Nick Covington
@covingtonedu.bsky.social
Dad. Iowan. Former HS social studies teacher. (PFP illustrated by Farimah Khavari)
We found that 55% of monolingual, English-only families responded that it was "very" or "extremely" important that their children become bilingual. www.the74million.org/article/as-t...
As Trump Pushes English-Only, New Polling Shows Families Embrace Bilingualism
Nearly 95% of non-English-speaking — and 55% of English-speaking — families say it’s important for their child to grow up speaking multiple languages.
the74million.org
"The principle of developmental range makes clear that knowledge is not something stably stored in one's head for later retrieval."
Nick Covington@covingtonedu.bsky.social · 3y agoOn developmental range: "There is no knowledge or skill that exists as an entity in the brain of a person, ready to be deployed once retrieved, and there is no 'level' of skill or learning that, once achieved by a person, becomes a durable, stable property of that person moving forward."
On developmental range: "There is no knowledge or skill that exists as an entity in the brain of a person, ready to be deployed once retrieved, and there is no 'level' of skill or learning that, once achieved by a person, becomes a durable, stable property of that person moving forward."
Nick Covington@covingtonedu.bsky.social · 3y ago👀 Dr. Immordino-Yang sent me a manuscript for her latest lead authored article, "Weaving a Colorful Cloth: Centering Education on Humans’ Emergent Developmental Potentials", to be released in AERA's upcoming Review of Research in Education. Time to dig in! 🚀
This sentiment would carry more weight, I'd imagine, if young people spent 12,000 hours brushing their teeth between the ages of 5-18. But they do not. They *do*, however, spend that much time at school and for MANY kids it's not a good or positive experience. We can and should do better.
Jonathan Mountstevens@mrmountstevens.bsky.social · last yr.I wonder what would appear on a word cloud of what kids say about going to bed, eating vegetables or brushing their teeth, but we don't stop thinking those things are good for them.
How well do schools respond to kids as voracious & capable learners, cultivating learning, compared to responding to them as students, cultivating "studenting"?
The distinction between learning and schooling is a well-worn trope, but how responsive are we to what that actually means in practice for learners in school? All kids are voracious & capable learners, but for many the "student" mask fits awkwardly. "Studenting" is the problem, not learning.
"It is a mistake to suppose that the mere acquisition of a certain amount of arithmetic, geography, history, etc, which is taught and studied because it may be useful at some time in the future, has this effect..."
!["[In traditional education the] assumption is, that by acquiring certain skills and by learning certain subjects which could be needed later (perhaps in college or perhaps an adult life) pupils are as a matter of course made ready for the needs and circumstances of the future. Now 'preparation' is a treacherous idea. In a certain sense, every experience should do something to prepare a person for later experiences of a deeper and more expansive quality. That is the very meaning of growth, continuity, reconstruction of experience.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:y4dkrhqph7kakgqa2ersnkif/bafkreiahxn2tu3remgt24clrskjxqm3lsae23az45kg7nuha2e3ymuoitm)
"One trouble is that the subject matter in question was learned in isolation, it was put as it were, in a watertight compartment...It is contrary to the laws of experience that learning of this kind, no matter how thoroughly ingrained at the time, should give genuine preparation." 🔥
"Almost everyone has had occasion to look back upon his school days and wonder what has become of the knowledge he was supposed to have amassed during his years of schooling, and why it is that the skills he acquired have to be learned over again in changed form in order to stand him in good stead."
Just seen someone describing learning as 'storage strength'. We really really need to get away from this 'brain as computer' metaphor.
this is incredibly abnormal and scary. always a possibility this decade, extremely bizarre to experience in real time. we’ve got important stuff loaded in the car, not going anywhere at the moment because by all accounts traffic is already very bad www.spokesman.com/stories/2026...
Thousands evacuated in north Spokane as wildfire crosses river into city
A wildfire driven by high winds has jumped the Spokane River and is threatening neighborhoods near and within the city of Spokane.
spokesman.com
The highlight of my entire day was getting to meet Stanley, the school dog.
