All Week @ THE CHALK FACE
inBloom, Clever, and Student Privacy: More “Big Data” Considerations
My last few posts have focused on the issue of student data collection, storing, and potential dissemination to “education vendors.” Meanwhile, I have also been reading about the call to separate the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) from assessments. I maintain that the spectrum of reforms are intended to be a package deal and are promoted as such by […]
Guided Reading in Kindergarten is one of the many dramatic outrages of #commoncore
As the regular reader knows, I am now teaching Kindergarten in SE Washington, DC this year. Enjoying it so much more than teaching at the university level. This entire school year for DCPS, for whom I worked previously over a decade ago, there has been an obsession with the use of Guided Reading. My expertise […]
USDOE's Guiding Principles: School Climate and Discipline (Part 1)
Reblogged from Ward 8 DC Teacher: Guiding Principle #1, creating a safe and supportive school environment, is a great first step. However, we must move beyond expressing idealistic principles, and more towards implementing pragmatic best practices. Schools consisting of low-income, high-trauma, and at-risk student populations need targeted approaches. My school, a DCPS traditional public middle […
Millions of Reasons to Reject CC in One Paragraph
Numbers may speak louder than words. Here are millions of reasons to reject Common Core in just one paragraph (from With Torlakson in the room, Sacramento teachers and parents discuss Common Core): [click to enlarge] Also of concern, later in the piece: Implementation so far has been inconsistent [emphasis added], not only from district to district […]
Should Universities Reward Academics for Public Influence?
Should Universities Reward Academics for Public Influence?. via Should Universities Reward Academics for Public Influence?.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
Why Didn’t the Gates Foundation Study the Policy Issues Regarding Value-Added Teacher Evaluations?
In the first three posts of this series (see Diane Ravitch’s summary of them here), I argue that Matt DiCarlo’s retrospective analysis of market-driven reform research in 2013, “The Year in Research on Market-Based Education Reforms: 2013,” gives short shrift to practical realities. DiCarlo complains, however, that the Gates Foundation’s Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) study was […]
JAN 09
On DCPS education budgets. Trying to do our jobs with nothing. @valeriestrauss @dcpublicschools
I teach in Ward 8. A clerical error lead to the District rescinding our budget until it’s sorted out. So, as of right now, one of the neediest schools in the entire District is operating with no money. And when I mean no money, I mean nothing, nada, zilch, zippo, nothing. We paid for the […]
Market-Driven Researchers Find that Reality Is Messy III
This is the third in a series of critiques of Matt DiCarlo’s “The Year in Research on Market-Based Education Reforms: 2013.” The preceding posts, here and here, summarized research on some obvious problems with value-added evaluations that should have been foreseen. This post addresses pitfalls that were discovered after value-added systems were implemented. The preceding […]
Ending Poverty Requires Community, Not War
Ending Poverty Requires Community, Not War. via Ending Poverty Requires Community, Not War.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
JAN 08
inBloom and Data Mining: A Common Core Cousin
This week I posted this piece about a January 9, 2014, webinar promoting data mining– a webinar with Gates money all over it. (Here is a briefer follow-up to the post.) The initial post had a record number of comments, some of which were made by an inBloom representative. The comments prompted me to further investigate some of the […]
APPR on Steroids and other Cuomoisms
My quick reaction to New York Governor Cuomo’s education proposals from his “State of the State” speech today. For those outside New York State, Governor Cuomo has proclaimed himself as the “lobbyist for the students”, but reads right from the Corporate Education reform script. I address my teaching colleagues here: APPR on Steroids and other […]
Standards Won’t Change Inequity: A Reader
Standards Won\’t Change Inequity: A Reader. via Standards Won’t Change Inequity: A Reader.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
JAN 07
A Fantastic Summative Comment on My Data Mining Post
On January 3, 2014, I posted a piece entitled Beware of Data Sharing Cheerleaders Offering Webinars. On January 5, Diane Ravitch featured the post on her blog due to the post’s active commentary on both sides of the issue, including that of an inBloom representative. It is January 7, and the comments are still live (167 comments). […]
Hanna Skandera’s Reforms Cause More Than ‘Discomfort’
Education Secretary-Designate Hanna Skandera recently wrote an editorial to the Albuquerque Journal stating more untruths, vague ideas, and plenty of blame against those who are questioning her initiatives. She suggests that there will be some “discomfort” during her period of reforms. I suggest that discomfort isn’t the problem; what we’re fighting against is the actual […]
Tone, pt. 4: Dystopian Fiction, Passion, and the Education Reform Debate
Tone, pt. 4: Dystopian Fiction, Passion, and the Education Reform Debate. via Tone, pt. 4: Dystopian Fiction, Passion, and the Education Reform Debate.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
Evidence Refutes TFA Expansion
Teach for America: A Return to the Evidence, by Julian Vasquez Heilig and Su Jin Jez, may be too optimistic in its subtitle (not sure we’ve ever lingered at all with the evidence in order to return to it), but that aside, this report offers yet another clear message that TFA is far more agenda- than evidence- […]
Should California Embrace Common Core? My Response to Bill Honig
On January 7, 2014, California Instructional Quality Chair Bill Honig published a letter on Diane Ravitch’s blog in which he carefully details his reasons for supporting the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in California. (Copy of letter ) In his letter, Honig encourages California districts wary of CCSS to reconsider their positions. He notes, “In California, there is widespread, […]
JAN 06
Teaching within a low SES school is bittersweet.
