‘Twas the Night Before Testing
Fred Smith worked for many years for the New York City Board of Education as a testing expert. Now he is a watchdog to guard against the misuse of tests. He writes opinion pieces and advises parent groups about the excesses of the testing industry. For non-New York City folk, Tisch is Merryl Tisch, the head of the New York State Board of Regents, which never sees the harm in adding more tests. The Tweed Courthouse is the building
Reading a Christmas Carol for Our Own Times
Ken Previti has written a meditation on Dickens’ Christmas Carol and how it was bowdlerized to remove its true meaning.
It is time to reclaim the true meaning of Dickens for our own time.
It is time to reclaim the true meaning of Dickens for our own time.
An Ex-Teacher’s Christmas Story
When I visited Los Angeles in 2010, a group of young teachers surrounded me at UCLA and implored me to intervene with the schools’ chancellor and get him to reverse his decision about the closing of Fremont High School. I tried but I was not successful. The teachers scattered, some stayed in teaching, some did not. They maintain a website to stay in touch and one of the teachers laid off, Barbara XXX, sent me this story. She is still seeking the meaning in life after teaching, losing a career that she loved. She still pines for Fremont, even though
Greetings to the “Beloved Community” of Education Activists
Mark Naison, professor of African-American Studies at Fordham University, sends holiday greetings to education activists across the nation.
Activism today on behalf of public education, he finds, is akin to the activism for civil rights in the 1960s. It requires courage and dedication.
You do it because you have to or you won’t be able to look yourself in the mirror every day.
Activism today on behalf of public education, he finds, is akin to the activism for civil rights in the 1960s. It requires courage and dedication.
You do it because you have to or you won’t be able to look yourself in the mirror every day.
My Holiday Wishes for You « Diane Ravitch's blog
My Holiday Wishes for You « Diane Ravitch's blog: My Holiday Wishes for You by dianerav [image: Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch] Dear Readers, I can’t bring myself to say “Merry Christmas,” because this Christmas season has been blighted by the tragedy in Newtown. We are still in mourning for the twenty babies who were lost there, the precious children who were so cruelly taken from their families. We are still in mourning for our brave colleagues, the educators who died defending the children, their children. Let us all this holiday season stop to honor their memory. L... more »
