Catholic scholars blast Common Core in letter to U.S. bishops
About 130 Catholic scholars around the country have signed a hard-hitting letter to U.S. Catholic bishops denouncing the Common Core State Standards as doing “a grave disservice to Catholic education” and urging the bishops to ignore the standards or, in the more than 100 dioceses that have already adopted them, to give them up. The letter […]
The ‘congenital optimist’
Michael Feuer, the dean of George Washington University’s Graduate School of Education & Human Development, was just inducted as president of the National Academy of Education, an organization made up of 200 elected members that advances high-quality education research and its use in policy formation and practice. Here is an abridged version of remarks he made […]
YESTERDAY
The earnest parent and the counselor: A conversation
Steve Peifer, associate director of college counseling at Oxbridge Academy of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach, Fla., reported on a counselors’ listserv this (non-) conversation that he had with a parent at an open house, and he has given me permission to publish it. Yes, this stuff really happens. Earnest Parent: My daughter […]
Common Core: How are books judged?
Some time ago I wrote about a highly popular supplemental reading program used in thousands of schools called “Accelerated Reader” by Renaissance Learning Inc., which encouraged students to read books that were evaluated through a “readability” formula. Under this scheme, Ernest Hemingway’s classic, “The Sun Also Rises,” gets 10 points and is recommended for kids less than […]
The ‘early language gap’ is about more than words
We hear a lot about how children from low-income families often enter school with a “word gap,” meaning they have heard and know fewer words than their more affluent peers, a reality that puts them at a disadvantage from the very beginning of their education. In this post, Esther Quintero, a senior research associate at […]
OCT 31
A ridiculous Common Core test for first graders
Why are some kids crying when they do homework these days? Here’s why, from award-winning Principal Carol Burris of South Side High School in New York. Burris has for more than a year chronicled on this blog the many problems with the test-driven reform in New York (here, and here and here and here, for example). She was named New York’s 2013 High School […]
Six ways Common Core is changing English/math classes
From The Hechinger Report, an independently funded unit of Teachers College at Columbia University, comes the following chart about how the Common Core State Standards in math and English language arts are changing classrooms: Six ways Common Core changes English and math classrooms Before Common Core English classes concentrated on literature, like Huckleberry Finn and […]
Mom: My autistic son ‘is lost in a sea of standards’ at school
Earlier this year I wrote about a boy in Florida who was forced to take a standardized test even though he was born with a brain stem but not a complete brain and doesn’t have the cognitive ability to understand the difference between an apple and an orange. While many disabled children can indeed meet […]
A new ‘no excuses’ school reform mantra
The “no-excuses” school reform movement is famous for giving short shrift to how students are affected by living in poverty and expecting teachers to be able to overcome the consequences. Here’s a different “no excuses” philosophy, by George Wood, superintendent of the Federal Hocking Local Schools in Stewart, Ohio; executive director of the nonprofit Forum for Education and Democracy, […]
OCT 30
How school districts are affected by Supreme Court’s DOMA ruling
The recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down the federal Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, has implications for U.S. school systems, which collectively employ more than 6 million people. A new report was released on Wednesday providing advice to school districts about how they are affected by the decision. It was issued by the […]
China’s 10 new and surprising school reform rules
Earlier this year China began a major education reform initiative designed to increase student engagement and end student boredom and anxiety. Curbing standardized testing was one aim. Scholar Yong Zhao wrote about it first in this post, and, now, below, gives us the latest developments. Yong Zhao is the presidential chair and associate dean for global […]
A dozen basic guidelines for educators
Do we really need education policies and practices to cover everything that goes on in the classroom? Author Alfie Kohn says “no” and, below, offers basic guidelines that can really help teachers. Kohn is the author of 12 books about education and human behavior, including “The Schools Our Children Deserve,” “The Homework Myth,” and “Feel-Bad […]
An unlikely clash between a superintendent and a community
Suburban school districts are not usually the place where clashes develop over standardized test-based school reform policies, but that’s just what is happening in Montclair, N.J. Here’s a post on what’s going on by LynNell Hancock, the mother of two Montclair High School graduates, grandmother of a Montclair fifth grader, and professor of journalism at […]
