Teacher: I won’t ‘teach and shut up’
by Valerie Strauss
This originally appeared on the website of The Hechinger Report, an education-news outlet based at Teachers College, Columbia University. Its author, Eric Shieh, is a founding teacher of the Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School, “A School for a Sustainable City,” which opened in New York City in September 2010. Shieh teaches music to middle-school students.
By Eric Shieh
I remember the moment I stopped resenting the deduction in my paychecks that went to my union. It took me three years, and happened
Virginia may stop requiring some 3rd grade SOLs
The Virginia Senate has approved a bill that would require that third graders take the Standards of Learning exams only in math and English, meaning they would no longer have to to take history and science SOLs. Read full article >>
How the war on teachers is changing the profession
This * was written by educator Anthony Cody, who worked for 24 years in the Oakland schools, 18 years teaching science at a high-needs school and six years as a mentor and coach of teachers. He is a National Board-certified teacher. You can follow him on Twitter at @anthonycody. A version of this post appeared on his Education Week Teacher blog, Living in Dialogue . Read full article >>
MoCo to drop standardized test for second graders (updated)
*(Update: Adding amount of money saved by dropping test) * Good for Montgomery County Public Schools Supt. Joshua Starr: He has decided to stop giving the TerraNova 2 standardized test to second graders in a move to save money and reduce the number of tests young children are forced to take. Read full article >>
The most, least literate big U.S. cities
Washington, D.C., is the most literate big city in the United States, and Bakersfield, Calif., the least, in the newest annual rankings that consider factors including the population’s education level and the number of bookstores. Read full article >>
The big flaws in Obama’s education argument
This * was written by educator Anthony Cody, who worked for 24 years in the Oakland schools, 18 years teaching science at a high-needs school and six years as a mentor and coach of teachers. He is a National Board-certified teacher. A version of this post appeared on his Education Week Teacher blog, Living in Dialogue . Read full article >>
Readability formulas and Obama’s speech, Gingrich’s PhD
Folks at the University of Minnesota’s Smart Politics blog ran President Obama’s 2012 State of the Union address through a “readability formula” and reported that it scored as having been written at an 8.4 grade level. Read full article >>
Require kids to stay in school? Not so fast....
This *was written by Sam Chaltain, a D.C.-based educator and strategist. He was the national director of the Forum for Education & Democracy, an education advocacy organization, and the founding director of the Five Freedoms Project, which helps educators create democratic learning communities. Chaltain is the author or co-author of five books.* Read full article >>
‘Tim Tebow homeschool law’ gains momentum in Virginia
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and a Republican-dominated Senate have given new life to an effort to pass legislation that would give permission to students who are homeschooled to play on the athletic teams of their local schools. Read full article >>
Obama: States should require kids stay in school until 18 or graduation
President Obama said in his 2012 State of the Union address that he wants states to change their laws to require that all students be required to stay in high school until they graduate or turn 18 years old. Read full article >>
Obama on education in State of the Union address
Here’s the part of President Obama’s 2012 State of the Union address that was about education, taken from a text prepared for delivery: *....To prepare for the jobs of tomorrow, our commitment to skills and education has to start earlier.* Read full article >>
Ravitch: Why California gives me hope
This *was written by education historian Diane Ravitch for her Bridging Differences blog, which she co-authors with Deborah Meier on the Education Week website. Ravitch and Meier exchange letters about what matters most in education. Ravitch, a research professor at New York University, is the author of the bestselling “The Death and Life of the Great American School System,” an important critique of the flaws in the modern school reform movement that she just updated.* Read full article >>
Teacher from troubled district to sit with Michelle Obama at State of Union (updated)
*This post has been updated.* * A teacher from a Pennsylvania school district whose union voted to work for free when the system ran out of money said she would “humbly” sit with first lady Michelle Obama at tonight’s State of the Union address. Read full article >>
The Answer Sheet - 4 days ago
The facts that school reformers ignore
This *was written by Richard Rothstein, a research associate at the Economic Policy Institute, a non-profit organization created to broaden the discussion about economic policy to include the interests of low- and middle-income workers. From 1999 to 2002 he was the national education columnist of The New York Times, and he is the author of several books, including “Grading Education: Getting Accountability Right” and “Class and Schools: Using Social, Economic and Educational Reform to Close the Black-White Achievement Gap.” This appeared on the institute’s website. * Read full art...more »
Newt Gingrich’s ‘elite’ PhD topic
*Correction: An earlier version of this post said Gingrich earned a master’s degree at Emory. He earned a bachelor’s there and a master’s and PhD at Tulane University.* Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich likes to use the word “elites” as a pejorative when he talks about things and people whom he considers liberal. But the former House speaker himself is in pretty elite company when it comes to his PhD. Read full article >>
Dear Michelle Rhee: About that teacher evaluation study
* Dear Michelle Rhee, former D.C. schools chancellor and current leader of StudentsFirst:* I just wanted to dash off a quick note about that commentary you wrote in *Education Week *about the big value-added teacher evaluation study that made headlines this month. Read full article >>
Hawaii teachers reject contract in ‘blow’ to Race to the Top
*Correction: An earlier version misstated the number of people who voted on the contract. It is 9,000.* * Public school teachers in Hawaii have rejected a contract that called for a move to a performance-based evaluation and compensation system, as required by the Race to the Top grant that the state won from the Obama administration. Read full article >>
NCLB waivers: The devil is in the details
* This was written by Jack Hassard, professor emeritus of science education at Georgia State University and a former high school teacher. He is the author of these books: The Whole Cosmos Catalog of Science , Science Experiences , Adventures in Geology , The Art of Teaching Science (2009), and most recently, Science As Inquiry . Specialities include science teaching & learning, global thinking & education, geology, web publishing, blogging, writing, and antiquing. This essay was originally posted at his blog, The Art of Teaching Science, * * and on Anthony Cody’s Living i...more »
Chester Upland teacher: Who is going to help our schools?
There have been some new developments in the sad tale of the Chester Upland School District in Pennsylvalnia, but its future still remains uncertain. I wrote last week that the district had run out of money — a result of drastic budget cuts, bad management, student attrition to charter schools and other factors — and was staying open thanks to unionized teachers and staff who agreed to work for free. Read full article >>
