Those Wacky Economists Are at It Again
Through Twitter, I met an amazing blogger named Larry Ferlazzo. When I traveled to Sacramento earlier this year, I met the real Larry Ferlazzo. Larry is a teacher who makes amazing lists of everything you need to know. He also scours the Internet for everything interesting. I constantly learn from Larry. Once again, he hit the jackpot with this post.
As we know, many of our economists treat test scores as the best and sole measure of learning. They spend
As we know, many of our economists treat test scores as the best and sole measure of learning. They spend
The Conservative Case Against the Common Core Standards
A few days ago, I published Professor Stephen Krashen’s letter to the New York Times, in which he explained his opposition to the Common Core standards. Professor Krashen is coming from the progressive side of the spectrum.
Then Ireceived an email from Jamie Gass of the conservative Pioneer Institute in Massachusetts, which strongly opposes the Common Core standards from the opposite end of the political spectrum. Gass is especially angry
Then Ireceived an email from Jamie Gass of the conservative Pioneer Institute in Massachusetts, which strongly opposes the Common Core standards from the opposite end of the political spectrum. Gass is especially angry
Watch Out for GERM! We Are Infected!
Pasi Sahlberg is the brilliant Finnish educator who is trying to roll back the global tide of destructive education policies.
Sahlberg wrote an important book, Finnish Lessons, explaining how the Finnish education system was transformed in the past thirty years and became one of the top-performing nations in the world on PISA tests of reading, mathematics, and science.
Recently Sahlberg wrote an article summarizing his views on Valerie Strauss’s Answer Sheet blog in the
Sahlberg wrote an important book, Finnish Lessons, explaining how the Finnish education system was transformed in the past thirty years and became one of the top-performing nations in the world on PISA tests of reading, mathematics, and science.
Recently Sahlberg wrote an article summarizing his views on Valerie Strauss’s Answer Sheet blog in the
Yong Zhao on Entrepreneurship
Yong Zhao is the brilliant scholar whose ideas challenge the orthodoxy of testing, accountability, ranking, metrics, data-based decision making, and competition.
He knows the secret of Chinese test scores, and he says that if we follow their lead, we will destroy entrepreneurial thinking.
Since I discovered his work, I have been dazzled by his fresh approach to educational issues.
He recently published a book called World Class Learners, explaining why our current education policies are
He knows the secret of Chinese test scores, and he says that if we follow their lead, we will destroy entrepreneurial thinking.
Since I discovered his work, I have been dazzled by his fresh approach to educational issues.
He recently published a book called World Class Learners, explaining why our current education policies are
School Letter Grades Are Preposterous
On this blog, we have often discussed how easy it is to get drawn into accepting an intolerable practice. When it is first introduced, no one objects because it is worth trying, and over time, as this innovation becomes standard practice, those who don’t like it are ignored because it’s too late, it’s done that way and will go on being done that way.
Take the idea of giving letter grades to schools. My best recollection is that this idea started in Florida under Governor Jeb Bush, who thinks that testing and accountability solve all problems. Then New York City copied
Take the idea of giving letter grades to schools. My best recollection is that this idea started in Florida under Governor Jeb Bush, who thinks that testing and accountability solve all problems. Then New York City copied
How the Attack on Public Education Is Like the Tobacco Industry
A reader read this post about FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt), a strategy intended to undermine and discredit the competition. And Bingo! The light went on. It was the same pattern on the rug.
| OMG! FUD jogged my memory about a book I read 2 yrs ago by Naomi Oreskes & Erik Conway “Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming”. Edu-reformers are using some of the same strategies that were used by the tobacco and oil industries to advance their business agendas and preclude government regulation on their products. Oreskes is an historian of science at U Cal, San Diego. She and Conway tell an amazing story that begins in the 1980′s. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOnXL8ob_js From a review: “Oreskes and Conway roll back the rug on this dark corner of the American scientific The Failure of Bloomberg’s New Schools StrategyThe New York Daily News (owned by billionaire Mort Zuckerman, who also owns U.S. News & World Report) often runs editorials applauding the “reforms” of the Bloomberg administration. Its editorials are anti-union, anti-teacher, and consistently supportive of the policy of closing schools that have low test scores. But the New York Daily News has excellent reporters who don’t follow the editorial line. They just report the news. And the story today is stunning. The headline summarizes the story: “Bloomberg’s New Schools Have Failed Thousands of City Students: Did More Poorly on State Reading Tests than Older Schools with Similar Poverty Rates.” This analysis shows the abject failure of the policy that has been the centerpiece of the Bloomberg reforms for |