Teaching is a demanding profession. The average teacher, regardless of his or her assignment, overcomes many obstacles throughout the school year. With that said, teaching within an economically disadvantaged neighborhood school is physically, mentally and emotionally draining. For better or worse, teaching within low socio-economic status (SES) neighborhood school is bittersweet. Teaching within
Trickle-Down Administration: Education Reform in a Culture of Distracting Outrage
Trickle-Down Administration: Education Reform in a Culture of Distracting Outrage. via Trickle-Down Administration: Education Reform in a Culture of Distracting Outrage.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
JAN 05
Joanne Yatvin: The Common Core Standards May Be Harmful to Children
The following article was written by Dr. Joanne Yatvin, who does a great job of pointing out problems with specific standards, and how easy it is to tell that the Common Core Standards were not created by educators or child learning specialists. Such specialists, such as Dr. Yatvin, have determined that they are harmful to […]
Collectable and eventually playable education activism game cards, courtesy of UOO
The activist organization United Opt Out, that little gaggle always does things a little differently. Well, in advance of their annual spring event, taking place in Denver, CO March 28th-30th, 2014, UOO is releasing a collection of activist game cards that will include the organizers and the guests who will be in attendance. Now, these […]
Another warm welcome to a new author, Dr. Denisha Jones (@denisha_jones)
Denisha and I go back a few years. We were both graduate students at Indiana University. And oddly enough, we found our way there from DC, and now back again. Denisha’s at Howard University. Great institution with a Dean who’s said some very hopeful things about education reform. Dr. Jones is in this fight with […]
A new blog for you to check out from Canadian educator Tobey Steeves
It’s called ReMapping Education. I’ve always had very insightful chats with Mr. Steeves on Twitter. Hopefully we’ll cross paths in person sometime down the road soon. Hopefully fatherhood doesn’t keep his thoughts away from us for too long. Wish him luck on that one, @symphily on Twitter.Filed under: SHAUN JOHNSON, PHD: Musings from the Chalk […]
I wonder if Secretary Duncan heard our students’ stories?
Last spring, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan visited my school. Following the unfortunate tragedy that occurred at Sandy Hook, the purpose of his visit was to meet with students, and staff, to discuss school and gun violence. The video below (4:23 minutes) is a condensed version of the hour-long discussion. The full video (51:36 minutes) […]
Disproportionate Evaluative Rigor and the Three Laws of Data
I promised in a recent post called The Tyranny of the Datum to write about some guiding standards for appropriate data usage, in the spirit of Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics, and I will do that here today. Before I get to that, though, I’d like to briefly discuss–in a general sense–what I see […]
JAN 04
Ripley’s Botched Attack on Ravitch: A Euro Is Not a Dollar
In December 2011, writer Amanda Ripley published a post in which she tried hard to discredit education historian Diane Ravitch’s claim that the US poverty level is a factor in the 2009 PISA rankings. Even though Ripley’s piece is over two years old, I only read it yesterday. In her smug attempt to discredit Ravitch’s interpretation of […]
A note from an administrator on new bathroom policies. Hilarity.
I give it to you in all its glory. And I will emphasize what particular gem, whereby students checking in and out of the bathroom helps meet a common core standard (or CCS). Who knew that every thing I do on a daily basis, from taking a leak to brushing my teeth, could be applied […]
Why Aren't Prep Schools Following Corporate Reforms?
Reblogged from Diane Ravitch's blog: This is a terrific article about the elite prep schools and the fact that they do not follow the "reforms" that are now pushed by the U.S. Department of Education, the Gates Foundation, the Broad Foundation, and other corporate reformers. Here are some quotes from the article: Go ahead and […]
GUEST no more. Welcome John Kuhn to our lineup!
Revered Superintendent John Kuhn joined our erudite rabble here At the Chalk Face. Let us all welcome him. Check out his author page here and we look forward to JOHN KUHN: Empowering Educators.Filed under: SHAUN JOHNSON, PHD: Musings from the Chalk Face Tagged: at the chalk face, john kuhn, superintendent
From @johnkuhntx: Ed Reform’s Atari Problem
My cousin John Michael had the first Atari I ever saw. Not long after, my cousin Philip got one. I went to their houses every chance I got, and while I was there I hogged their video game machines as much as I could. I still remember the spongy feel and new plastic smell of […]
CCSS: The Black Hole of Education
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: the Common Core is “Obamacore.” No? What about this one: the Common Core is Bill – the “Brain” – Gates’ plan to take over the world? Still no? If you haven’t, then you’ve been living under a rock, somewhere. Yes, the infamous Common Core State Standards (CCSS) has […]