All Week @ THE CHALK FACE
Let’s Help NEA’s Dennis Van Roekel Forsake His Common Core “Guessing”
It seems that National Education Association (NEA) President Dennis Van Roekel is willing to ignore the “forest” of the spectrum of top-down, punitive, privatizer-friendly, anti-democratic, community-school-destroying reforms in favor of the “tree” of his narrow focus on issues regarding concerns over specific items in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). In this January 14, 2014, Education Wee
My first exposure to the DC IMPACT evaluation system
From the very beginning, I’ve noticed that the DCPS teacher evaluation system fosters a mood of suspicion, confrontation, and anxiety. It doesn’t have to be that way. A lot of things don’t have to be that way. But they are, and it is. First, let me do a little math. So far this school year, […]
Common Ground is not so Common
Reblogged from Ward 8 DC Teacher: In the words of Mark Twain, “We have not all had the good fortune to be ladies. We have not all been generals, or poets, or statesmen; but when the toast works down to the babies, we stand on common ground.” Finding common ground is difficult, yet it’s often necessary for […]
YESTERDAY
Does the Gates Foundation’s MET Address Real-World Issues for Using High-Stakes Value-Added?
I 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 […]
The Policy Implications of Market-Driven Education Research in 2013
My previous posts regarding Matt DiCarlo’s commentary on 2013 research, “The Year in Research on Market-Based Education Reforms: 2013,” can be found here, here, and here. My entire tirade comes down to two arcane points. I would not bother with them if teachers, unions, and students were not being damaged by market-driven reforms. DiCarlo properly […]
Teacher Effect v. Measurable Teacher “Value”: Some Clarifications
At Peter DeWitt’s Finding Common Ground blog, Angel L. Cintron Jr. offers a guest post, Poverty & Education: Meaningful Discussions or Misguided Diatribes?, confronting the often contentious debate about teacher effect, poverty, and student learning. Cintron offers two points, which he then examines: The proponents of the “poverty is not an excuse” motto are correct in stating that […]
Student Slang 101
Slang has been around for decades. Although it’s common among teenagers, it has evolved since my generation. As a teacher, I hear student slang throughout the entire school day. As a result, I’ve complied a short list of high frequency words and phrases used this year: bob: Although it’s real name, in the traditional sense, it’s a […]
JAN 16
Twelve Embarrassing Years of NCLB and RTTT: Time for Arne to Blame USDOE
Ever notice that the “problem” with American education appears to be everywhere except with the US Department of Education (USDOE)? I find this rather remarkable given that American education has been subjected to twelve years of a combination of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and Race to the Top (RTTT). Seems like it is time […]
#CAEP strikes out.
As I have posted in the past I am no fan of CAEP (Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation) and I have criticized AACTE (American Association for Colleges of Teacher Education) for supporting the CAEP standards. Today I simply would like to present three reasons why opting out of CAEP is warranted. 1) Violates Academic Freedom and Research Ethics 1.4 Providers […]
On Leaders and Teacher Responsibility
On Leaders and Teacher Responsibility. via On Leaders and Teacher Responsibility.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
Comparing CC Support with Evidence Against
AFT president Randi Weingarten has recently changed positions on value-added methods (VAM) for teacher evaluation, but maintains support for Common Core (CC). With that shift to rejecting VAM, based on the solid evidence base that shows high-stakes implementation of VAM is at least complicated if not misleading, I would like to request that Weingarten and AFT apply […]
Teaching is the mother of innovation.
Promote Innovation Through Education, IStockPhoto.com It’s often said, “necessity is the mother of invention.” Although this statement is true, I firmly believe the teaching profession, itself, creates several “necessity” moments. Since teachers use their creativity, on a daily basis, they’re definitely “innovative” people. As a result, I often wonder why teachers aren’t the world’s best […]
JAN 15
Why Are Kids Shooting Each Other in School?
Yesterday, another child, who was way too young to be in possession of a firearm, shot two classmates, who were way too young to be harmed by one. It was at Berrendo Middle School, in Roswell, New Mexico. Although every shooting shocks me and the rest of the country, this one was too close to […]
High turnover rates in high-poverty schools? Here’s the proof.