‘Forgetting would be a terrible mistake’
The largely poor and rural state of Mississippi suffers from the highest rate of childhood poverty in the country, along with some of the lowest scores on standardized tests. A legacy of racism and segregation are among the roadblocks that keep the children of Mississippi from reaching their full potential. The Hechinger Report, an independently […]
OCT 29
Quotations from Chairman Mark: Every public word of Zuckerberg’s in one file
Your wait is over. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee have gone ahead and satisfied the large demand for a digital archive — officially called The Zuckerberg Files — that include every single solitary word that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg ever said in public. Really. This isn’t like the digital archives you ordinarily find at […]
Five key strategies to get/keep kids engaged at school
Here’s an excerpt from Larry Ferlazzo’s new book, “Classroom Q & As: Expert Strategies For Teaching,” recently published by Education Week. It’s a compilation of some of the weekly teacher advice columns he writes for Ed Week, and includes contributions from acclaimed educators from across the United States. Ferlazzo teaches at Luther Burbank High School in […]
Rand Paul does what gets kids in trouble: ‘Borrow’ from Wikipedia
Sen. Rand Paul gave a speech at Liberty University in Virginia on Monday that got a lot of media attention because he said he believes that the combination of abortion and modern scientific advances could lead to the practice of eugenics. But he got coverage for more than just that message: MSNBC host Rachel Maddow said […]
When earning a D is ‘doing well’
Classroom dynamics are complicated, and progress in student achievement comes in many different forms. Here’s a personal look at how one teacher helped one child at risk of failing, and what success looked like. This was written by Michele Kerr, a math teacher at Kennedy High School in Fremont, CA. This post comes from her blog. […]
Three ways to listen (and learn) better
Do you ever listen to something only to find your mind wandering? Here’s a piece on how to listen by written by Annie Murphy Paul, a book author, magazine journalist, consultant and speaker who helps people understand how we learn and how we can do it better. She is a contributing writer for Time magazine, writes a […]
Author Maya Angelou blasts Obama’s Race to the Top
Renowned author and poet Maya Angelou was one of more than 120 authors and illustrators who recently signed a letter to President Obama asking him to curb policies that promote excessive standardized testing because of the negative impact “on children’s love [of] reading and literature.” Now she has blasted Obama’s signature education initiative, Race to the Top, […]
OCT 28
The doubts of a school choice supporter
Does the school choice movement threaten to leave some kids behind? Here’s a piece on this by educator and author Sam Chaltain, who began his career as an English teacher in New York City and who now writes about the intersection of education and democracy at www.samchaltain.com. Previously, he was national director of the Forum […]
What color is a great school?
A great school isn’t just an “A” school in today’s “accountability” era. It’s also a green one. Bad ones aren’t just F’s but they are also green. In-between schools, depending on just how the students perform, can be orange, yellow or lime (not to be confused with green). It may sound like a class of kindergarteners […]
More colleges extend application deadlines due to Common App woes
A growing number of colleges and universities around the country are extending early decision application deadline beyond Nov. 1 because of the continuing problems that some students, counselors and schools are facing with the newly designed online Common Application. While a number of schools have extended the deadlines, some others have provided students with optional […]
Five stereotypes about poor families and education
Here is an excerpt from a new book called “Reaching and Teaching Students in Poverty: Strategies for Erasing the Opportunity Gap,” by Paul C. Gorski, associate professor of integrative studies at George Mason University. The book, which draws from years of research to analyze educational practices that undercut the achievement of low-income students, is part […]
OCT 27
Why the much-maligned field trip really matters
Experiential learning has taken a back seat to test-driven education, but here’s why it still matters. This was written by Matthew Wheelock is a former teacher and the executive eirector of Live It Learn It, a Washington D.C.-based non-profit organization. By Matthew Wheelock My 4th grade students struck gold a decade ago when I was a […]
Virginia schools boards pass anti-SOL resolutions
About 30 school boards in Virginia have passed resolutions that call on education officials to revamp the Standards of Learning testing system, saying that there is “little research” that shows that students “will be better prepared to succeed in their careers and college” by taking the 34 standardized tests the state gives to each child […]
