Using comic books (like ‘The Avengers’) to get kids to read
Parents and teachers struggling to get kids to read often overlook a major weapon in the literacy arsenal: comic books. Yes, “Archie,” “Superman,” “The Avengers” and “The Adventures of Tintin” are all great vehicles for getting a reluctant reader to learn to love the power of the written word. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Funniest commencement speeches
If you have ever sat at a commencement speech and listened to a speaker droning on and on and on and on and on, then you might appreciate the following excerpts from some of the funniest speeches ever delivered at a graduation. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Principal urges state ed chief to take standardized tests to see problems with exams
A New York school principal is urging the state’s education commissioner to review the standardized math assessments recently given to students in grades 3-5 because of a host of serious problems with their design. In a powerful letter, she also told him to take the tests to see the problems for himself. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
D.C. cutting school librarians
At a time when D.C. public schools is pushing hard on literacy education to increase the number of students who can read proficiently, officials are proposing to cut funding for dozens of school librarian positions for the 2012-13 academic year as a cost-cutting move . Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
A state that just says ‘no’ to charters, other reforms
This was *written by Melissa Westbrook, a public education activist and co-writer of the Seattle Schools Community Forum blog, based in Seattle. * By Melissa Westbrook Quietly marching to its own drummer, Washington State has mostly turned its back on the education reform movement that is sweeping much of the rest of the country. 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
13 charged in hazing death of Florida A&M student
*Updated, 4:25 p.m.: Prosecutor gives news conference* Thirteen people have been charged in the hazing death of a Florida A&M University band drum major last November, a prosecutor said on Wednesday. Eleven of the 13 face a third-degree felony charge of hazing resulting in death. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Teacher: Why computerized standardized testing is ‘frightening’
This was written by Melissa Bollow Tempel, who teaches first grade in the Milwaukee Public Schools. Tempel co-edited “Pencils Down: Rethinking High-Stakes Testing and Accountability” with Wayne Au. Her 1st- and 3rd-grade daughters have been opted out of standardized tests. This was first published on the Rethinking Schools website. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Ravitch: A primer on the group driving school reform
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. The item was first published on May 1. In their blog, Ravitch and Meier exchange letters about what matters most in education. Ravitch, a research professor at New York University, is author of “The Death and Life of the Great American School System,” a critique of the flaws in the modern school reform movement.* Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to St... more »
Colbert hilarious on ‘don’t say gay’ in school bill
There is a bill now being considered by Missouri legislators that would come close to banning all conversations in public schools about sexual orientation as well as bar “gay-straight” alliances and other school-sponsored clubs that deal with sexual identity. And Stephen Colbert skewered it as only he can on The Colbert Report. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Studying the Kentucky Derby: More than a horse race
Good teachers know how to wrap a lesson around almost anything (when they are allowed to). Take the Kentucky Derby, which is running for the 138th time this Saturday. The event offers lessons, among other things, in history, science, statistics, math, culture, economics, health and even fashion. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
The ‘Blitz:’ What’s foisted on kids after standardized tests
This piece* was written by a member of the * * Teaching Georgia Writing Collective * *, a group of educators, parents, and concerned citizens who engage in public writing and public teaching about education in Georgia. Members write anonymously because many fear there would be consequences to them or their children if their views were publicly known.* Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Sanjay Gupta’s great speech at U Michigan commencement
University of Michigan alumnus Sanjay Gupta returned to Ann Arbor this past weekend at the start of the 2012 commencement season and delivered an uncommonly entertaining speech to more than 45,000 people in the Big House. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
An unintended consequence of value-added teacher evaluation
A high school teacher in New York sent me the following e-mail, which discusses a most unfortunate unintended consequence of the state's new teacher and principal evaluation that depends largely on how well students do on standardized test scores. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
The challenge of the introverted student
This was *written by Mark Phillips, professor emeritus of secondary education at San Francisco State University. A version of this appeared on his blog on Edutopia. He also publishes a monthly column on education for the Marin Independent Journal. * Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
A defeatist plan to restructure Philadelphia public schools
Philadelphia school “recovery” officials have announced a radical restructuring plan that calls for: * closing 40 low-performing, underutilized schools in 2013 and a total of 64 more by 2017 * organizing “achievement networks” of about 25 schools that would be run by outsiders who bid for management contracts Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Parent to schools chief: ‘You don’t understand schools’
This was* written by Helen Gym, a founder of Parents United for Public Education, a citywide parent group focused on school budgets and funding to improve achievement and accountability in the public schools. She is a former editor of The Notebook, an independent website about Philadelphia public schools. She is also a board member at Asian Americans United, a Chinatown-based community organization active in education, youth leadership, immigrant rights, and community development. She was named the Philadelphia Inquirer’s “Citizen of the Year” in 2007 for her work in education, im... more »
Education and the income gap: Darling-Hammond
This was *written by Stanford University Education Professor Linda Darling-Hammond, who directs the Stanford University Center for Opportunity Policy in Education and was founding director of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future. A former president of the American Educational Research Association, Darling-Hammond focuses her research, teaching, and policy work on issues of school restructuring, teacher quality and educational equity*. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
A moving film about the life of a school
Too many films about school insist on showing the teaching and learning enterprise at its worst. Students are portrayed as at best troubled and often just rotten, teachers are stupid or mean; parents are arrogant or absent. “Monsieur Lazhar” doesn’t, and that is only part of what distinguishes this moving, intelligent Canadian film, which opens in the Washington D.C. region on Friday. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Pearson and how 2012 standardized tests were designed
This w*as written by Fred Smith, a retired New York City Board of Education senior analyst who worked for the public school system in test research and development.* By Fred Smith The recent Pineapple and the Hare fiasco does more than identify a daft reading passage on New York State’s 8th grade English Language Arts test. Education Commissioner John King scrapped the selection and its six multiple-choice items, admitting they were “ambiguous,” when the questions became public last week. The episode opens the door to discussing how the 2012 exams were put together. Read full a...more »