On Monday, the West Wind Education Policy team – including our colleague who telecommutes from 2 hours away – gathered in the West Wind offices for a staff retreat.  We do this twice yearly and spend one to two days working together side-by-side.  During this retreat we spent the first…

In education reform, technology increasingly allows us to work across classrooms, schools, districts, states, and often even international borders.  Online dialogues via email are a way of life for most of us and we routinely connect through webinars, Google Plus, Discussion Forums, Twitter, Facebook, and many other platforms.  Online communities…

Most of us have an idea of what the terms college and career ready mean – the skills, knowledge, and abilities necessary for a student to enter the workforce or postsecondary education.  And no doubt most of us have encountered several variations on college and career readiness and how we…

I am a mother.  And this may shock you, I often resort to reading child-rearing books – usually about discipline.  Uncover your mouths.  It’s true.  The other day I came across a statement from Alan E. Kazdin, the Director of the Yale Parenting Center and Child Conduct Clinic, in a…

For students returning to school this fall lunch in the cafeteria will look different. That’s because the upcoming school year marks the beginning of the new Nutrition Standards in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Program. The regulations, unveiled in January of this year by First Lady Michelle Obama…

Yesterday was the last day of school for my first grade son. He came home with a backpack full of journals filled with writing, unsharpened pencils, jackets I thought were gone forever, and a bag of candy from his teacher. His younger sister will go to Kindergarten in the fall…

On Tuesday, April 3, West Wind Education Policy, Inc. and the Bijou Theatre at the University of Iowa co-hosted a screening of the American Teacher, a documentary produced by the Teacher Salary Project.  The Project aims to raise awareness of teacher working conditions in America, including salary, hours, and respect…

Last week on September 28, 2011, President Obama addressed the students of the nation from Benjamin Bannecker Academic High School in Washington, D.C.  This was his third annual back-to-school address to the nation’s students and the second one I watched with my son, Finn.  Finn is in first grade and…

This year West Wind Education Policy, Inc. is celebrating its 10th anniversary.  To honor the goals and purposes of West Wind,  staff chose to celebrate by completing service projects in our community to support local K-12 education.  In June, the West Wind team assisted the Mayor’s Youth Empowerment (MYEP)  and…