No, the District of Columbia Is Not a National Model
Despite its recent gains on the 2013 NAEP, the District of Columbia is not a national model. It remains the lowest performing urban district in the nation. Its policy of test-and-punish-and-fire have produced a startlingly high attrition rate among teachers. Churn is not good for schools or for children or for building a culture of collaboration. Few of the principals hired by Rhee remain in the s
North Carolina: Teacher Attrition Reaches 5-Year High
Teachers in North Carolina are leaving their schools at a significantly higher rate this year. The governor and legislature have targeted teachers for punitive measures, and they are succeeding in making teaching a less desirable career path. Lindsay Wagner of NC Policy Watch reports: “In 2008-09, only 35.55 percent of teachers who had tenure, also known as “career status,” left their jobs. That
Sweden: Market-Based Reforms in Big Trouble
Privatizers like to point to Sweden as their model (conveniently ignoring Chile, where the military dictator Pinochet’s advisors embraced Milton Friedman’s free-market policies). Since a conservative government came to power, Sweden has vouchers, publicly financed private schools, and for-profit schools. It is everything that ALEC, Bobby Jindal, Scott Walker, Rick Scott, Tom Corbett, and Rick Snyd
Why Does John King Stubbornly Cling to His Views, No Matter What Public Says?
This article arrived in my email unexpectedly, and I decided to post it because it contains a good analysis of how decision makers get stuck defending bad decisions. Sean Brady explains the dangers of cognitive bias. He writes that it is “becoming increasingly apparent that he [King] may be doing more to undermine the implementation of the Common Core than he is doing to support it. For example,
AFT Video: The Real Lessons of PISA
The AFT prepared an excellent video about the real lessons of PISA. It shows graphically what the high-performing nations are doing. It shows that poverty matters. It shows that equitable resources matter. It shows that teachers need to be supported and to work in a collaborative environment. It shows the importance of early childhood education. The PISA report offers no support for current
Why Shaun Johnson Should Renew His AERA Membership
Shaun Johnson eloquently explains here why he is letting his AERA membership lapse. In brief, he is disappointed that AERA has not taken a leadership role in defending public education against the corporate-funded assault on its very existence. But, Shaun, don’t give up. AERA invited me to give the John Dewey lecture at AERA in Philadelphia on April 3, 2014. When I last spoke at AERA in 2011 in Ne
EduShyster: Who Are “Educators For Excellence”?
In recent years, the Gates Foundation has funded AstroTurf “teacher-led groups” to advocate for policies that most teachers reject. One of these groups is called Educators for Excellence. In this post, a guest blogger for EduShyster explains why he refused to join E4E. Among other things, he could not bring himself to sign the pledge: “which states that they “pledge to support using value-added
Mercedes Schneider: Who Wrote the Common Core Standards?
Mercedes Schneider has dug deep into the IRS 990 forms of the various organizations that wrote the Common Core standards and is piecing together the history of that effort. Although its advocates portray CCSS as “state-led,” that was not quite true. The creation of the CC was the work of a handful of influential individuals associated with inside-the-Beltway organizations, plus testing companies.
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 12-9-13 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Disgusting: Missouri State Commissioner Pushes Secret Plan to Privatize Kansas City SchoolsJoe Robertson of the Kansas City Star reported that the newspaper obtained secret emails describing an effort by State Commissioner Chris Dicastro to wipe out public education in that city. “Backed by two of the most influential foundations i
