Time to Play. Here is Why.
Stephanie, a reader, sent this short video.
Please stop and watch it.
The point is about how important play is.
It happens that play matters for little children, but it matters for adolescents and for adults.
When we rob our children of play, we rob them of their childhood.
When we rob adolescents and adults of play time, we rob them of time for laughter, time for creativity, and time
Please stop and watch it.
The point is about how important play is.
It happens that play matters for little children, but it matters for adolescents and for adults.
When we rob our children of play, we rob them of their childhood.
When we rob adolescents and adults of play time, we rob them of time for laughter, time for creativity, and time
Saving School Districts Is Not a Full-time Job
Paul Vallas is superintendent of schools in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He is paid more than $200,000 a year. He also runs a private consulting business that just landed an $18 million contract to reorganize the Indianapolis school district even as he remains full-time superintendent in Bridgeport. The board that appointed Vallas has been declared illegal by a court in Connecticut, but they extended Vallas’ contract so he will be superintendent
How to Destroy Childhood
A reader writes:
I teach pre-k and every year more and more play time is removed for more “academics”. And every year I have more behavior issues in my class. At the end of the year our cots were removed because the “suits” determined that resting was a waste of time and we were losing valuable teaching time. We no longer go to the playground
I teach pre-k and every year more and more play time is removed for more “academics”. And every year I have more behavior issues in my class. At the end of the year our cots were removed because the “suits” determined that resting was a waste of time and we were losing valuable teaching time. We no longer go to the playground
Not Needed: Carrots and Sticks
A librarian and a teacher of teachers responds to the New York Times’ editorial demand for more carrots (merit pay) and sticks (firings) for teachers in schools with low test scores.
Re “Carrots and Sticks for School Systems” (editorial, Aug. 6):
It is not surprising that many school managers do not distinguish between high- and low-performing teachers. Most schools are still based on an industrial model of moving students through an assembly line of classes and grades to achieve outcomes measured by standardized tests.
Standardized teaching can be done by mediocre teachers using scripted lessons. Excellent teaching requires
It is not surprising that many school managers do not distinguish between high- and low-performing teachers. Most schools are still based on an industrial model of moving students through an assembly line of classes and grades to achieve outcomes measured by standardized tests.
Standardized teaching can be done by mediocre teachers using scripted lessons. Excellent teaching requires
Advice to My Readers: House Rules
When this blog started, I imagined a cozy conversation among friends, which it was, in my virtual living room.
But as the weeks went on, the daily readership began to exceed 10,000, and the living room sometimes seems crowded.
I hope it continues to grow. We can move from my living room to the nearest football stadium and take turns at the microphone.
The only dark cloud, to be frank, is that a very small number of people take up a disproportionate amount of space in the comments section.
Sometimes they are angry, because they don’t like our conversation, so they jump in again and again and keep
The Reformers’ Game Plan
A Nice Hat Tip from England
But as the weeks went on, the daily readership began to exceed 10,000, and the living room sometimes seems crowded.
I hope it continues to grow. We can move from my living room to the nearest football stadium and take turns at the microphone.
The only dark cloud, to be frank, is that a very small number of people take up a disproportionate amount of space in the comments section.
Sometimes they are angry, because they don’t like our conversation, so they jump in again and again and keep
The Reformers’ Game Plan
This reader offers a succinct summary of the reformers’ game plan. He might have added additional elements: a) budget cuts to disable public schools; and b) laws that remove accountability and transparency with privately managed charters; c) evaluating teachers on a bell curve, so that half will always be “below average,” thus creating a “crisis”; d) demanding 100% perfection, 100% proficiency and saying that anything less proves failure.
You can see it played out in state after state, especially in those with Republican governors, and in the pronouncements of the U.S. Department of Education, and it is fully developed in the Romney education agenda. They think that that private management of public education is the wave of the future, preferably it is generates
You can see it played out in state after state, especially in those with Republican governors, and in the pronouncements of the U.S. Department of Education, and it is fully developed in the Romney education agenda. They think that that private management of public education is the wave of the future, preferably it is generates
A Nice Hat Tip from England
A reader in England writes this.
The blog has readers around the world, literally on every continent. Most readers, of course, are in the U.S., but followed by readers in Canada, the U.K., New Zealand, Australia, Korea, Japan, Russia, Israel, and dozens of other nations in South America, Africa, Latin America, Europe, and Asia, and on and on, even some small islands.
Isn’t the Internet wonderful? Hats off to social media!
We are everywhere!
The blog has readers around the world, literally on every continent. Most readers, of course, are in the U.S., but followed by readers in Canada, the U.K., New Zealand, Australia, Korea, Japan, Russia, Israel, and dozens of other nations in South America, Africa, Latin America, Europe, and Asia, and on and on, even some small islands.
Isn’t the Internet wonderful? Hats off to social media!
We are everywhere!
Deja Vu for This Miracle Charter School
Two months ago I wrote a post about a charter school in Oakland that had been the beneficiary of a massive public relations campaign, abetted by gullible journalists at the Wall Street Journal, Jonathan Alter, and others eager to declare the triumph of the charter idea.
I mention this again because a reader sent a comment extolling this school as an example of what charters can accomplish, if freed of all regulation by the state.
The school–really three schools–is the American Indian Charter School. According to legend, it served the poorest of the poor, the needy children of American Indians, and through the grit of its founder Ben Chavis, it rose to become one of the highest performing schools in the state.
Then came news of an audit, and it was a shocker.
It seems that Chavis was under investigation because millions of dollars were missing. Closer investigation
A Mississippi View of Charter Schools
Are Standardized Tests Like IQ Tests?
I mention this again because a reader sent a comment extolling this school as an example of what charters can accomplish, if freed of all regulation by the state.
The school–really three schools–is the American Indian Charter School. According to legend, it served the poorest of the poor, the needy children of American Indians, and through the grit of its founder Ben Chavis, it rose to become one of the highest performing schools in the state.
Then came news of an audit, and it was a shocker.
It seems that Chavis was under investigation because millions of dollars were missing. Closer investigation
A Mississippi View of Charter Schools
A reader in Mississippi writes:
| Why build separate schools for a select few? Why create separate laws and separate governing bodies for these schools? Why not change existing laws for ALL schools?? What the hell kind of country are we living in where our tax dollars can be used to operate a school that is not open to all children??? I have always considered myself lucky to have been educated in a post-segregation American school system. Unfortunately, it is starting to look as if my children won’t be so lucky. I won’t allow this to happen in my community. |
Are Standardized Tests Like IQ Tests?
The secret is out. Pass it on.
Professor Walter Stroup of the University of Texas has determined that the annual state tests are superb at measuring how well students will do on the annual state tests, plus how well they performed on the same test in the past and how well they will perform on the same test by the same test publisher in the future. No matter how hard teachers try, the best they can is to teach students how to do well on that particular test. If they teach
Professor Walter Stroup of the University of Texas has determined that the annual state tests are superb at measuring how well students will do on the annual state tests, plus how well they performed on the same test in the past and how well they will perform on the same test by the same test publisher in the future. No matter how hard teachers try, the best they can is to teach students how to do well on that particular test. If they teach
