This Week In Education: Thompson: The Teacher Accountability Pipe Dream

This Week In Education: Thompson: The Teacher Accountability Pipe Dream:

Thompson: The Teacher Accountability Pipe Dream

by john thompson

Stanford's Larry Cuban continues to present a historical view that illustrates the flaws inherent in data-driven "reform." In "The Puzzle of Student Responsibility for Learning,"Cuban writes "For more than a quarter-century, federal and state policymakers, major donors, and business leaders have built a reform-driven political machine that places responsibility for student learning squarely on teachers." Cuban notes that in all other helping professions, we assume a "two-way street." For instance, doctors and therapists share responsibility with their patients and clients for their outcomes; the failure of a patient to quit smoking is not dumped entirely at the door of his health care

Ideas: Stalemated School Debate (You're *Not* Winning)

by Alexander Russo

There's no shortage of polarizing figures in education today -- Michelle Rhee, Diane Ravitch, etc. And perhaps it will always be this way (fun!). Education is a polarizing issue, after all, and neither side is willing to tolerate much independence from its champions (seelout!).
But still I'm curious about those who are at least attempting to hold the middle ground.  NYU's Pedro Noguero took on at least some of this role, at least until he resigned from the charter authorizing committee last month. The Harlem Children's Zone's Geoff Canada could have been in this middle space, given his media presence and his commitment to social services, but seemed to have been co-opted by the charter school hedge fund crowd.  Linda Darling-Hammond has maintained ties with the Obama

AM News: Duncan Blasts Ryan Budget Plan

by Will Treece

Duncan Blasts Ryan Budget Plan Politics K12: Secretary of Education Arne Duncan warned lawmakers today of potentially dire ramifications if the budget blueprint put forth earlier this week by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., were to become law.
Lawsuit targets bogus online GED tests TODAY:  The GED Testing Service has filed a lawsuit against what it says is a network of 13 websites that allegedly used the GED trademark to offer fake tests and diplomas.
Learning Disabilities and the Arts PBS: It's minutes before the curtain is set to rise for this year's production of the Black History Month play at Henderson Inclusion Elementary School on a late February morning. Students are excitedly tending to last-