Recently had the pleasure of attending the National Title I Conference in San Diego. Three or four thousand education administrators gathered from around the country to share and learn research findings and best practices. (Talk about your array of accents!) Major thanks to Connie Etheridge for all her help in the Tortuga Press booth! Was fortunate to catch Amanda Ripley’s talk based on her book, “The Smartest Kids in the World and How They Got that Way” (recommended!). She described three American teens who uprooted themselves from their American lifestyles to study in Finland, South Korea and Poland. These countries’ schools are now considered perhaps the best. On the last day, my friend AnaMaría Ruiz from the Centro Latino literacy organization was kind enough to help me move armloads of stuff out to my car. Picture below. (So this is how I treat my friends?)