Schools Matter:
Schools Matter
Are Americans reading less?
Sent to the New York Daily News, Sept. 27, 2013The Daily News reported that "Less than half of Americans read for fun last year, National Endowment for the Arts survey shows" (Sept. 26).This is not quite accurate.The NEA reported that 54.5% of those surveyed said they read at least one book last year, nearly identical to the results of the 2008 survey. About 47% said they read at least
K-12NN Founder's Open letter to the President, entreating him to read Professor Ravitch
You would come to allow — or steer — some of the worst policies to undermine, weaken, and privatize public education through your appointee, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Those babies and toddlers you kissed grew up some, and are now entering kindergarten and first grade. In some states, children as young as first grade might be taking tests on art instead of actually creating art, or doing
Why SAT scores have declined.
Sent to the Christian Science Monitor There are two possible reasons for the decline of SAT scores ("As college-prep test scores falter, how the US can respond," Sept. 26).One possibility, suggested by FairTest, is that the massive invasion of high-stakes tests that began with No Child Left Behind has not worked. Another, according to an analysis by Seton Hall Professor Christopher Tienk
SEP 26
Education Carnage in the City of Brotherly Love
Now the slow starvation has become a complete denial of life support for Philadelphia’s public schools. - Ken Derstine, Philadelphia Education Crisis Highlights at pa.ed.crisis@gmail.com Here's a glimpse of what it looks like in cities and towns across the country as public schools starved for funds and resources are taken over and privatized by for profit charters. Different faces, different plac
We Are Required By Law to Report Suspected Child Abuse
Diane Ravitch posted a father's letter about his daughter's first test in kindergarten, a letter I hope everyone will read. It seems to me to require action that is mandated by law, which will prove to be a very effective strategy for bringing this insanity to an end. I have been wondering for a long time where are the health professionals, who should be calling this out for what it is: child ab
Research proven: School Libraries and Free Voluntary Reading. Unproven and expensive: CCSS and iPads
Research proven: School Libraries & Free Voluntary Reading. Unproven and expensive: #CCSS & iPads. #LAUSD @skrashen pic.twitter.com/Cg2z5Z7uxM— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) September 26, 2013 The former means engaged critical thinking, but the latter leads to more corporate profits and increased market share for PSO, AAPL, MHGE, NWSA, and others. The Power of Reading : Insights from the
SEP 25
Bill and Melinda Gates Money at Work
by Susan OhanianHe's back! Who knew that Jonah Edelman is alive and well--and pumping the Common Core! I stumbled on this information by way of a Tweet by Vicki Phillips, Director of Education - College Ready at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, who issued two shout outs in praise of Edelman's work--a Huffington Post piece One Thing All Parents Should Know about the CommonCore, in which Ed
Cash Cow $tate $tandards
With all due respect to Joanne Yatvin, who has made important contributions to NCTE and to literacy (notably her work confronting the flawed National Reading Panel), this is why we cannot be fatalistic about Cash Cow $tate $tandards:CC$ advocacy is being driven by corporate interests, the allure of money to be made.If no one could profit from CC$ or the tests, if no one could build political capit
United Opt Out Helps Get Folks United Against Common Core
From Wisconsin Reporter:By Ryan Ekvall | Wisconsin ReporterMADISON — An unlikely alliance of progressives and tea party activists have found common ground in opposing Common Core State Standards in Wisconsin — even as the political elite on both sides support the new standards that are quickly spreading through schools.Standing in the hallway that separates Assembly Majority Leader Robin Vos, R-Ro
Turning Schools into a "Cheaters' Paradise"
James Owens’ Confessions of a Bad Teacher is full of the big lies of urban education that are the essence of school “reform.” The single most destructive deceit in inner city schools is the claim that individual teachers with “expectations” do not need disciplinary backing by administrators. Since long before I entered teaching, every system I heard of had its equivalent of “the most important and
"A Time Comes When Silence Is Betrayal"
Michelle Newsum, Oregon Reading AssociationVoices“A time comes when silence is betrayal.” ~Martin Luther King Junior April 4, 1967I was silent when NCLB was enacted. I knew full well the mandates were ludicrous. As a result of this legislation, many good schools, especially schools that housed poor kids, suffered unnecessary pain, shame and absurd sanctions when their special education po
SEP 24
Diane Ravitch Is More than a Writer of Books
On Diane Ravitch: A Brief EssayJim HornOn September 18, Joe Bowers listed 33 reviews of Diane Ravitch’s new book, Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s Public Schools. Since then, many other reviews have appeared, including a very substantial one by George Schmidt at Substance News. Please see Joe’s list for some very good play-by-play reviews.
