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Early Results

May 17, 2016

On May 3 we released a preliminary summation of results of winter season concussions reported by Michigan High School Athletic Association member schools. It was reported that 48 percent of the concussions reported were to female athletes, who make up only 38 percent of all winter season participants.

We will be digging deeper into the reports and providing a more comprehensive summary for all three seasons – fall, winter and spring; but we already see one suspected theme is being confirmed: more concussions reported for girls than for boys.

Even though girls’ participation in basketball is 36 percent lower than boys in MHSAA member high schools, there were 88 percent more concussions reported for girls than boys in that sport this past season.

We hope that researchers will step forward to inquire into the physiological, psychological, social and other reasons for the significant disparity in concussions reported by males and females; and perhaps they will be able to suggest what administrators, coaches, rule-makers and others might do in response to that research.

We expect that other themes suggested by the data from this first-year reporting requirement and then year-over-year comparisons will create interest in other research, all of which will help make school sports an even healthier experience for boys and girls than it already is.

Fixing Schools

August 16, 2013

Our fall sports have begun and, as usual, our good coaches are focusing on fundamentals during these early weeks of practice and play, especially if they are trying to bounce back from some losing seasons. Meanwhile, I’ve been thinking about the fundamentals for fixing schools themselves.

If we really would get serious about a comeback season, we would . . .

  1. Equip the best teachers to work in the worst places.
  2. Provide the highest pay to the teachers working in the lowest grades.
  3. Emphasize   teachers more than technology,
                          pre-Kindergarten more than college prep, and
                          smaller more than larger.
  4. Encourage   fight over flight,
                          tutors over transfers,
                          school improvement over school choice, and
                          investment over vouchers.
  5. And, for Pete’s sake, we would allow public schools to start classes as early as they see fit, even next Monday, not two weeks and a day later as state law mandates. Longer is better than shorter.

And sooner is better than later for putting these fundamentals into our game plan for education.