All Week @ THE CHALK FACE
Ravitch’s Realistic Assessment of 2013 NAEP Results and Reform “Success”
In his smug review of education historian Diane Ravitch’s November 8, 2013, questioning of the inconsistencies in 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results as an indicator that the corporate reform agenda is “working”– I use the term ”working” loosely since corporate reform has narrowed academic “success” to the almighty test score– StudentsFirst (don’t let the […]
At the Chalk Face brings it home again…
Another great set of studio shows in the can after a couple of days in Madison, WI, interviewing Karen Lewis, Ruth Conniff, a parent opt-out activist, Pasi Sahlberg, and a great hourlong chat with Nancy Carlsson-Paige. This WILL be syndicated. Soon.
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If you listen to the buzz coming from the airwaves about education reform these days, you may notice that many things are starting to sound much too familiar–some even vomit-inducingly so. It’s almost as if someone gave the spokespeople from state education departments, private curriculum and testing firms, and astroturf groups the same script and […]
Hello, America!! As I sit here enjoying the 86 degree daily sunshine & palm trees in Dubai, UAE, I am thinking of my friends and family in Boston, where I understand winter is upon them. As much as I continue to be homesick, I do not miss the impending winter weather, and have decided to […]
On twitter recently I spotted a post from a Common Core supporter that implies that the new standards will solve our problems when it comes to history instruction in our schools. Here we have another CCLS advocate who ignores the reality in our schools: In this era of high-stakes testing what is tested will determine what is taught. […]
YESTERDAY
You Cannot Reform Education With One Eye Closed
You cannot reform education with one eye closed. The mantra of “teacher quality” reduces the profession to the traditional four walls of a classroom. Unfortunately, our students deserve more than just a teacher. Rather than place unnecessary burdens on teachers, education reformers must encourage teachers to maximize their influence in every child’s life. Placing too […]
NOV 14
Cheng’s Views on Chinese and American Education
We live in a time in which the worship of test scores has bred an unprecedented, obsessive desire among corporate reformers to best other countries on international tests. I supposed such would somehow permanently etch into the world consciousness that the United States truly is ”the” world power to be reckoned with. Thus, any time international test results become available, […]
Lesson plans: Something scripted, something borrowed, something new. #ShareMyLesson
Today I was preparing a sub plans for next week and read Shaun Johnson’s piece about lesson plan books during my lunch period. I know I will be out for a morning next week for some dental work so I am getting my lesson plans set for the day I will be absent. Any teacher […]
This is bad @waldenu, very bad. Why would you do this? #phd
Earn a #PhD in #Education online, on your own time. Find out how we can help you! http://t.co/oeh5Cy3Skg — Walden University (@WaldenU) October 10, 2013 Tagged: online, phd, walden
As promised, a deeply personal and private look at (GASP!) my plan book #edchat @rweingarten #sharemylesson
Gazing into the educator’s plan book is a highly uncommon occurrence, and I say this with just a hint of sarcasm. I don’t really know why it’s so deeply personal, seems silly, but it really is very personal. I hear and read quite a bit about lesson plans for this and that. Templates for, of […]
21st Century Numbers Games
I remember vividly the moment I fell out of love with numbers. First semester of my freshman year of college, I sat in the weekly fourth hour of calculus set aside as a test period. I was reading a question that was something about shooting a bullet in a vacuum, and the only response I […]
Shhh: No Yelling Allowed
Have you ever worked in a public school where teachers often yelled at students? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen educators yell at students. Now, before you think I’m completely innocent, I can assure you, I’m not. I’ve had several “bad teacher moments” too. However, after a few years of observing my […]
NOV 13
Guest Post by Adam Bessie. Resist the Feed, Feed the Resistance
School ™: Resist the Feed, Feed the Resistance “School ™ is not so bad now, like back when my grandparents were kids, when the schools were run by the government, which sounds completely like, Nazi, to have the government running the schools?” So proclaims what sounds like a Twitter tirade by angry, futuristic teenage reincarnation of Milton […]
NOV 12
Louisiana School Letter Grades: The Games Reformers Play
Let me begin this post by stating that I am against the use of letter grades as a measure of school performance. Assigning a single letter grade to a school in order to determine school worth bespeaks the disguised agenda of privatization– nothing more. Nevertheless, the grading of public schools abounds. Reformers insist that letter […]
Listen to @KarenLewisCTU. Studio Version @thechalkface!
Shaun and I are headed back to MidWest Family Broadcasting this week to record new STUDIO episodes of @the chalkface. We love the internet show but check out this studio version with Karen Lewis. What do you call it when you close 50 public schools that serve mostly minority and low income children? Be careful […]
“Fahrenheit 451″ 60 Years Later: “Why do we need the things in books?”
\”Fahrenheit 451\” 60 Years Later: \”Why do we need the things in books?\”. via “Fahrenheit 451″ 60 Years Later: “Why do we need the things in books?”.
NOV 11
The Data Quality Campaign: Encouraging States to Ramp Up Data Collection
In April 2013, I wrote a post about the inBloom database and Louisiana Superintendent John White’s secret arrangement with inBloom. White’s inBloom arrangement is not the only student data sharing agreement into which White has entered. It is one of many arrangements White has made and about which the public has been kept in the dark. So […]
Common Core’s nonsensical, corporate questions confuse even Shinonome Nano!
