Survey: Teachers work 53 hours per week on average
This was *written by Francie Alexander, chief academic officer for Scholastic, Inc. She has has taught at all levels, was a district reading consultant for Pre-K through high school, and has authored numerous professional articles for educators and dozens of books for children.* Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
A new poverty-doesn’t-really-matter-much argument
And so the poverty-doesn’t-really-matter-in-student-achievement drumbeat keeps getting louder, most unfortunately. This time we hear it in the new edition of the magazine *Education Next*, in an article called “* Neither Broad Nor Bold,*” by Harvard’s Paul E. Petersen. He attacks a school reform effort called the Broader, Bolder Approach to Education but manages to mischaracterize it, and he savages a speech and an op-ed by a Duke University professor — all the while accusing her of saying things she didn’t say. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitte...more »
How retaking the SAT changed test prep tutor’s view
This* was written by Isabela Guimaraes, a top tutor at Applerouth Tutoring Services in Bethesda, Maryland*. *She retook the SAT last week and here is her report on how it went — and what she learned to pass on to her clients.* Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Climate of disrespect for teachers gets worse
This *was written by Gregory Michie, who teaches in the Department of Foundations and Social Policy at Concordia University Chicago. His next book, “We Don’t Need Another Hero: Struggle, Hope, and Possibility in the Age of High-Stakes Schooling,” will be published later this year by Teachers College Press. This first appeared at educationclearinghouse.wordpress.com.* Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
The 10 most read Irish authors
Just in *time for St. Patrick’s Day, here’s a list of Irish authors that are the most read on Questia, an online research tool for students. Included for each author are links to reference works that Questia is making available for free for a month. Questia has 77,000 academic books and 4 million journal articles, many of which are peer-reviewed. This was assembled by Carolyn Blackman.* Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Reading and language growth: What it really takes
This was *written by Robert Pondiscio, director of communications at the Core Knowledge Foundation who launched the Core Knowledge Blog.* By Robert Pondiscio For several years, I taught 5th grade in the lowest performing elementary school in New York City’s lowest performing school district. Four out of five of my students scored below grade level — often far below grade level— on their state tests. You could easily look at the test scores of my students and conclude, “these kids can’t read.” Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Red... more »
Telling students it’s okay to fail helps them succeed — study
Telling children that it is perfectly normal to sometimes fail at school can actually help them do better academically, according to newly published research. The results of three experiments by French researchers are not definitive but they are intuitive; kids who don’t feel overwhelming pressure to do well all the time are more likely to feel free to explore, take academic chances and not fall apart if they make a mistake. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Who won the Black Hole Awards and why
The Society of Professional Journalists annually hands out what it calls the Black Hole Award for an action that goes above and beyond in violating state or federal open-government laws and the public’s right to know. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
The Joel Klein-Condi Rice ed report: What it will and won’t say
Sometime soon we can expect a report from the Council on Foreign Relations’ Independent Task Force on U.S. Education Reform and National Security, chaired by Joel Klein and Condoleezza Rice. The panel started its work in April 2011 and was charged, according to the council’s Web site, with “evaluating the U.S. public education system within the context of national security.” Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
The war on teachers: Why the public is watching it happen
This *was written by Mark Naison, professor of African and African American Studies at Fordham University in New York and chair of the department of African and African-American Studies. He is also co-director of the Urban Studies Program, African-American History 20th Century. A version of this first appeared on the blog With A Brooklyn Accent.* Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Robbing kindergartners of play in the name of reform
There is no end to the bad ideas advanced in the name of school reform. Here’s one that will ensure that kids learn to hate school even earlier than usual: In Hartford, Conn., the superintendent of schools wants to extend the school year for some kindergartners to 11 months of the year. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Why the Ed Department should be reconceived — or abolished
This *was written by Peter Smagorinsky, Distinguished Research Professor of English Education at The University of Georgia*. By Peter Smagorinsky The Department of Education has, since its inception in 1979, served as the source of national education policies governing our nation’s schools. Although I agree with very little else of Rick Perry’s vision for America, I think that either abolishing or thoroughly reconceiving this office would make for a better nation, given that for the most part it has done teachers and students far more harm than good. Read full article >> [image: ... more »
Sleep deprivation and teens: ‘Walking zombies’
This *was written by Vicki Abeles, director of the documentary “Race to Nowhere,”and Abigail A. Baird, associate professor of psychology at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY. Baird’s primary area of research focuses on the neurophysiology of adolescence*. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Five ways school reform is hurting teacher quality
This *was written by Brett Rosenthal, assistant principal at the high-achieving South Side High School in New York. He used to work at Jamaica High School in New York City.* By Brett Rosenthal Education reformers have attempted to improve the quality of teachers by changing public policy with questionable initiatives and by insisting, falsely, that educators are to blame for many of the public education system’s — and the country’s — problems. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Why Florida’s parent trigger bill failed in state Senate
* Updated * “If we’ve got a bill called the parent empowerment bill, then why is the PTA against the bill?” Florida state Sen. Nancy Detert (R-Venice) asked.* The answer is that Florida parents didn’t want it, because they didn’t see it as a parent empowerment bill. Instead, they thought that the bill, known as the “parent trigger,” would lead to the takeover of public schools by for-profit charter management companies and other corporate interests. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
School district’s Twitter account becomes source of embarrassment
*Correction: A previous version said the account was hacked. Rather a follower who was a spammer attached inappropriate material.* Here’s a news release that a school district doesn’t want to ever send out — but New York’s Lake Placid Central School District did after it launched a Twitter account without proper security settings and the account acquired “inappropriate or offensive posting or photos.” Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Teach for America wins millions more from the feds
The Education Department just announced that it was awarding about $25 million to three organizations with the aim of “increasing the effectiveness of teachers and principals.” And which are the three chosen organizations? Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
No Child Left Behind’s effect on literacy
This *was written by P. David Pearson, preeminent literacy researcher and chair of the newly formed International Reading Association Literacy Research Panel.* By P. David Pearson While it is customary to give three cheers to something that we want to celebrate or commemorate, when I think about the legacy of the last decade of literacy instruction in America’s schools, I can only manage two cheers for No Child Left Behind. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Arne Duncan-led event interrupted by Occupy Austin
*Correction: An earlier version had the wrong date for the start of Occupy the Department of Education. The event will be held March 30-April 2.* Education Secretary Arne Duncan was just starting an education presentation to an audience at Austin Community College when he was interrupted by three protesters from Occupy Austin who stood up and shouted out a prepared statement. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]