For the life of me, I don’t know why education “experts” ignore the role of working conditions at high-poverty DC public schools. According to the data, high-poverty DC public schools lose almost one-third of its teaching staff. How’s that a sustainable model? As a teacher who works within such a DC public school, I’ve offered four […]
So you think you can teach middle school?
Do you want to become a public middle school teacher? Do you think you have what it takes to educate the future minds of America? Do you think you can handle thirty rambunctious teenagers in a classroom? Before you sign up for this assignment, let me explain why each grade is very, very different. Let’s […]
The Triumph of Conscience, Martin Luther King Jr.
The Triumph of Conscience, Martin Luther King Jr.. via The Triumph of Conscience, Martin Luther King Jr.. via The Triumph of Conscience, Martin Luther King Jr..Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
JAN 14
Richard Berman’s Declared Union-bashing Strategy
On January 13, 2014, I published a post about Richard Berman’s Center for Union Facts (CUF) attack on the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) via its five-story billboard in Times Square (and its similar, full-page New York Times ad in December 2013). I believe that this barrage of CUF ads is the direct result of recently-elected New York City Mayor Bill […]
Call It What It Is: Predatory Reform
by Morna McDermott “Shutting down public schools and handing them over to private organizations is not a ‘turnaround,’ it is a heist.” – Sabrina Stevens- I am a member of a bloggers group called Basecamp, which has about 100 amazing bloggers comprised of teachers, activists, academics, parents and others from around the country. Frequently new questions or […]
Teaching is the mother of innovation.
It’s often said, “necessity is the mother of invention.” Although this statement is true, I firmly believe the teaching profession, itself, creates several “necessity” moments. Since teachers use their creativity, on a daily basis, they’re often the most innovative people. As a result, I often wonder why teachers aren’t the world’s best inventors? In my […]
The Policy Implications of Market-Driven Research, Part V
I have long been frustrated by the Shanker’s Institute’s Matt DiCarlo’s equating the spin of corporate reformers with the counter-arguments of teachers and education experts. When reading DiCarlo’s earlier account of Thomas Dee’s and James Wyckoff’s “Incentives, Selection, and Teacher Performance,” I started cussing at the computer. He challenged the national education reformers’ chorus that […]
Smagorinsky on Authentic Teacher Evaluation
Smagorinsky on Authentic Teacher Evaluation. via Smagorinsky on Authentic Teacher Evaluation.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
JAN 13
That Anti-union Billboard in Times Square: Consider the Timing
On January 8, 2014, the Center for Union Facts (CUF) (a misnomer) produced the following five-story billboard in Times Square (New York City): This is not CUF’s first swipe at Weingarten and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). In December 2013, CUF launched a similar ad– a full-page ad in the New York Times– attempting the same […]
Learning to teach reading from Whitey McWhiterson and her twin sister
I don’t mean to bring race or whatever into this. Good teaching is good teaching, right? But the reader might know about my frustrations with early literacy instruction as of late, particularly guided reading. When examining a few new models and other suggestions, here’s what I see: white kids, white lily classrooms, white teachers, white, […]
JAN 12
On the defense of @rweingarten by @dianeravitch
It’s really quite simple, actually. Simple for me, at least. To begin, you can review Ravitch’s personal defense of the President of AFT. The American Federation of Teachers is a political organization. It must operate in a way that satisfies numerous interests and issues and permutations. I won’t begin to understand that position as I […]
Does this school really care for the children?
…or is this what education has become? From a Georgia school: I have no words. Please feel free to comment below.Filed under: CHRIS CERRONE: The "Parentucator"
Rethinking “Creative” in the Common Core Era: “Let’s not tell them what to write”
Rethinking \”Creative\” in the Common Core Era: \”Let\’s not tell them what to write\”. via Rethinking “Creative” in the Common Core Era: “Let’s not tell them what to write”.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
The Costs of Common Core?
Funding public education constitutes a large percentage of many states’ total budget, and thus, over the past three or four decades, the role of governor has become necessarily one that impacts education policy strongly. I believe that increased connection between partisan politics and conducting public schools has been powerfully and negatively influential. When I posted Millions […]
JAN 11
inBloom, Clever, and Student Privacy: More “Big Data” Considerations
My last few posts have focused on the issue of student data collection, storage, and 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 the […]
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 […]
US DOE's Guiding Principles: School Climate and Discipline
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 […]