Ed Marquez: Challenges



What challenges does Ed face and how does he deal with them?


1. Student performance data showing an achievement gap between different ethnicities and district demands to close the gap

Ed describes how he responds, and his involvement in Trellis Education:


2. How to support students to enjoy learning when they are under so much pressure to focus only on grades and test scores

 


3. How to fight our society's racist stereotypes about math ability that prevent students from realizing their potential as scholars.

Ed endeavors to build students self-confidence every day by assigning competence (from Stanford University's Complex Instruction). Assigning competence means catching students being smart and articulating how the student has demonstrated brilliance. It is authentic praise, not empty flattery, because it is linked to a specific act or achievement the student has done. (Click here for a more detailed description.)