Big Education Ape: 10-26-13 Radical Scholarship

On Children and Kindness: A Principled Rejection of “No Excuses”

In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. —Thomas Jefferson The Furman University spring commencement in 2008 was mostly overshadowed by two events—the speech presented by President George W. Bush and the protest and controversy surrounding that speech in the weeks leading up to and during the speech. A concurrent controversy to Bush’s commencement add

6 by plthomasedd / 26min

When a “Visit” Trumps Expertise and Experience: A New Deal

I have already addressed the distortions and outright misinformation in a new piece on Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) charter schools. But a few issues raised in this claim of a “softer” side to “no excuses” practices need to be addressed more fully. I have discovered that “no excuses” advocates now routinely push any critics about whether or not the critic has visited a KIPP school; note this

5 by plthomasedd / 17h

OCT 24

Methinks KIPP Advocates Protest Too Much

Methinks KIPP Advocates Protest Too Much via Methinks KIPP Advocates Protest Too Much.

1 by plthomasedd / 1d

The U.S. Formula for Children and the Choices We Refuse to Make

The formula for children in the U.S. can be summed up in one word, I think: “harsh.” And the response we should have to this formula is “inexcusable.” Let’s consider the U.S. formula for children: Corporal punishment—persists in 19 states in the U.S. Medication—ADHD diagnoses and medications have risen in the U.S. during the same 30-year period as the current accountability era in education. Grad

15 by plthomasedd / 1d

OCT 23

Beyond Doing the Wrong Thing the Right Way

My nephew is in elementary school, and my parents drive him to school each morning and arrive at his school an hour or two before school lets out each afternoon. This is a rural community in the South where many family members do the same—surrounding the school well before dismissal and often socializing. Recently, my mother told me about parents of a child at that school who are refusing to allow

12 by plthomasedd / 2d

Gaiman, Prisons, Literacy, and the Problems with Satire

Regarding my recent blog about Neil Gaiman for Secretary of Education (and the edited version at The Answer Sheet), Ken Libby took me to task on Twitter for, among other things, Gaiman’s comment about prisons and literacy: I was once in New York, and I listened to a talk about the building of private prisons – a huge growth industry in America. The prison industry needs to plan its future growth –

5 by plthomasedd / 2d

Pop Culture and the Mutant Narrative: X-Men Endure

The late 1930s and early 1940s birthed the superhero comic book fascination that despite several bumps along the way has endured into the twenty-first century where superhero films are huge box-office successes and pop culture gold mines. In both the comic book and film universes, superhero reboots are common: Batman, Superman, and Spider-Man have all experienced revised origins in the pages of th

3 by plthomasedd / 2d

OCT 22

Medicating ADHD in the Brave New World of High-Stakes Accountability

Miranda: O wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, That has such people in’t. —William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act V, Scene I, ll. 203–206 —– Utopias seem much more attainable than one may have previously thought. And we are now faced with a much more frightening thought: how do we prevent their permanent fulfillment?…Utopias are attainable

13 by plthomasedd / 3d

FedEd Celebrating Holidays with TFA Donations

FedEd Celebrating Holidays with TFA Donations.

1 by plthomasedd / 4d

OCT 21

Aren’t All Children Equally Deserving?

Aren’t All Children Equally Deserving?.

by plthomasedd / 4d

An Industry of Mediocrity?: How about Journalism?

An Industry of Mediocrity?: How about Journalism?.

by plthomasedd / 4d

OCT 19

Author Neil Gaiman for U.S. education secretary?

Author Neil Gaiman for U.S. education secretary?.

by plthomasedd / 6d

Scarcity: A Few Thoughts While Reading

Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much, Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir Having bought Scarcity several weeks ago, I have finally begun reading, and while I anticipate using this work in my scholarship and blogging once I have finished, I feel compelled to offer some evolving thoughts as I read. My interest in the book is grounded in my own work on the relationship between poverty/affl

13 by plthomasedd / 6d mark as read // save

Who Should Listen to Melinda Gates about Education?

Who Should Listen to Melinda Gates about Education?.

7 by plthomasedd / 7d

The U.S. Formula for Children and the Choices We Refuse to Make | Public School Shakedown

1 by P. L. Thomas / 1h