A Texan Responds to Frank Bruni About “Coddling” and the Common Core
This comment came from a reader: Diane, In response to the Frank Bruni article in the NYT I wanted to share with you what I shared with my colleagues at the Schlechty Center. I am a Senior Associate with the Center, a former school superintendent in Texas and was heavily involved in the effort of the Texas Association of School Administrators in developing the document, “Creating A New Vision for
A Very Bad Joke
A reader commented, with reference to Arne Duncan’s infamous remark, followed by Frank Bruni’s column on “coddling” our kids: Really, it’s like a very bad joke: a food critic and a basketball player walk into a bar and insult white suburban mothers and their kids, twice. Wish I could find the humor in it.
Sue Peters: A Hero of American Education
Sue Peters is a parent activist who had the courage to run for election to the Seattle school board. The big money bet against her. They were wrong. Sue won, and she won decisively. I am happy to say that she was endorsed by the Network for Public Education, and I hope that our endorsement got her a few extra votes. Sue wrote a letter to thank the board of the NPE and to describe the tough campai
Gary Rubinstein: My Daughter’s Common Core Workbook in Kindergarten
If you really want to know what the New York City public schools are doing to make sure that five-year-olds are on track for college and/or careers, read Gary Rubinstein’s description about his daughter’s Common Core workbook for kindergarten. State officials claim they don’t want to test children in k-2, but that is not what the workbook says. Gary notes: Each page of the book features in large l
An Inside Look at the Opt-Out Movement
Robert Kolker has written an excellent analysis of the anti-testing movement. The central figures are not “white suburban moms,” but a family from the Dominican Republic. Young Oscar, who loved school, loses interest when his favorite subjects and activities are replaced by test prep. The larger the test looms, the less Oscar cares about school. Into this vivid story, Kolker weaves an overview of
Corporate Reformers in Missouri Want to Put Junk Science into State Constitution
I wrote an earlier post about how the State Commissioner of Education in Missouri, Chris Nicastro, is working closely with a libertarian, free market group to draft language for legislation that would strip teachers of tenure. As a reader pointed out, it is actually worse than I thought. The goal is to put an initiative on the ballot to revise the state Constitution, not only to remove teachers’ r
Jason Stanford: What Texas Moms Can Teach Arne Duncan
Jason Stanford explains why it won’t be easy for Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to “walk back” his insulting remarks about “white suburban moms.” When defenders of the testing industry in Texas tried the same tactic, they succeeded in strengthening the backlash against high-stakes testing. It was not just “white suburban moms” who objected to the overemphasis on testing, but moms and dads of a
Anthony Cody: Common Core and RoboGrading
Anthony Cody wonders in this post whether the Common Core standards are designed to facilitate computer grading of student essays. Cody includes a commentary by Alice Mercer, who describes a writing task on the Common Core test. She reaches the startling conclusion that the standards were written to accommodate computer testing, which explains the limitation on background knowledge. She writes:
Confessions of a Good Test-Taker
The thought has often occurred to me that current federal and state policy was created by people who got high scores on standardized test takers. Maybe they hope to create a pure meritocracy, in which only those who get high test scores rule everyone else. The problem with my theory is that the real consequences of this approach are too dumb to have been created by the smartest people. Maybe they
Shadow Group Develops Policy for New York Regents, Backed by Wealthy Donors
The New York State Education Department is governed by the New York Board of Regents, which oversees education and professional certification in every field. The Regents have recently come to rely on a small group called the Regents Research Fellows to develop policy and curriculum. This group is privately funded. Reporter James M. Odato at the Albany Times-Union described this shadow operation: O
NYC Parents to Mayor-Elect de Blasio: Please Watch This Great Video
Do you want to know what parents really think? Do you want to know what students really think? Don’t ask a group funded by billionaires. Ask parents and students. Watch this video, made by parents in New York City. If that doesn’t work, try here on YouTube. It is addressed to Mayor-Elect Bill de Blasio but it could just as well be addressed to every governor, state legislator, Congressman, and may
Paul Thomas: The Politics of White Outrage–and My Dissent
In this post, I will explain why I disagree with the prolific, brilliant Paul Thomas. Thomas is offended that the mainstream media jumped all over Secretary Duncan’s insulting comment about “white suburban moms,” but has consistently ignored Secretary Duncan’s policies that disproportionately harm black and Hispanic children, their families and their communities. Thomas elsewhere wrote: If white o
A Great Game Called CharterLand!
The National Opportunity to Learn campaign, working with Kevin Welner of the National Education Policy Center, adapted the well-known children’s game “CandyLand” into an infographic called “CharterLand.” It is a very vivid illustrations of the strategies that many charters now use to weed out students they don’t want, the ones likely to get low test scores or to defy their “no-excuses” policies. O
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 11-25-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Who Are Our Highest-Paid Government Employees?The Center for Media and Democracy has compiled a list of America’s highest-paid government employees. They are not teachers or nurses or social workers. “Time and again we’re told that librarians, nurses and teachers are to blame for state and local budget problems,” said Lisa Graves,