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The test question that’s haunted Gov. Jerry Brown for 50 years
California Gov. Jerry Brown has been out front for some time as a strong critic of the standardized-testing obsession that has come to dominate the school reform movement. He has even refused to give in to threats by Education Secretary Arne Duncan to withhold some federal Title 1 funds — intended to help poor children […]
YESTERDAY
Four tough questions about charter schools
Mark Naison, a professor of African American Studies and History at Fordham University and director of Fordham’s Urban Studies Program, has some important questions about charter schools. He is the author of three books and over 100 articles on African American History, urban history, and the history of sports, and he is a founder of […]
The invisibility of teachers
It’s one of the great ironies of modern school reform that the very people who you would think should have some input into policy decisions — teachers — don’t. They are, for that purpose, invisible (though they someone wind up front and center when it comes time for reformers to find people to blame for […]
How hard is teaching?
How hard is teaching? Here are some answers to the question: “Giving a presentation to NASA about how the thermal protection system of a spacecraft is connected to its primary structure is a cakewalk compared to getting 30 teenagers excited about logarithms.” – Ryan Fuller, a former aerospace engineer who now teaches high school in Colorado […]
DEC 26
A sweet video: Young man with Down syndrome opens college acceptance letter
Here’s a really sweet video showing Rion Holcombe, a 20-year-old with Down syndrome, opening up a letter from Clemson University accepting him into the two-year ClemsonLIFE non-degree program for students with special needs. You can’t help but smile watching this video, taken by his mother.
Islamic cleric linked to U.S. charter schools involved in Turkey’s political drama
A Muslim cleric who lives in seclusion in Pennsylvania and has been linked to a network of more than 135 public charter schools in the United States is believed to be deeply involved in the political drama that is unfolding in his home country of Turkey. The reclusive cleric is Fethullah Gulen, who has been […]
11 telling stories about 2013 school reform
I know it’s more common to do a Top 10 list but here are 11 of The Answer Sheet’s most popular posts in 2013, some that I wrote and others that some of my wonderful guest writers have authored. I have chosen posts that seem to me to be revealing about the path that corporate-influenced […]
DEC 25
Why a teacher wrote ‘All I Want For Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth)’
You've heard it and you've sung it, but you probably don't know the story behind "All I Want For Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth)."
A farewell to ‘It’s Kind of a Funny Story’ author
Last week, Ned Vizzini, the young author of “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” and other popular works for young adults, sadly took his own life. Here is a tribute from James Blasingame, associate professor of English Education at Arizona State University, and the 2010 president of the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of the […]
DEC 24
The 13 most important charts of 2013
If you continually listen to school reformers in the “accountability” movement — those who believe that standardized test scores are the most important measure of success — then you could be forgiven for really believing that the U.S. economy and the country’s national security are dependent on getting those scores ever higher (because, in this […]
‘Jingle Bells’ — written for Thanksgiving?
“Jingle Bells” is a classic song sung at Christmas time, but it didn’t start out that way. First published in 1857, it was written by James Lord Pierpont, to be sung on Thanksgiving — not Christmas. There is some question as to where it was written — Massachusetts and Georgia both are plausible. Medford, Mass., […]
‘All I want for Christmas is a teacher’
Rev. John Thomas, the former general minister and president of the United Church of Christ, is now a professor and administrator Chicago Theological Seminary. On his blog is the following post about the importance of quality teachers in public schools. By Rev. John Thomas While the old holiday song suggests that children might want […]
DEC 23
Errors found in D.C. teacher evaluations
(2nd Update: details on affected teachers) More than 40 teachers in D.C. public schools received incorrect evaluations for 2012-2013 because of errors in the way the scores were calculated and one was fired as a result. The president of the Washington Teachers’ Union, Elizabeth A. Davis, has asked for details from D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson […]
Dozens of universities reject academic boycott of Israel
(Update: U.S. legislator writes letter to ASA, new details) Dozens of American colleges and universities are rejecting an academic boycott of Israeli universities recently approved by the academic American Studies Association, the nation’s oldest and largest association devoted to the interdisciplinary study of American culture and history. Some schools said they are withdrawing from the […]
‘How the Dirth Stole Learning’ — in 14 amusing comics
Here, in 14 cartoons that are a takeoff of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” is the story of “How the Dirth Stole Learning,” a commentary on the nation’s standardized testing obsession, school reform and the real meaning of learning. This is the work of David Lee Finkle, a middle-school teacher in Florida who draws the comic […]
DEC 22
North Carolina scholars protest move against activist professor
Hundreds of scholars from 24 colleges and universities have sent a letter to North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) and State Budget Director Art Pope asking them to repudiate what the academics claim is an effort by a Pope-funded organization to retaliate against a professor who was critical of the McCrory administration. NC Policy Watch, a […]
Where education technology will — and won’t — take us by 2024
What’s the future of education technology? Venturing an educated guess is Larry Cuban, a high school social studies teacher for 14 years and a district superintendent (seven years in Arlington, VA), is professor emeritus of education at Stanford University, where he has taught for more than 20 years. His latest book is “Inside the Black Box […]
DEC 21
Gov. Chris Christie’s strange definition of ‘equality’
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has a strange definition of “equality.” Shortly before the November election in which Christie was seeking a second term, he decided that undocumented young people who were brought to this country illegally as children and who graduated from New Jersey high schools – commonly referred to as DREAMers — should […]
The phone call that ended a teacher’s romance with reformers
Lisa Alva Wood is a Los Angeles teacher who was working with school reformers at the same time she belonged to the United Teachers Los Angeles, a union that has been a target of those same reformers. In this post, she tells the story of how a single phone call caused her to fall out […]