Latest News and Comment from Education

Saturday, September 21, 2013

9-21-13 Schools Matter

Schools Matter:

 


$27.50 paper


Achievement School District Responds
Jeremy Jones, one of the bristly, high-T clones of the Ahievement School District administration (see pics above and tell me which one is Jeremy), sent the following comment to my post yesterday on the ASD corporate corruptionism going on in Nashville and Memphis, as the poorest public schools are labeled "Priority" before being auctioned off to charter chain gang operators:It is incredi

TN Achievement School Distict Official Granted Charter Approval by TN Achievement School District
Posted at Memphis Schools Matter:After Bobby White got national attention on Fox & Friends by enforcing a ban on baggy pants at Westside Middle School in Memphis, where he was principal a couple of years back, White has become the darling of the State-funded effort to corporatize and charterize Memphis schools, per the Bill Gates design.White has his own consulting business, has hired on as Di
The Greed of Big Pharma + Total Compliance Reformer Schools = More Child Doping
From Alternet, a clip from an excerpt of this book:Prices of ADHD meds at the middle dose for ninety pills on Drugstore.com in 2011 were Concerta, $540; Vyvanse, $532; Intuniv, $500; Adderall, $278; and Ritalin, $191. The price of the most common antidepressants, like Prozac, Celexa, Lexapro, Zoloft, Cymbalta, and Wellbutrin, for ninety pills, was around $380. Two of the drugs prescribed to Rebecc
Innovation? No Thank You
There is a problem with really successful people: They tend to believe they are incredibly capable in every field, and that most other people are not.Success is a deluding experience, and if there is anything that innovators are, it is delusional—delusional that being innovative is greater than having field experience or expertise.In education reform, delusion is rampant. And the key source of all
Why Didn't School "Reformers" Respect Dunbar High School's History?
Alison Stewart’s First Class begins with her mother, Carol Stewart, as she watches the inauguration of President Barack Obama. Carol, a retired biology teacher, marvels, “What a magnificent display of what Homo Sapiens is capable of in his most civilized state?” That evening, when asked about Washington D.C.’s Dunbar High School marching band, Carol comments, “I can’t believe those girls were swit
The Unmeasurable, Untestable You
I think you will agree that the following absolutely negates the "value" of the findings of any "standardized" testing in schools (and anywhere else for that matter)...or rather, it encourages us to understand the value of testing as producing outcomes that benefit those implementing the testing.  That is to say, testing does not serve to illuminate intrinsic "failures&quo

SEP 19

TMoE Excerpt
Posted some days ago @thechalkface:Part of the story we tell in TMoE focuses on how value-added modeling (VAM) grew up out of the backwoods of Tennessee to become an essential component of the national Common Core testing delivery engine that now appears to be running on fumes way short of its destination.Had anyone at the Gates Foundation or ED cared enough about how VAM has affected learning in
Achievement Gap? Nope, parts 1 and 2
The term “achievement gap” is misleading and thus one of the problems with the education reform debate.Please see the following posts addressing why:Achievement Gap Misnomer for Equity Gap, pt. 1Achievement Gap Misnomer for Equity Gap, pt. 2
New Report on Race to the Top Finds Many Wrecks in the Ditch or Over the Cliff
EPI and The Broader, Bolder Approach have an important important report on how things are going with Race to the Top (RTTT), or as it may be more aptly known, HUAP (Hurry Up and Privatize).  In examining what the states have done to get some of Arne's 3.4 billion bucks, the authors find confusion, conflict, corruptionism, confoundedness, and cautious dread (that's as optimistic as it gets in RTTT
Alison Stewart's Great History of D.C.'s Dunbar High School
Alison Stewart's First Class brings us full circle. Actually, Stewart guides us through a variety of recurring social, moral, and educational cycles that undoubtedly will continue to repeat themselves in one way or another. Her history of the rise and fall of Washington D.C.'s elite Dunbar High School tells a story that cannot be ignored if we really believe that education can be the civil rights
Alison Stewart's History of Dunbar H.S. Is a Must Read
Alison Stewart's First Class brings us full circle. Actually, Stewart guides us through a variety of recurring social, moral, and educational cycles that undoubtedly will continue to repeat themselves in one way or another. Her history of the rise and fall of Washington D.C.'s elite Dunbar High School tells a story that cannot be ignored if we really believe that education can be the civil rights
Alison Stewart's Great History of D.C.'s Dunbar High School
Alison Stewart’s First Class brings us full circle. Actually, Stewart guides us through a variety of recurring social, moral, and educational cycles that undoubtedly will continue to repeat themselves in one way or another. Her history of the rise and fall of Washington D.C.’s elite Dunbar High School tells a story that cannot be ignored if we really believe that education can be the civil rights
Alison Stewart's First Class is a Must Read
Alison Stewart’s First Class brings us full circle. Actually, Stewart guides us through a variety of recurring social, moral, and educational cycles that undoubtedly will continue to repeat themselves in one way or another. Her history of the rise and fall of Washington D.C.’s elite Dunbar High School tells a story that cannot be ignored if we really believe that education can be the civil rights

SEP 18

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EPI and The Broader, Bolder Approach have an important important report on how things are going with Race to the Top (RTTT), or as it may be more aptly known, HUAP (Hurry Up and Privatize).  In examining what the states have done to get some of Arne's 3.4 billion bucks, the authors find confusion, conflict, corruptionism, confoundedness, and cautious dread (that's as optimistic as it gets in RTTT
Pooh’s Little Instruction Book for Teachers
 by Susan Ohanian1. When waking in the morning, if your first thought is, “I wonder what’s going to happen exciting today?” it’s unlikely you’ll find it in your Plan Book.2. When you’ve been following your Lesson Plan for miles, and you suddenly stop for breath and a student says, “Do you want to hear why the chicken crossed the road?” then you know it’s a Friendly Day.3. If you plant an acorn, i
George Schmidt's Review of The Mismeasure of Education
We are back home!, and I have to say it feels pretty good.  The folks over at Chalkface are great, and we had a great time there, but you know there's no place like home, right? So we will be here at SM until we win, and then we will continue to be here to defend democratic public schools until death do us part.We are gratified to see that our followers have actually increased since we left and th