Special education teacher Anthony Mullen was named National Teacher of the Year last spring. Subscribers to Teacher Magazine's free e-newsletter can read the interview  with him. He's an interesting guy--he came to teaching after serving as a police officer for two decades. Through his work with the New York police department, he worked with many troubled youths that, said Mullen, were "destined for prison unless they received the benefits of a quality education and positive adult role models." He wanted to be that role model and went back to school to earn a master's degree in elementary education and special education.

During his yearlong sabbatical, he'll travel the country to bring greater public awareness to the dropout crisis. Says Tony, "More than one million students will drop out of school this year . . . and that's a travesty." His well-written blog  chronicles his travels around the country, where he is talking to educators about this important issue. Covering topics such as teen suicide and teachers who feel marginalized by their lack of inclusion in the national standards discussions, he also reports poignant stories that others have shared with him.

This is well worth the read.

One of my colleagues has just returned from a trip to Australia, where, in the "Red Centre," she went to a stargazing event. In addition to seeing constellations unique to the southern hemisphere, she reported with enthusiasm viewing Jupiter and four of its moons through one of the telescopes.

President Obama recently shared that excitement with about 150 middle schoolers at a star party on the White House grounds. In addition to the children, his guests included Sir Isaac Newton and Galileo (local science teachers in costume), four astronauts, and two student-astronomers. The astronomers--one in junior high and the other in high school--each recently made a rare space discovery: a stellar explosion slightly smaller than a supernova, and a rotating radio transient (similar to a pulsar).

All were there to help celebrate the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first observation of Jupiter and its moons, as well as to encourage students' interest in science, math, and technology at an age when many lose interest. While I'm sure there was considerably more light pollution in Washington, D.C., than in the sparsely populated Australian outback, the president and his guests enjoyed their view of Jupiter, Gannymede, Callisto, Io, and Europa.

 "What will your great discovery be?" President Obama asked the group of students. "Galileo changed the world when he pointed his telescope to the sky. Now it's your turn. Don't let anyone tell you there isn't more to discover."

The National Science Board has been holding a series of discussions on how schools might produce more students with the ability to create, innovate, and invent. "Our economy has changed," said Camilla P. Benbow, a science-board participant from Tennessee's Vanderbilt University. "It's a highly technological, knowledge-based economy," she said, that tends to reward "an educated workforce and the individuals who can create innovations."

Panelist Robert Root-Bernstein of Michigan State University suggests that teachers can use scientific unknowns--or even student questions--to generate student excitement and curiosity. "You shouldn't be a teacher if you can't say, 'I don't know,' " Mr. Root-Bernstein said, adding that it should be followed by, "Let's find out."

One panelist, 18-year-old Louis Wasserman, remembers the excitement he felt as a student while inventing something he was sure was original. "Students get excited about creating new things--it doesn't matter if it's actually new." Said Wasserman, the "joy of creating something is extraordinary."

Committee members have heard from speakers that U.S. science and math classes don't stress the kind of skills that could nurture innovation. Without understanding how to quantify that talent, it will be hard for the U.S. educational system to design a program to develop innovative skills.

We hear a lot about 21st-century skills that place an emphasis on critical and creative thinking. The work of the National Science Board further advances that discussion as well as the examination of the skills students need now and in the future. As we look to overhaul standards, these discussions will be more important. I'm curious about your position on this discussion. Do we need more emphasis on creative thinking in the classroom, even beyond science and math?