Corporate Education’s Friend, Randi Weingarten
Diane Ravitch has at her blog an unmoving tribute to her friendship with Randi Weingarten, and AFT is soaking it for all it’s worth in their most recent newsletter. After all, if there is one name that most teachers trust to do what she thinks is right, it is Diane Ravitch. If Diane thinks […]
@educationweek reports tougher standards for #teacherprep. Is #TFA included in this?
Education week is reporting that some stricter standards are coming to teacher preparation. I’m not linking the article because, well, I don’t want to give them more traffic. Nevertheless, I am wondering if these new criteria will apply to TFA, which in some cases is actually permitted to train and certify educators. Will NCTQ evaluate […]
Idaho Approves TFA for "Teacher Training"
Reblogged from Diane Ravitch's blog: Idaho just recently approved Teach for America as a "state sanctioned vehicle for the preparation of teachers in Idaho." At first I thought this was an April Fools joke but it isn't April. The weakest aspect of TFA claims is its "preparation" of teachers in only five weeks. If that […]
Solutions for Closing the Opportunity Gap
Paul Tough, who was predisposed to support the contemporary school reform movement, nailed the reason why it failed. Accountability-driven “reform” was a result of “liberal posttraumatic shock” from abandoning the War on Poverty. In fact, we did not lose the war against poverty, but its inconclusive result undermined the confidence of progressives. Besides, the liberal […]
Questions about your little opt-out panel too, @dfer_news @educationgadfly
I know Jim Horn addressed this the other day. I’m glad he did because I was unaware. Hopefully some of my questions will be answered when I attend this event since it’s close to where I live. For now, I am wondering: Why are there no actual educators on this panel? I mean, maybe I did […]
The doctor-teacher analogy rides again!
This latest contribution to the anthology of comparison between doctors and teachers, from Rick Ayers. This is mine, from 2011. Just imagine for a moment. Given this country’s obesity epidemic and the rising rates of diabetes, certain cancers, and heart disease, our physicians have failed. In order to hold them accountable, we should judge them […]
Microsoft Gives Spy Agencies Encryption Codes for Email, Chat, Skype, and Cloud Storage
These are the people who are at the forefront of developing data surveillance systems for every aspect of your child’s education. James Risen has the story for the NYTimes, which appeared first in The Guardian. A clip: WASHINGTON — Microsoft has collaborated with the National Security Agency more extensively than it previously acknowledged, providing the […]
7-11-13 Schools Matter @ The Chalk Face
SCHOOLS MATTER @ THE CHALK FACE: The Charter Real Estate MobThe long Team Obama continues to pour hundreds of millions each year down the segregated corporate charter school rabbit hole, the deeper and more entrenched will the network of corporate charter gangsters get. Jersey Jazzman has a must read here. Photo below from his post (enlarge by clicking): by Jim Horn / 13min7-10-13 Schools Matte