15 critical questions about school reform
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. This post appeared on his Education Week Teacher blog, Living in Dialogue *. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
The best thing to do before a big test
This *was written by Ned Johnson, president and self-described tutor geek at Prep Matters, a tutoring and test prep company based in Bethesda, Md. The advice is aimed at improving student achievement year-round but is especially relevant at the moment for high school students getting ready to take the SAT on Saturday and final exams in June.* Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Why student aid is NOT driving up college costs
This* was written by David L. Warren, president of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities* By David L. Warren Support for higher education has never been more important to the nation’s economic future than today. According to the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, by 2018, 63 percent of U.S. jobs will require some form of postsecondary education. The center projects the nation’s employers will need 22 million new workers with postsecondary degrees. Unless we change course, the nation will fall short by three million workers. ... more »
Winning words since 1925 at National Spelling Bee
The word that won the 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee was “guetapens.” Yes, “guetapens.” It means “to ambush,” and 14-year-old Snigdha Nandipati of San Diego was the last contestant standing when she got it right, making her the newest champion. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
A scary (and telling) school voucher story
If you are wondering where the new rush to implement school voucher programs in state after state may be taking us, consider these developments from Louisiana. Gov. Bobby Jindal recently signed a new law that sets up the largest voucher program of any state in the country. It is part of a series of “reforms” that Jindal says will expand school choice for families and critics say is the broadest state assault on public education in the country. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Justin Bieber’s hilarious high school commencement
This may be 2012’s funniest commencement speech — if that’s what you want to call it. Ellen DeGeneres, on her television show “Ellen,” put on a commencement ceremony for teenage superstar Justin Bieber, who really did just graduate from high school. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
What parents say testing is doing to their kids
This *was written by Carol Corbett Burris, principal of South Side High School in New York. She was named the 2010 New York State Outstanding Educator by the School Administrators Association of New York State.* Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Spelling Bee words: Could you spell them?
Fancy yourself a good speller? See if you would have been able to spell the words given to 278 young spellers in the second round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, which started Wednesday in Washington, D.C. (First-round results are not available yet on the bee Web site.) Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Are charter schools still public?
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 »
The Answer Sheet - 2 days ago
High-stakes testing protests spreading
Opposition to high-stakes standardized testing is growing around the country, with more parents choosing to opt their children out of taking exams, more school boards expressing disapproval of testing accountability systems and even a group of superintendents joining the fight. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Is teaching a science or an art?
Cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham delves into the true nature of teaching and, in the video below, answers the question: “Is teaching a science or an art?” Even if the answer seems obvious to you, the video will teach you something nonethless. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Tina Fey protests cuts in her old school district
It’s not a bad thing when someone who is high-profile lends their name to a good cause. This time it is Tina Fey. Fey attended public schools in the Upper Darby School District in Pennsylvania. She was in the choir and drama club while an honor student at Upper Darby High School, and performed in plays. She was Frenchie in a performance of “Grease.” Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Geniuses: born or made?
Jack Andraka is a 15-year-old kid from Maryland who just won the world’s largest and most important high school science fair by devising a new way to detect pancreatic cancer in its early stages. And then there’s Lori Anne Madison, the 6-year-old Virginia girl who is the youngest student ever to qualify for the National Spelling Bee — but she’s more than just a great speller. The prodigy, who lives in Prince William County, was reading at the age of 2. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
The mistake policymakers make about teaching
This *was written by Larry Cuban, a former high school social studies teacher (14 years, including seven at Cardozo and Roosevelt high schools in the District), district superintendent (seven years in Arlington, VA) and professor emeritus of education at Stanford University, where he has taught for more than 20 years. His latest book is “As Good As It Gets: What School Reform Brought to Austin.” This appeared on his blog.* Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Memorial Day quiz: Test yourself
*Correction: The explanation for the answer to No. 2 gave an incorrect number of war dead in an earlier version of this post. It is now correct. * Here’s a quiz to test yourself on how much you know about Memorial Day and the wars in which U.S. soldiers have fought and died. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
For Memorial Day: A different way to commemorate
Memorial Day commemorations ordinarily involve parades, concerts, barbecues, sporting events and a lot of flag-waving. Here's a more introspective way to commemorate the national holiday: Read some poetry about war. It’s a great way for parents and teacherss to help children understand the emotion bebhind war — the glory and the horror. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
VP Biden commencement speech to ‘9/11 generation’ at U.S. Military Academy
Here is the full text of the commencement speech that Vice President Joe Biden delived on Saturday to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., obtained from the Office of the Vice President: *THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.) It’s a great honor to be here. * Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
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: Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]