Why top teacher ignores latest reform directives

By Jay Mathews. Rafe Esquith, the most imaginative and productive classroom teacher I know, freely admits he overdoes it. He works long hours, including Saturdays. He leads his fifth graders in mounting several performances of a Shakespeare play each year. He helps former students prepare for college. This summer he gave speeches in China, took former students to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, drove their luggage 700 miles, showed students several John Steinbeck haunts, did an 11 day tour for this new book and took students on a Mississippi steamboat ride. Read more...