Children should not be allowed to behave like children
Testing will finally put an end to all the kindergarten tomfoolery. Published in the Statesman Journal (Oregon), Sept 17, 2013It's wonderful to know that children in Oregon will be tested on a uniform test just after starting kindergarten ("Oregon kindergartners tested to help gauge first steps in school," Sept 9).Testing at the beginning of kindergarten testing will ensure that preschoo
The missing core
The core of all successful literacy programsSent to the Greenville (South Carolina) News, Sept. 23, 2013."Education officials hope new reading program will put students on track to success," (Sept. 21) does not mention the one essential ingredient in all programs aiming to improve literacy: Access to interesting books. There is massive evidence that self-selected reading, or reading what
Why Poverty Matters and Is an Excuse
Diane Ravitch has been getting a lot of press lately as she tours the country promoting her latest book, Reign of Error, The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America's Public Schools. The book's popularity is sending shockwaves through the corporate ed deformer community who thought they could continue their smoke and mirrors show that started more than three decades ago. Howev
If You Ask, They Will Answer
I have recently asked, Whatever Happened to Scientifically Based Research in Education Policy?And it appears that the USDOE has come forward with an answer, as reported by Valerie Strauss:The U.S. Education Department routinely awards millions of dollars in grants to states and organizations, but it seems that it doesn’t have enough money to maintain its “Doing What Works” Web site.... The site ha
SEP 23
More From Jeremy at ASD Responding to My Education Agenda
Jeremy had some responses to my earlier 7 points for improving schools:1) socioeconomically integrate the schools (biggest bang for the achievement buck ever);2) return public schools to the public, rather than handing them over to corporations;3) extend Medicaid to poor students;4) demand more qualified teachers, rather than replacing teachers with unprepared temps from TFA;5) base curriculum and
Florida Becomes #4 to Withdraw from Corporate Common Core
First there were Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Missouri. Now you can add Florida as the latest state to withdraw from PARCC, with bills pending in Michigan and Ohio. Meanwhile, Arne Duncan creates a straw man and labels it a liar in order to cover his own mendacity. No one is claiming that ED wrote or mandated the Rotted Common Core, but we are claiming that ED was in total agreement with the cont
Why Daniel Elsener Must Be Removed from the Indiana State Board Of Education Now
Below are more than enough reasons why Daniel Elsener needs removed from the Indiana State Board of Education now. This information comes from my soon-to-be-released book, Hoosier School Heist. Below the entry please also read the statement from the Education Community Action Team & Parent Power Indianapolis, and be sure to email the necessary individuals listed below to voice your protest a
Evidence for My School Priorities
Someone asked, and please include your name if you want your comment printed, to provide evidence that my "fixes" could work better than another generation of the corporate status quo based on more testing accountability, segregation, and blaming teachers. I will start with the first one:1) socioeconomically integrate the schools (biggest bang for the achievement buck ever);Find blog pos
ASD Follows Up Again on Charter Corruptionist Story
The ASD remains in response mode to this story and its follow-up, and as long as they are, we will remain responsive to them. Jeremy seems to remain confused about what a corporate charter school is:1. if by "corporate" you mean the literal definition of a group of people authorized by law to function as a single entity, then i'll submit to your definition. however, the conspiracy theor
SEP 22
Nicholas Lemann on Michelle Rhee
The New Republic has published an astute and nuanced view of CorpEd's Queen of Venom, Michelle Rhee. As may be expected, it took someone not on the neo-lib NR payroll to do this act of journalistic honesty. by Nicholas Lemann The other day I picked up a copy of The Adventures of Augie March. I hadn’t remembered that Saul Bellow, writing in the early 1950s, when he was not yet forty, about Chicago
Attention NC Teenagers: This Is What Racist Adults in Your State Don't Want You to Know about Ralph Ellison
Sixty years after winning the National Book Award for fiction in 1953, Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man has been banned by school board members (Board Chair Tommy McDonald and members Tracy Boyles, Gary Cook, Matthew Lambeth and Gary Mason) in Randolph County, NC. The decision ran counter to two review committee recommendations that considered the complaint against the book prior to passing the issu
Attention NC Teenagers: This Is What Racist Adults in Your State Don't Want You to Know about Ralph Ellison
Sixty years after winning the National Book Award for fiction in 1953, Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man has been banned by school board members (Board Chair Tommy McDonald and members Tracy Boyles, Gary Cook, Matthew Lambeth and Gary Mason) in Randolph County, NC. The decision ran counter to two review committee recommendations that considered the complaint against the book prior to passing the issu
Schools Matter Welcomes Doug Martin!
Doug Martin’s Hoosier School Heist will be published by Brooks Publications in December. Martin’s exposures of the corporate takeover of public education have appeared or been referenced in the Washington Post Answer Sheet, the Associated Press, Diane Ravitch's Blog, and other places. Martin holds a PhD in literary prosody and nineteenth-century American literature from Oklahoma State University
EPSLP: College Ready? Alliance Charter Corporation's big scam
First published on Echo Park Patch on September 20, 2013 "If the American public understood that reformers want to privatize their public schools and divert their taxes to pay profits to investors, it would be hard to sell the corporate idea of reform." — Professor Diane Ravitch "However, within this market, competition exists in several forms" — (Alliance CRPS Corporation's
Trinational protest at Mexican Consulate in solidarity with CNTE
Protesting education neoliberalism across borders. En solidaridad con Los maestros de Mexico! #lausd pic.twitter.com/t8sunJeLP6— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) September 21, 2013 On Friday, September 20, 2013 the Trinational Coalition To Defend Public Education organized a demonstration in front of the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles in solidarity with our sisters and brothers in Mexico to protest
SEP 21
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