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Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Update: LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH - 7-24-12 Diane Ravitch's blog

Diane Ravitch's blog:


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One School’s Secrets of Success

A  high school in the Bronx has figured out how to be high performing.
It’s not hard.
It pushes out kids with low test scores.
It expels them.
It works!
107 students started as freshmen,


A Dialogue with the Gates Foundation

Anthony Cody has emerged, in the eyes of many people, as a voice on behalf of the teaching profession.
This is quite amazing in itself because he is an experienced middle school science teacher in a high-poverty district, Oakland, California. He does not lead an organization. No one elected him. He has a regular blog that is hosted by Education Week. Last year, he was recognized by all as the driving force behind the Save Our School march in Washington. He is a leader because he speaks to the issues that concern teachers, and he is eloquent.
Anthony has just opened what he says will be a constructive dialogue with the Gates Foundation. Like many


Race to the Bottom with Cybercharters

In an effort to compete with the big for-profit online companies that take away their students and their state tuition money, school districts in Pennsylvania are considering the creation of their own cyber schools.
This shows the fallacy of competition and the bottom line.
It makes perfect economic sense to compete with K12 by opening another cybercharter.
It makes perfect economic sense to encourage your own students to stay home and learn online, because that


Arne Duncan Praises Tennessee and Race to the Top

Yesterday, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan had a story in the Huffington Post extolling his work in building respect for the teaching profession.
He has accomplished this, he says, by insisting that teachers be evaluated based on the test scores of their students.
Exhibit A of his success, he says, is Tennessee. Mr. Duncan relies on a report by Kevin Huffman, the state commissioner of education (former PR director for TFA, now employed by one of the nation’s most conservative 



What Do Parents in New York City Want Most?

Every year, as part of its customer service, the New York City Department of Education asks parents what they would like to see changed.
Every year since the question has been asked, parents have chosen as their top priority: Reducing class size.
In 2007, when the survey was initiated, the Mayor minimized parent concerns by lumping together all other choices as if they were one, to say that parents had many concerns.
This year, when the Department presented its slide show of the results, it left “class size” out of the slide.


About the “School of One”

One of the much-hyped new ideas of our time is the “School of One.” This is a new use of technology in the classroom.
It was declared a success in 2009 by Time magazine before it was ever implemented anywhere.
It was created by TFA alum, Broad-trained, ex-Edison, ex-NYC DOE executive Joel Rose and implemented on a


Is a Struggling School Like a Failed Restaurant?

Here is a blog that says that a school with low test scores is like a failed restaurant.
We know what happens when a restaurant fails.
It closes. It goes bankrupt. The hungry customers go somewhere else.
He is an entrepreneur who is now in the business of reforming schools.
Here is his analysis:
Struggling schools are like failed restaurants.  The kitchen staff are the educators. Maybe the chef is the chapter union leader.  The restaurant owner/manger is the school administration.  Customers are the kids.  And Eli Broad or one of the education agencies he funds is Gordon Ramsey.  He comes in with honest, straightforward observations, and tells you what’s going wrong.  Sometimes it’s the chef that’s the problem and 



A Personal Message from David Berliner

Yesterday, readers of this blog had a homework assignment. I asked  you to read David Berliner’s important article about education and inequality.
Today, I wish to share with you a letter that he wrote to a list of people who read the article. I am reprinting it with his permission.
I thought you  might want to read it because it contains an inspiring message.
Those of us who think that the current so-called reform movement is destructive of education values can take


K12 Has Found a New Market

K12 has found a new market. I wonder if the state reimbursement is higher to deliver online instruction to homebound children with special needs:

Ads by Googlewhat’s this?
Special Needs: K12
K12 Provides The Support Children Deserve, w/ Free Books & Materials!
www.K12.com/Florida

My Blog Turns Three Months Old

I started this blog on April 24, three months ago.
I began with the following entry:
I decided to start my own blog because I was overusing Twitter and treating it as a miniblog, which it isn’t.
My weekly blog at Bridging Differences is great fun for me, and I love the format of exchanging letters with Deborah Meier. That format creates a certain aura of informality and encourages me to speak freely in a non-academic tone, the way one speaks to a friend. So, I don’t know where this will go, and I don’t know if I will