that if students cannot verbalize this type of critical thinking, then they cannot write using this type of critical thinking. We are looking for ways to be intentional in teaching students how to talk/discuss/challenge thinking through discussion. As a part of teaching and modeling discussions, would you recommend measuring the qualities of discussions? How could this be done effectively?

[Connie Zumpf]

7.

This sounds like it will be a very interesting interview. When is it scheduled? When will it be posted?