Teach for America and Noble St Charter Schools: A Dangerous Combination
Recently, the director of Teach for America Chicago, Josh Anderson, wrote a response to the excellent exposé Edushyster posted regarding TFA Chicago’s role in charter school expansion. Edushyster’s–or should I proudly say Jennifer C. Berkshire‘s–piece was entitled “Is TFA Undermining the Chicago Public Schools.” (The answer is “yes,” if you were wondering…) And she writes: When news […]
Gates Money and Common Core– Part III
My first post on Gates and his Common Core State Standards (CCSS) spending includes information on his paying millions to the four key organizations involved in composing CCSS as well as to key education organizations and think tanks for their endorsement. My second post of this series examines Gates money paid to organizations influencing state departments and local school districts for the purpo
Armored Backpacks the Latest Back to School Craze
From a report on MSNBC today: Get your armored backpack and bullet proof vest, it’s sure to provide much value added and raise test scores by taking out the fear of being shot. TODAY | September 11, 2013 Bulletproof school supplies aim to keep kids safe Companies like Hardwire LLC. are introducing a new trend to the […]
Most Credible VAM Argument Is 0%
At the Shanker Institute, a debate about value-added methods (VAM) for teacher evaluation was detailed on Twitter (@shankerinst), including comments from Tom Kane (Harvard) who makes two comments worth noting: Shanker Institute @shankerinst Kane: Need to move from talking about WHETHER to use value-added and more about HOW to do so. #VAMuses Shanker Institute @shankerinst Kane: Nobody […]
Let’s Get Serious and Adopt the Mexican Model for Educator Resistance
How much abuse, derogation, impugning, hostility, and professional savaging will it take for American teachers to respond like those in Mexico, where teachers have been engaged in civil disobedience on an unprecedented scale during the past week. Now in reaction to a corporate education reform plan, the teachers are now calling for a national strike today […]
9-10-13 Schools Matter @ The Chalk Face
SCHOOLS MATTER @ THE CHALK FACE: Ilana Horn: Recipe for InequalityRecipe for inequality* 1. Find a metric that correlates to poverty. 2. Use it to measure quality. 3. Find that high poverty schools are bad. 4. Make schools’ resources dependent on quality. 5. Allow affluent to develop other revenue for their schools. 6. Close schools in poverty. 7. Justify school closures in high poverty neighborho