John H. Zurn
My Blog
Report Cards, Character and the Students We Missed
Over the past few weeks, I've argued that schools need a second report card—one that measures character with the same seriousness we measure academics. We already devote enormous amounts of time deciding whether a student has mastered fractions, Shakespeare, or...
Stories from the Classroom: Eric
From the day Eric entered school, his teachers knew they had an exceptionally bright student. His report cards were a steady stream of A's, his assignments were completed ahead of schedule, and tests seemed more like formalities than challenges. There was just one...
Mark- The Student Schools Could Not See
My friend Mark is one of the smartest people I have ever known, which would have come as a complete surprise to many of his teachers. Growing up in the 1980s, long before schools routinely identified dyslexia or understood different learning styles, Mark...
The Founders Got Education Right. We Forgot Half.
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson disagreed about almost everything—politics, government, power, and probably where to put the furniture if they ever had to share an office. Yet on one important issue, they were remarkably aligned: education mattered because it...
Our Children are Being Influenced by the Wrong People
One of the most important responsibilities of parenting is deciding who gets to influence your children. If you do not actively fill that role, someone else will gladly volunteer. In previous generations, parents competed with teachers, coaches, and the...
Stories from the Classroom: Suzanne
Suzanne joined TikTok at the age of nine, following several of her friends into the digital wilderness. Since her parents had no idea she was using social media, hiding her online life required about as much effort as hiding vegetables under mashed potatoes. In...
The Success and Challenge of American Schooling
Thomas Jefferson once wrote that “talent and virtue, needed in a free society, should be educated regardless of wealth, birth or other accidental condition.” It was a remarkable vision, and in many ways, American education has delivered brilliantly on half of...
Stories from American History: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson
Few political rivalries in American history can match the ongoing disagreement between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Adams believed a strong federal government was essential to hold the young nation together. Jefferson believed that concentrating power in...
Grading What Really Matters- Part 1
Before we hand out diplomas for surviving algebra, we might want to ask a more important question: Can this student actually succeed in life? Three weeks ago, I wrote about Rodrigo, a student who struggled mightily in the classroom but possessed the determination,...
Stories From the Classroom: Blanche
Blanche was one of those students who seemed to have “potential” written on her forehead in permanent ink. Teachers saw the intelligence, but they also saw something else: a remarkable ability to give up just when things became difficult. If an assignment...
The Forgotten Grades
For more than forty years, I had the privilege of working with students who occupied every square inch of the educational spectrum. Some could solve algebra problems before breakfast. Others considered finding the right classroom a major academic achievement. I...
Stories from the Classroom: Rodrigo
Rodrigo was the student every teacher remembers—and not always because they want to. During my two years teaching at an American school in Europe, Rodrigo seemed powered by a small nuclear reactor hidden somewhere inside his body. Sitting still was not merely...
Why Schools Should Grade for Both Academics and Character
For more than a century, American schools have treated academic achievement as the gold standard of success. Parents have been trained to scan report cards like stock market reports, celebrating a jump in math scores while quietly ignoring whether their child...
The Subject We Have Forgotten to Teach
Teachers and parents spend an amazing amount of time blaming each other for the state of modern childhood, which is a little like the quarterback and the coach arguing while the other team is scoring touchdowns. The truth is that both groups want exactly the...
Character Counts More Than Calculus
For forty years, I had a front-row seat to American education. I began as a teacher, moved into administration, and spent the final twenty-eight years of my career as a Head of School in independent K–8 schools. During that time, I watched thousands of students...
Why Schools Must Lead the Character Revolution
For generations, schools have been remarkably successful at teaching children how to solve for x, diagram a sentence, and remember just enough history to pass Friday's quiz. Unfortunately, life has changed faster than the curriculum. Today's children are...
Parents and Teachers Have More in Common Than They Think
If there is one thing capable of derailing a child’s success faster than a forgotten science project on the morning it is due, it is a disconnect between what parents believe and what schools believe. When families and educators pull in different directions,...
Stories from the Classroom: Jackson
Jackson was a difficult student, though not in the traditional sense. He wasn't disruptive, lazy, or prone to launching paper airplanes across the room. His problem was that he was exceptionally bright and knew it. As his fourth-grade teacher, I occasionally...
Traits for Success
The Case for Character Education in American Schools
