Why Is Governor Christie Angry?
How many times have I read stories about New Jersey Governor Chris Christie blowing his stack when the subject is education or teachers?
Just yesterday he blew up when a stranger made a passing remark about his education policy.
Is it a sign of a guilty conscience?
Governor Christie is doing everything possible to privatize public education: promoting online charters (even though they have not been authorized by the State Legislature), expanding charter schools, flirting with vouchers. And, he has famously attacked the New Jersey Education Association, throwing choice epithets their way.
It is easy to forget that Governor Christie is a graduate of Livingston High School, where he received an excellent public school education. It is easy for him to forget that New Jersey is one of the highest rated states in the
Just yesterday he blew up when a stranger made a passing remark about his education policy.
Is it a sign of a guilty conscience?
Governor Christie is doing everything possible to privatize public education: promoting online charters (even though they have not been authorized by the State Legislature), expanding charter schools, flirting with vouchers. And, he has famously attacked the New Jersey Education Association, throwing choice epithets their way.
It is easy to forget that Governor Christie is a graduate of Livingston High School, where he received an excellent public school education. It is easy for him to forget that New Jersey is one of the highest rated states in the
Shoppers: Aisle 1 to Pick Your School
The City University of New York is offering courses in “how to pick a charter school” ($75) and “how to pick a public school” ($75). See page 26 of the link.
So this is what “choice” means. You have to take a course at a public university to figure out how to choose a school for your child.
Only in New York.
So this is what “choice” means. You have to take a course at a public university to figure out how to choose a school for your child.
Only in New York.
About Those Superintendents on Broad Board
At the suggestion of a reader, I posted a list of the board of directors of a Broad Center for the Management of School Systems, dating from 2009. It included several school superintendents.
Readers have commented on the track record of the superintendents on that board.
Let’s see:
Joel Klein: Resigned in 2010, after NY State Education Department revealed statewide score inflation and New York City’s celebrated test scores collapsed
Michelle Rhee: Resigned in 2010 after D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty defeated, largely because of her divisive
Readers have commented on the track record of the superintendents on that board.
Let’s see:
Joel Klein: Resigned in 2010, after NY State Education Department revealed statewide score inflation and New York City’s celebrated test scores collapsed
Michelle Rhee: Resigned in 2010 after D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty defeated, largely because of her divisive
Is 11 Days of Training Enough for TFA?
A friend shared this post by a young member of Teach for America.
This young teacher wants to teach social studies, for which he or she feels adequate, but will be expected to teach math, for which he or she feels inadequate.
What comes through as you read the post is a sense of sheer terror.
The teacher-to-be knows that 11 days of training is not enough.
What is distressing is to realize that this ill-trained teacher might be sent to a district that is laying off
This young teacher wants to teach social studies, for which he or she feels adequate, but will be expected to teach math, for which he or she feels inadequate.
What comes through as you read the post is a sense of sheer terror.
The teacher-to-be knows that 11 days of training is not enough.
What is distressing is to realize that this ill-trained teacher might be sent to a district that is laying off
A Very Bizarre Graduate School of Education
Carol Burris is the principal of an outstanding public high school on Long Island, in New York State. She often writes about education for The Answer Sheet. Burris has won awards for her leadership and her school has been recognized for its achievements.
Burris just published an article about the Relay Graduate School of Education. This is a masters’ program that was created by three charter school chains to prepare teachers for working in charter schools. It is certainly not a traditional graduate school of education. There do not seem to be courses in cognitive development, child psychology, sociology of education, history of education, or varied pedagogical models and strategies. There is
Burris just published an article about the Relay Graduate School of Education. This is a masters’ program that was created by three charter school chains to prepare teachers for working in charter schools. It is certainly not a traditional graduate school of education. There do not seem to be courses in cognitive development, child psychology, sociology of education, history of education, or varied pedagogical models and strategies. There is
Stack Ranking in Memphis
I wrote a blog about the culture at Microsoft, where employees are evaluated by “stack ranking,” meaning that everyone in every unit is assigned a weighting–best, average, worse. I printed comments by people who had been subject to this system, who said that it stifled creativity and collaboration. I discovered that many major corporations have a similar rating system. At Enron it was called “rank and yank.” Jack Welch of GE championed the idea of finding and firing the laggards.
Something similar is happening now in education. Many of the new state evaluation systems, designed in response to Race to the Top (a font of untested ideas), will evaluate teachers and principals on a bell curve. The
Something similar is happening now in education. Many of the new state evaluation systems, designed in response to Race to the Top (a font of untested ideas), will evaluate teachers and principals on a bell curve. The
Step Right Up, Teachers, and Buy Your Own Value-Added Program
Diana Senechal is having fun with the metrics business. In this post, she manages to combine data mania with the consumer-driven mentality of our current education policymakers.
All in one short article, you get a free parody of choice, value-added assessment, competition, stack ranking, and the Broad Superintendents Academy.
All in one short article, you get a free parody of choice, value-added assessment, competition, stack ranking, and the Broad Superintendents Academy.
