There is so much happening in public education here, and yet still so little evidence of the adults in charge will make students their priority.  A couple quick bits in this E3 newsletter.  Constructivist cudgel Barbara Oakley recently summarized research on the persistence of bad ideas in education – in this case constructivism ( The Teaching Method That Can't Fail ).  Run through the woke word mill, it becomes… student-centered learning.  It feels good doesn’t it? “The fact

River Forest will replace its retiring superintendent with the current superintendent from Carbondale district 95, a K-8 district where two of four schools rank in the bottom 5% statewide. On Tuesday, January 20, 2026, the District 90 board introduced Janice Pavelonis as successor to Ed Condon, approving her unanimously. All board members spoke confidently about her credentials, experience, and personality. She will start July 1, 2026. Pavelonis has several years of classroom

The percentage of Willard Elementary third graders not proficient in reading dropped 29% in one year, a change likely to help adults in charge much more than students and families.  It was 2016 when mostly new River Forest district 90 board members began voting to elevate social programs above curriculum and instruction. One change was adopting the debunked Lucy Calkins Units of Study curriculum.  The impact on learning was both sudden and sustained and dwarfed declines from

River Forest Teachers did not accept the latest terms of a negotiated contract in voting that started Monday December 1, 2025. Formal negotiations between District 90 and the River Forest Education Association (RFEA, local teachers union) began in April 2025. The previous contract expired on August 15 th , 2025. District 90 pointed to teachers as the barrier in a recent social media post saying: “This past week, members of the River Forest Education Association (RFEA) voted o