Obama on education: Rhetoric vs. reality
There’s nothing new about President Obama giving speeches in which he talks about school reform in ways that have little to do with reality (see, for example, here and here), but there was something especially disconnected about the education rhetoric in his 2014 State of the Union speech. He managed to criticize standardized tests in which kids […]
Obama on education in SOTU — text
Here’s the part of President Obama’s 2014 State of the Union address that deals with education, from prepared remarks provided by the White House: Today in America, a teacher spent extra time with a student who needed it, and did her part to lift America’s graduation rate to its highest level in more than three […]
Pete Seeger: ‘Do you know the difference between education and experience?’
The great Pete Seeger has passed away at the age of 94. Here are some of the things he said and/or wrote in relation to education and the human condition: “Do you know the difference between education and experience? Education is when you read the fine print; experience is what you get when you don’t. […]
The hype and reality of ‘school choice’
In case you missed any of the endless streams of announcements, it’s National School Choice Week, and advocates are staging thousands of events across the country to talk it up. There is even a school choice train making a whistle-stop tour across the country for rallies and other such goings-on to draw attention to a movement that has been […]
The reform mess — an open letter to NY education officials
Here is an open letter to New York state education officials from Richard C. Iannuzzi, president of the New York State United Teachers, and Carol Burris, the award-winning principal of South Side High School in Rockville Centre, NY. Last Saturday, the Board of Directors of the teachers union voted to withdraw support from the Common Core State […]
First-year teacher: 4 things that prepared me for my job
What are the key things that first-year teachers need to know to be successful? Kate Miller, a first-year physics teacher at Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, Va., explains the four that worked for her. By Kate Miller In recent years, much time, effort, and money has been spent attempting to address one of the […]
1-27-14 @ The Answer Sheet
The Answer Sheet: How do we know what/when young kids are ready to learn?How do we really know when young children are ready to learn specific material? Here to explain is cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham, professor and director of graduate studies in psychology at the University of Virginia and author of “Why Don’t Students Like School?” His latest book is “When Can You Trust The Experts? H