After 24 hours and over 9000 miles, spent most of yesterday on a meandering walking tour of Melbourne! Headed to Shepparton today.
In the face of glaring social collapse, it is probably important to remind folks that *institutional courage* is an antidote. *Public goods and services* are an antidote. *Shared success* is an antidote.
"Researchers at the University of Chicago studied the impact of removing police and shifting to restorative practices at CPS high schools and found declines in school-based arrests and high-level discipline violations. Students said they felt a stronger sense of safety and belonging."
Chicago to slash funding earmarked for schools that replaced police with restorative justice programs
At the same time CPS is cutting funding for Whole School Safety Plans, the district plans a new push to help all schools implement a 2024 policy that requires social-emotional learning, maintaining at...
chalkbeat.org
Europe Burns: "France has already surpassed the worst previous year for the size of the area burned, with August, usually the hottest month, yet to come." www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
Air to Ground Message: HECK YEAH. TRULY APPRECTE IT. HOPE YOUR DAY IS SPECTACULAR EEEE THOSE ARE EXCLAMATION S WE DONT HAVE A FANCY KEYBOARD. Area: San Antonio, TX, USA A: #a2c89e9fb38 F: #f34edc0bc89
Getting my affairs in order like I'm dying tomorrow and not just visiting Australia for two weeks.
ACLU: SROs a Growing Problem in Iowa — "Black students in Iowa make up 7 percent of the population but account for 13 percent of referrals and 21 percent of arrests, even though national studies indicate that Black students do not actually misbehave or commit crimes in schools at a higher rate."
ACLU of Iowa Report Finds SROs a Growing Problem in Iowa - ACLU of Iowa
SROs impose harms upon students—especially Black students and students with disabilities—instead of keeping them truly safe.
aclu-ia.org
America will sell pepper-ball drones to schools instead of regulating guns.
Anne Lutz Fernandez@lutzfernandez.bsky.social · last wk.America is at war with its children.
Half the planet is having a massive fight about how to correctly interpret an Ancient Greek poem but go ahead, close some more humanities departments.
Get rid of your imposter syndrome (which tends to afflict smart people more than dumb people anyway). NO ONE is a "real expert." You have every right to be there. And you can make an enormous difference if you're in the room at the right time. Get involved. Participate. You can matter.
Yes, the Problems are bad, but this is no time for radical things like Solutions
My kids are amazed when we collect water bears from the moss on our school grounds. We also visit trees on the grounds. A few kids did not realize that we have trees here.
Huh: "Climate change may cost $38 trillion a year by 2049, study says...It is more than double the annual GDP of the entire European Union." epic.uchicago.edu/news/climate...
Climate change may cost $38 trillion a year by 2049, study says
Climate change through the middle of this century is likely to be far costlier than thought — to the tune of $38 trillion per year, a new study finds. Why it matters: The study finds the world economy...
epic.uchicago.edu
Nick Covington@covingtonedu.bsky.social · last wk.iT's NoT a FaCtOrY mOdEl www.the74million.org/article/the-...
Have we estimated the cost of >1M dead Americans and 100M COVID infections over a period of two years?
Nick Covington@covingtonedu.bsky.social · last wk.iT's NoT a FaCtOrY mOdEl www.the74million.org/article/the-...
No, it literally is: "These scores are not just numbers; they signal lost earning potential for today’s children and weakened competitiveness for tomorrow’s workforce."
I get that the "factory model" analogy is overplayed and ahistorical and I avoid it as much as possible...that said...you can make no better case for the factory model analogy than the arguments made in the COVID-era about school as the building students go to produce testable academic outcomes.
Nick Covington@covingtonedu.bsky.social · last wk.Re-reading (and re-living) the period of 2020-2022 is like a fever dream whose consequences we've forgotten, flattened, and displaced onto so many convenient scapegoats.