Common Core’s nonsensical, corporate questions confuse even Shinonome Nano! #CCSS #LAUSD http://t.co/L1qOH2gQqi — Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) November 12, 2013 Tagged: ccss, common core, common core state standards, corporate education reform, david coleman
Is Mainstream Media Hiring from Write for America?
Bob Somerby at the daily howler seems to be onto something with this analysis of an article on NAEP by Julia Ryan* at The Atlantic: Ryan is typical of the people who are being hired to write about low-income schools. At Time, at the Nation, at the Atlantic, even at the New York Times, the […]
Test and Punish Moratorium: “I Won’t be Ignored!”
On Friday a colleague and I attended a meeting at a community center. We were there to talk about how our college was going to help the community center continue a program that helps low income children develop cultural capital. Why? Because like any program funded through a grant the money was just about gone. […]
Kurt Vonnegut’s Children’s Crusade: Kindness
Kurt Vonnegut\’s Children\’s Crusade: Kindness. via Kurt Vonnegut’s Children’s Crusade: Kindness.
@TheDailyShow: @thechalkface radio is looking for Jon Stewart.
Dear The Daily Show Producers, My name is Tim Slekar and I am one of the co-hosts of @ the chalkface radio. @the chalkface is an internet radio show dedicated to exposing corporate education reform through a sacracstic, edgy, yet pointed critique. We have interviewed many guests over the last two years including Diane Ravitch (4 times), […]
Teacher Evaluations: Moving From a Flawed System to a Fair System
As a teacher in a low socio-economic status (SES) public middle school, I can agree that the greatest in-school factor in promoting student growth is teacher quality. That being said, the main concern I have centers on how education reformers are holding teachers accountable for their students’ test scores. More specifically, I’m concerned with the DCPS IMPACT […]
NOV 10
Our episode with TX Superintendent John Kuhn
Here’s the link. Good guy. New book out for him, Test and Punish. Check it. Tagged: john kuhn, superintendent, test and punish
The Impact of DCPS IMPACT: An Actual DC Teacher’s Perspective
Introduction This piece is a response to a recent report titled, “Incentives, Selection, and Teacher Performance: Evidence from IMPACT” by Thomas Dee and James Wyckoff (2013). This response attempts to offer a ground-level perspective from a teacher working within a high poverty neighborhood public school; It’s not trying to undermine the report’s findings. In fact, […]
The Poverty Trap: Slack, Not Grit, Creates Achievement
The Poverty Trap: Slack, Not Grit, Creates Achievement. via The Poverty Trap: Slack, Not Grit, Creates Achievement.
Beware the hagiography in #edreform
As of late, it has been observed by me the profligate use of the first person when referencing reform crusades on either side of the debate. Beware of excessive uses of “I.” Beware of the innumerable anecdotes about how much of a fighter you are, but then see very little in terms of actual, you […]
NOV 09
Co-location is more frustration than cooperation
This is a picture of the DC Mayor Vincent Grey and the Secretary of Education Arne Duncan visiting my school for a brief 60 minute press conference on the recent NAEP results. I haven’t even looked through the report yet, so I have no comment on that. [Let me say how much this visit screwed […]
Kids lose, hurts kids, child abuse, and such.
Just throwing this out there. All over the education reform debate, participants argue that certain things “hurt kids,” “kids lose,” “child abuse.” I find them grating. But why? I get it, trust me. Teachers work with and for young persons. We do things that are good for children in our care, and some things are, […]
Educational Bedrock: The Teacher-Student Relationship
In 2003, the (then) Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) supported teachers in creating a set of standards and corresponding curriculum for a new program designed to both promote the teaching profession and provide high school students with a solid idea of what classroom teaching entails. The resulting program, STAR (“Students Teaching and Reaching”) was instituted […]
United Opt Out’s Spring Event: Re-Education through #optout!
It’s official. United Opt Out’s Spring event planning board (after meeting in a closed door session) has targeted one of the epicenters of Reformer attacks on public education and community schools—Colorado—for an intervention! Douglas County Education Reformers Beware! Denver Education Reformers Beware! Jefferson County Education Reformers Beware! Here’s what we know so far. We are […]
Amazing video: Tennessee student rips CCLS, data and teacher eval by test scores.
All I can say is “wow” after watching this video. This young man tells the true origin of the Common Core, rips apart “data” and hammers teacher evaluation by test scores. Could a student who becomes part of the Common Core generation make this type of argument in 5 years? Or will our children’s only […]
NEA, AFT, Common Core, and VAM
I have been wondering about “the unions”– the two major national teachers unions– the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA). I have been told that ”the unions” are the major forces on the side of classroom teachers in this fight against the corporate takeover of American public education. I want that to […]
Open Letter to My Local Teacher’s Union
Dear President Elizabeth Davis, First and foremost, I wish to extend warm felt congratulations to you, and Ms. Candi Peterson. I wish both of you a successful term as President and General Vice President of the Washington Teacher’s Union. My name is Angel L. Cintron Jr., and I’m a third year DCPS teacher at Charles […]