Charlie DePascale As time goes by, certain memories of Christmases past become stronger than others. Most are filled with family, food, music, and fun; but a few other things manage to creep in as well. On Christmas 2017, here is a list of my 12 memories that mean Christmas to me. The First Noel Continue reading “My 12 Memories of Christmas”
Category Archives: Life
The Imus Incident – 10 years later
Charlie DePascale Content warning – This post includes a video and links to external content that contain offensive language. As we approach the end of the college basketball season, I want to deviate just a bit from assessment and accountability and take a look back at the 2007 NCAA women’s tournament and the Imus IncidentContinue reading “The Imus Incident – 10 years later”
New Year’s Resolutions
Charlie DePascale “If the body be feeble, the mind will not be strong. The sovereign invigorator of the body is exercise, and of all the exercises walking is best.” – Thomas Jefferson The third week of 2017 has come to an end, and my New Year’s Resolution to improve my fitness level is off toContinue reading “New Year’s Resolutions”
A Month of Goodbyes
Charlie DePascale Every baseball fan knows that October is a month to say goodbye – goodbye to another baseball season, goodbye to summer, and goodbye to another year. This year the Red Sox season ended rather abruptly on Columbus Day as the Sox were swept out of the playoffs by the Cleveland Indians. Whether theContinue reading “A Month of Goodbyes”
In the blink of an eye
Charlie DePascale Last month, I attended my 35th college reunion, where my classmates optimistically and encouragingly still were focused on looking forward (who we will be when we grow up and how we will change the world) rather than on looking back. One of the first events I attended at the reunion was a townContinue reading “In the blink of an eye”
Interval Scales, Unicorns, and Non-stick Pans
Charlie DePascale There are certain things that you hear about for the first time and with all your heart you want them to be real. Although your brain tells you to be skeptical, you desperately want those things to exist and to have the magical powers that people ascribe to them. For me,Continue reading “Interval Scales, Unicorns, and Non-stick Pans”
Is that all there is?
One of the benefits of giving up a late Sunday afternoon to travel to the site of my Monday morning meeting is the opportunity to leisurely read the newest edition of the Late Late Bell from the Fordham Institute. Last Sunday, as the Amtrak Northeast Regional rumbled toward Providence, I read the following in theContinue reading “Is that all there is?”
This Is My Fight Song
Arizona, Connecticut, and a fuchsia wristband Charlie DePascale Last weekend I attended a concert in Boston with my daughter; an opportunity that has become more rare and more appreciated since she left for college four years ago. We arrived early and waited in line to hear Rachel Platten perform her breakout hit Fight SongContinue reading “This Is My Fight Song”
Run, Forrest, Run!
As the final states release results from the spring 2015 Smarter Balanced and PARCC assessments, this post is a look back at a June 2010 presentation to CCSSO Technical Isssues in Large-Scale Assessment (TILSA) members on lessons learned from my involvement with the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP). The presentation was titled, Lessons LearnedContinue reading “Run, Forrest, Run!”
Take Me Out To The Ballgame
As the baseball playoffs roll on without my beloved Red Sox or adopted Twins, this is a brief look back at the story of the new Comiskey Park. In April 1991, the new home of the White Sox opened in Chicago. One article in the Chicago Tribune marked the occasion with the headline New Comiskey: Enjoy,Continue reading “Take Me Out To The Ballgame”
