Candidate for
Board Member; Las Lomitas Elementary School District

I am running for School Board because I care deeply about the quality of education that all of our children receive. Our schools are good but they can be better. Scores on state tests are only one measure of quality for a school system. Other indicators, such as can students think flexibly with information and apply knowledge in novel circumstances, need consideration too. Research shows that student engagement in their coursework not just the accumulation of seat time is a better indicator of learning. I believe we can do more with our curriculum and instruction to develop the creativity, disciplinary thinking and integrated problem solving that our children will need later in life.

My background and expertise in education (as a former middle school teacher, elementary and middle school assistant principal and now as an educational researcher at Stanford University) can be of help to our School Board. I believe that my background can assist the school district in making better use of scarce resources to improve the overall quality of students' education.

The educational landscape is shifting in our country as the national media has reported. For instance, a next generation of student assessments is under construction. These assessments will be more comprehensive than our current STAR tests and will require performances of learning rather than on-demand responses to multiple-choice questions. Certainly the demands of the 21st century workplace require that our school curriculum, as well as our approach to instruction and assessment in our schools, evolve and prepare students to meet the array of challenges they will face.