Charter Schools and the New Segregation
A reader offers his observations:
Charter Schools, a failure that cannot be measured.
January 12, 2013 by Joe Hernandez
As I drive happily and optimistically through our South Florida roads, I can’t fail to notice the familiar signs we are all accustomed to viewing, the burger chains, gas stations and the strip malls. As an educator and more specifically, a school psychologist, something catches my eye in a decrepit, run down strip mall, a charter school. I pull in, curious, as to what this school has to offer, as it looks like any other store I could walk in, including an adult book store a few hundred feet away and a gun shop to go with it! I ask the friendly young lady behind a window, what type of school is this? She happily explains that this is a Kindergarten through Eigth grade charter school. Curiously, I ask where are the classrooms? She answers, they are behind that door, but I’m sorry, visitors are not allowed back there. So I ask, may I see the school counselor? I have some questions
Charter Schools, a failure that cannot be measured.
January 12, 2013 by Joe Hernandez
As I drive happily and optimistically through our South Florida roads, I can’t fail to notice the familiar signs we are all accustomed to viewing, the burger chains, gas stations and the strip malls. As an educator and more specifically, a school psychologist, something catches my eye in a decrepit, run down strip mall, a charter school. I pull in, curious, as to what this school has to offer, as it looks like any other store I could walk in, including an adult book store a few hundred feet away and a gun shop to go with it! I ask the friendly young lady behind a window, what type of school is this? She happily explains that this is a Kindergarten through Eigth grade charter school. Curiously, I ask where are the classrooms? She answers, they are behind that door, but I’m sorry, visitors are not allowed back there. So I ask, may I see the school counselor? I have some questions
Louisiana Believes In That?
Crazy Crawfish is after Jindal and White again.
And who can blame him?
These guys are almost beyond parody.
They have another wacky idea about education that will make someone very rich.
The kids–not so much.
And who can blame him?
These guys are almost beyond parody.
They have another wacky idea about education that will make someone very rich.
The kids–not so much.
How Testing Has Corrupted Education
EduShyster has written one of the most disturbing posts ever.
It is about the business of raising “achievement.”
It is about how “achievement” refers not to accomplishment or courage or integrity or grace under pressure, but….test scores.
It is about how the business of raising test scores is
It is about the business of raising “achievement.”
It is about how “achievement” refers not to accomplishment or courage or integrity or grace under pressure, but….test scores.
It is about how the business of raising test scores is
Silence of the TFA Lambs
Gary Rubinstein wonders why so many of TFA’s new teachers have been so quiet, not blogging about their first-year experiences. He gets a ton of responses.
Is this, he wonders, the silence of the sacrificial lambs?
Is this, he wonders, the silence of the sacrificial lambs?
When Your Best Is Never Enough
Diana Rogers, a regular reader of the blog, writes about her experience and her school:
I’ve worked for twenty years in a district that has a wonderful staff. There have been a few unsuitable teachers throughout the years, and the administration had no trouble identifying them and getting rid of them; a few others who just needed a bit of guidance were mentored and became better teachers.
I know I have become a better teacher each year, and I have worked hard at becoming better–taken 65 semester hours of post-graduate work, attended numerous workshops and seminars, read professional books and journals. But more important, I learned from my students and their parents, and from my colleagues. I did not “peak” after
I’ve worked for twenty years in a district that has a wonderful staff. There have been a few unsuitable teachers throughout the years, and the administration had no trouble identifying them and getting rid of them; a few others who just needed a bit of guidance were mentored and became better teachers.
I know I have become a better teacher each year, and I have worked hard at becoming better–taken 65 semester hours of post-graduate work, attended numerous workshops and seminars, read professional books and journals. But more important, I learned from my students and their parents, and from my colleagues. I did not “peak” after
Who Is Buying Your Data?
A reader offers these comments:
“Teachers are ‘free’ to teach ‘personally’ “… that is if we and our kids are willing to sell their identity for products and to data consolidators.
We need to stop web-based education. Period. Dangerous stuff. Incorrect and manipulated numbers that will cause kids to fail, teachers to be fired, schools to close, communities to wither…
Financial and societal costs that we can’t begin to imagine.
I am reading a book titled “I Know Who You Are And I Saw What You Did; Social Networks and the Death of
“Teachers are ‘free’ to teach ‘personally’ “… that is if we and our kids are willing to sell their identity for products and to data consolidators.
We need to stop web-based education. Period. Dangerous stuff. Incorrect and manipulated numbers that will cause kids to fail, teachers to be fired, schools to close, communities to wither…
Financial and societal costs that we can’t begin to imagine.
I am reading a book titled “I Know Who You Are And I Saw What You Did; Social Networks and the Death of
Deshotels: Telling the Truth about Teacher Reforms in Louisiana
My guest blogger today is Mike Deshotels of Louisiana.
Deshotels taught Chemistry and Physics at Zachary High School near Baton Rouge starting in 1966. He served as Research Director for the Louisiana Association of Educators and moved to the position of Executive Director for the LAE/NEA before retiring. He now writes a blog called The Louisiana Educator. The site is louisianaeducator.blogspot.com.
Here he explains how Governor Bobby Jindal is reforming the teaching profession in Louisiana.
The Truth About
Deshotels taught Chemistry and Physics at Zachary High School near Baton Rouge starting in 1966. He served as Research Director for the Louisiana Association of Educators and moved to the position of Executive Director for the LAE/NEA before retiring. He now writes a blog called The Louisiana Educator. The site is louisianaeducator.blogspot.com.
Here he explains how Governor Bobby Jindal is reforming the teaching profession in Louisiana.
The Truth About
Susan Ohanian on Common Core Standards
If you don’t like the Common Core standards, you will enjoy reading Susan Ohanian’s blast at them.
Ohanian thinks that the CC is a massive error at best, a sordid conspiracy by the elites at worst.
What do you think?
Ohanian thinks that the CC is a massive error at best, a sordid conspiracy by the elites at worst.
What do you think?
Diane in the Evening 2-5-13 Diane Ravitch's blog
Diane Ravitch's blog: Who Abandoned Detroit? by dianerav Marcie Lippsett writes about the bipartisan failure to save Detroit. The public schools of Detroit, like those of Muskegon Heights and Highland Park, have been put under the unilateral rule of an Emergency Manager appointed by the governor. In the latter two districts, the public schools were abolished, and the children were given to a for-profit charter chain. In Detroit, public education is being privatized and snuffed out with all deliberate speed. All of these districts are majority black, which perhaps made it easi... more »
