Paul Thomas: Shame on You, State Superintendent Zais!
Paul Thomas here describes how Mick Zais, state superintendent of South Carolina, misleads the public about the condition of education in his state, about how schools succeed, and what is needed to help them improve. Having found a high-poverty district that has higher-than-expected test scores, Zais uses this district to push the corporate reform agenda: Success is all about merit pay and “no exc
This Video Explains What Is Wrong with American Education
This is a video that uses the music of “Alice’s Restaurant.” It is filled with every bit of jargon and pedagogical nonsense that is now official policy in New York state and the nation. Watch this, listen to the steady flow of mandates, bureaucratese, official baloney, data-driven evaluation, and ask yourself: What does any of this verbal trash have to do with education? How does it relate to thin
Duncan: Students with Disabilities Should Take Same Exams
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan wants students with disabilities to take the same standardized tests as students without disabilities, reports Joy Resmovits at Huffington Post. The change “could have profound effects on some of the nation’s most vulnerable learners.” “Since President Barack Obama came into office, his administration has upheld and advanced policies that have increased the stak
Robert Scott: Ways to Reduce the Cost and Increase the Value of Higher Education
Robert Scott is president of Adelphi College in Long Island, New York. Here, he offers his ideas about how to strengthen higher education and direct federal aid more thoughtfully to students. First, he suggests a year of mandatory national service in communities after high school graduation. Rationale: This service year would help young people develop knowledge, skills, abilities and values outsid
Charter Schools in Ohio: No Better than Public Schools
Reformers love to test and rate and grade and rank everyone and everything: students, teachers, schools, etc. They love school report cards–where schools are assigned a single letter grade–because it sets up the D and F schools to be closed, then privatized. This enables them to churn the schools and introduce the principle of constant disruption, their favorite state of being. Disruption, you see
Congratulations, John Owen, “Bad Teacher” of the Year!
A terrific interview in USA Today with John Owen, who patiently explains what is really happening today in education. A sample: Q: You call yourself a “bad” teacher. When did this idea first occur to you? A: I was a bad teacher because I was a teacher. Today, “bad teacher” and “teacher” have become almost interchangeable. Listen to billionaire “visionaries” such as Bill Gates and Michael Bloom
David Sirota: How to Solve the College Debt Problem
David Sirota has a thoughtful and provocative column in Salon in which he argues that access to college has become so important that college should be funded like high school. In other words, public institutions of higher education should be paid for by taxes so that higher education is accessible and does not burden students with a mountain of debt. Citing Matt Taibbi, Sirota writes: “…economic a
China Adopts Ten Commandments of Education Reform, Reduces Testing
Yong Zhao, who was born and educated in China and is now a professor at the University of Oregon, reports on China’s new education reform plans To relieve the pressure on young children and to encourage creativity, China is reducing testing, homework, and tracking Yong Zhao reports: “No standardized tests, no written homework, no tracking. These are some of the new actions Chin
Diane in the Evening 8-26-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Special Education in New Orleans: “Thoroughly Broken”Lance Hill, a New Orleans civil rights activist, describes the ongoing debacle of special education in that city. The Southern Poverty Law Center sued the state in 2010 for pervasive discrimination against students with special needs. Just recently, SPLC filed another suit agains
