Does Ed Secretary Duncan agree with Romney on class size?
This is an open letter written to President Obama by Leonie Haimson, public school parent and executive director of Class Size Matters. She writes about the Obama campaign’s criticism of Mitt Romney for saying that class size isn’t all that important — something, it turns out, Obama administration officials have also said. A version of this letter first appeared on the Parents Across America website.
Here’s Haimson’s letter:
Dear President Obama:
Mitt Romney just went to visit a charter school in Philadelphia and got real push back from teachers when he said class size doesn’t matter. A video of their remarks is below. As a principal of a charter schoolpointed out,
Mitt Romney sits in a 6th grade language class with Salina Beattie (CENTER L) and other students at Universal Bluford Charter School on May 24 in Philadelphia. (Mario Tama - GETTY IMAGES)“There was a study done by the University of Tennessee, a definitive study about class size and what they said was that in first through third grade, if the class size is under 18 those kids stay ahead of everybody else all the way through school, including classes where you might have 25 in the class and co-teachers.
PARENTS CAN!
Useless college majors (according to Andy Samberg)
Harvard University welcomed comedian Andy Samberg at its 2012 commencement ceremonies this week in Cambridge, where he gave a speech to graduating students and their parents at Senior Class Day. It wasn’t his funniest work, but this part was amusing: Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
How ed policy is hurting early childhood education
This *was written by Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Diane E. Levin and Geralyn Bywater McLaughlin. Carlsson-Paige is professor emerita at Lesley University and an author of several books; Levin is a professor of early childhood education at Wheelock College; and McLaughlin is the founding teacher at the Mission Hill School in Roxbury, Ma., as well as the director of the Defending the Early Years coalition and founder of Empowered by Play. * Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
A lesson in sticktoitiveness — an amusing commencement speech by Garry Marshall
Some commencement speeches are more amusing than others. Here is is one from the 2012 graduation season that stands out for attemping to impart a real life lesson — how not to give up — with humor. It was delivered by Garry Marshall, an award-winning television and film director, writer, producer, and actor, who spoke at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa., on Saturday, May 19. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Romney’s education vision
Anybody who thinks President Obama’s education policies have been unfriendly to public education should pay close attention to Mitt Romney’s newly announced school reform vision. Because what you don’t like about Obama’s, you may like even less about Romney’s. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Ravitch: What is NCTQ? (and why you should know)
This *was written by education historian Diane Ravitch . She is a research professor at New York University and author of numerous books, including the best-selling “The Death and Life of the Great American School System,” a critique of the flaws in the modern school reform movement. This pieceappeared on her blog .* Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Romney’s education speech — text
Here is the full text of Mitt Romney’s remarks on education reform as prepared for delivery on Wednesday at The Latino Coalition’s Annual Economic Summit in Washington, D.C.: *Mitt Romney Speech* *As Prepared for Delivery to Latino Coalition* Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
The Answer Sheet - 2 days ago
Cory Booker has crossed the aisle before — on school reform
Newark Mayor Cory Booker, a Democrat, has been in the news for blasting President Obama’s campaign ads attacking Mitt Romney’s career with a private-equity firm and calling the tone of the presidential campaign “nauseating to me on both sides.” Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
School prom in same venue as porn convention
How’s this for some unfortunate prom planning? A high school prom was just held in the same Miami arena as a porn convention. And it wasn’t a surprise to organizers. Miami Beach High School students attended their prom Saturday night at the Miami Beach Convention Center at the same time that the “Exxxotica Expo” was being held in a different part of the complex, according to the Miami Herald. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Do comprehension strategies make reading boring? — Willingham
This *was written by cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham, a psychology professor at the University of Virginia and author of “Why Don’t Students Like School?” His next book, “When Can You Trust The Experts? How to tell good science from bad in education,” will be published in July. This appeared on his Science and Education blog.* Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Obama’s Joplin High School commencement speech — text
A year after a tornado devastated the Missouri town of Joplin and killed 161 people, President Obama on Monday night addressed the graduating seniors of Joplin High School, telling them that their resilience in the face of disaster was an inspiration to people everywhere. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Test scores plummet — so Florida drops passing grade
Here’s the latest disaster in Florida’s standardized test-based school accountability system, which has been touted as a model for education reform around the country since it was developed by former Gov. Jeb Bush. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Test scores plummet — so Florida drops passing grade
Here’s the latest disaster in Florida’s standardized test-based school accountability system, which has been touted as a model for education reform around the country since it was developed by former Gov. Jeb Bush. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Why college-for-everybody is a sham: Ravitch
This *was written by education historian Diane Ravitch . She is a research professor at New York University and author of numerous books, including the best-selling “The Death and Life of the Great American School System,” a critique of the flaws in the modern school reform movement. This pieceappeared on her blog .* Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
‘Is this really what education is about?’
This *was written by Vicki Abeles, a parent of three and the director of the documentary, “Race to Nowhere” and Jo Boaler a professor of mathematics education at Stanford University. “Race to Nowhere” challenges common assumptions about how children are best educated.* Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]