A Science Teacher Writes to President Obama: Stop!
This letter was posted as a comment: “I just sent the following post to the White House: Dear David Simas, I have supported President Obama and the Democratic Party for some time. However, I’m totally fed up and dismayed by Arne Duncan and the US Department of Education’s assault on Public Education in America. There are a lot of subjects I don’t have much in-depth knowledge about. However, I have
Reader: The New York Times Violated Its Own Guidelines
A reader posted this comment in response to the article in the New York Times that was a profile of me: I wrote to the Times public editor. The “portrait” twice quotes unnamed “critics”, a practice I believe is forbidden under NYT editorial rules. The language used is loaded. Her words on her blog are “barbed” and convey “righteous anger”. She displays a “quick temper” and “skewers” individuals.
Herb Bassett: Why Louisiana’s Teacher Evaluation Is Invalid
Herb Bassett is a teacher in Louisiana. He teaches music, but like Jersey Jazzman, has the ability to understand statistics and how they work in real classrooms. This is a letter that he wrote about Louisiana’s new teacher evaluation system, which is as incoherent as teacher evaluation systems in other states: State Superintendent John White showed his true colors when he recently praised four F
Susan Ohanian: 28 Questions About Common Core
Susan Ohanian addressed this letter to the top officials of the state of Vermont. She asks straightforward questions about the claims made for Common Core: what is the evidence? Who wrote them? Where is TE evidence that Vermont schools were doing a poor job? What will it cost to implement the Common Core? What makes the new assessments better than current ones? Bottom line: where is the evidence?
California Ignores Duncan Ultimatum
When California officials decided to skip its regular state tests while making the transition to the new Common Core tests, Secretary Arne Duncan warned them that he wouldn’t permit it. California’s leaders ignored Duncan’s warnings and threats. The state legislature passed the legislation to suspend the state tests. What a paradox! No one has p us he’d harder for states to adopt the Common Core
Who ARE Those Guys? Do They Know Everything?
Butch Cassidy asked the Sundance Kid about their pursuers, “Who ARE those guys?” We could well ask the same about the posse now hoping to standardize the nation’s children and teachers. What qualifies Governor Cuomo, Chancellor King, and those others who are cheerleaders for the Common Core (e.g., Joel Klein, Jeb Bush, Michelle Rhee, Arne Duncan, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce) to know what children
Tennessee Superintendents Speak Out Against Kevin Huffman
Nearly half the superintendents in the state of Tennessee took the unusual step of signing a letter in opposition to State Commissioner Kevin Huffman. They were clearly frustrated by Huffman’s arrogant style of leadership. Huffman was chosen to be state commissioner even though he has only three years of experience as a teacher in Teach for America and no administrative experience. When he was hir
New Report: Race to the Top Is “Impossible” and “Damaging”
The Broader Bolder Approach released a 100-page report in conjunction with the American Association of School Administrators lambasting the Obama administration’s Race to the Top program. RTTT’s goals are “impossible” and may even be damaging schools, the report said. RTTT handed out $4.35 billion to 11 states to implement changes for which there was no evidence, like test-based teacher evaluation
Diane in the Evening 9-12-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: John Merrow: Why He Won’t Cover Rhee AnymoreJohn Merrow of PBS helped to make Michelle Rhee the national face of the privatization movement (often mistakenly called the “reform” movement). Merrow featured her on national television a dozen times, often adoringly. Like many others, he was impressed by her tough talk. But he came to
