Blog Roundup: A Little Ravitch Goes A Long Way This Week In Education

This Week In Education

Blog Roundup: A Little Ravitch Goes A Long Way

Business principles won't work for school reform, former supporter Ravitch says Washington Post:  She stoutly defends teachers unions, questions the value of standardized test data and calls the president's affinity for independently operated charter schools "puzzling." 

Training teachers like ice skaters Uncle Jay:  Goldstein wondered if there were some way to more effectively teach them what they need to do in those classrooms before they start. He saw the worth of what we might call the ice skater model, in honor of the winter Olympics.

Charters Oversold as Labs of Innovation WPNL:  Even if a traditional school had the money to hire assistants for every teacher, Alan Coverstone says there’s no certainty it would be effective.

The hype of 'value-added' in teacher evaluation The Answer Sheet:  The fact is that your kids’ results will vary with teachers, just as they do with pills, diets and exercise regimens. Nonetheless, we all want our kids to have at least a few excellent teachers along the way, so it’s tempting to buy into hype about value-added 

More Feats Than Team USA Politics Daily:  Duncan's prediction about our teachers is particularly ominous. We're at a point where we need to hire more good teachers -- not fewer -- and it's almost a given that states won't just skim off the bottom to give the bad teachers the pink slips.

Oh Manilla Folders...How Do I Love Thee? Not All Flowers :  Those are just a few ideas.  Perhaps you're rolling your eyes and thinking, "Uh, all of these ideas are so obvi." Perhaps you're taking copious notes.  Whatever.  But you know what?  It feels good to share.  I'd LOVE it if you shared your ideas, too.