How underfunding schools really hurts kids
This *was written by Wendy Lecker, a former president of the Stamford Parent Teacher Council and former staff attorney at the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, plaintiffs in a school funding lawsuit in New York. This first appeared in the Stamford Advocate.* Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Louisiana voucher scheme fails to attract many students
A few months ago Louisiana started enacting a new law backed by Gov. Bobby Jindal that is one of the broadest attacks on public education in any state across the nation — if not the broadest. Under the law more than half of the students in the state would be offered vouchers, the number of privately managed charter schools would be greatly expanded and preschoolers will be given letter grades — just to name a few of its provisions. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Report on Penn State board’s failures has ramifications for U-Va. board — update
*Update: Trustees say they won’t resign, more on report findings* Penn State’s Board of Trustees was blasted today in a newly released reporton how the school handled the Gerald Sandusky child abuse debacle, accused of failing in its oversight duties and mishandling the firing of legendary football coach Joe Paterno. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Is Khan Academy a real ‘education solution’?
The Khan Academy has been in the education news lately but it’s not the kind of publicity that its founder, Salman Khan, would have chosen if given a choice. The academy is a nonprofit organization started by Khan, a former hedge-fund manager, that offers free lessons in math and other subjects via videos posted on the Khan Academy Web site. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Are U.S. schools too easy?
This *was written by education historian Diane Ravitch, a research professor at New York University and author of the bestselling “The Death and Life of the Great American School System.” This first appeared on her blog. * Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Has Florida governor had a testing epiphany?
Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who hasn’t seen a test he hasn’t wanted students to take, seems to have come to some sort of epiphany: The state that has been a national model for high-stakes test-based school reform just may be testing schoolchildren too much. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Before ‘Fifty Shades of Grey:’ Bestsellers of last century
*Correction: An earlier version of this post mischaracterized the book “The Harvester.”* If you are done reading (or never would touch) the erotic “Fifty Shades of Grey” and looking for something a little, well, different to pick up this summer, here are some book lists that you might not have come across: Bestsellers from the past — way in the past. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Georgia professors blast teacher evaluation system
First it happened in New York, then Illinois and now Georgia. Professors from colleges and universities in Georgia have written an open letter to the governor, Nathan Deal, and other officials involved with education policy to express opposition to a new teacher evaluation system that depends largely on student standardized test scores. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
The Common Bore
This *was written by Arnold Dodge, chair of the Department of Educational Leadership and Administration at Long Island University/C.W. Post Campus and a former New York state teacher, principal and superintendent.* Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
Texas GOP rejects ‘critical thinking’ skills. Really.
In the you-can’t-make-up-this-stuff department, here’s what the Republican Party of Texas wrote into its 2012 platform as part of the section on education: *Knowledge-Based Education – We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority.* Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [i... more »
The Common Bore
This *was written by Arnold Dodge, chair of the Department of Educational Leadership and Administration at Long Island University/C.W. Post Campus and a former New York state teacher, principal and superintendent.* Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
The worst master’s degree?
American Library Association President Maureen Sullivan was not amused by Forbes’ recent designation of the library and information science degree as the worst master’s for a student to pursue. In this Forbes.com post , master’s degrees were rated based on salary, employment outlook and long-term opportunities. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
The hardest jobs to fill (think plumbers)
Reformers who think that students should be studying subjects that will help them fill empty jobs should be pushing for more vocational education in the skilled trades. There has been a big push in recent years to improve education in the STEM fields — science, technology, engineering and math — so much so that you might think those are the only sectors in the economy trying to find skilled workers. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]
An all-too-true parody on ed reform
When I first started reading the piece below, I wasn’t sure if it was real or if it was parody. I was relieved to find that it was the latter, though in these crazy days of education reform, it could have been the work of a real education department. Read full article >> [image: Add to Facebook] [image: Add to Twitter] [image: Add to Reddit] [image: Add to StumbleUpon]