Explosive Reaction to Schneider Post on Data-Mining and Student Privacy
Mercedes Schneider posted a critique of a webinar hosted by the Education Writers Association on the subject of data-mining and student privacy. She was upset that the panel of three included two cheerleaders for data mining and the third produced research funded by Microsoft. The post was strong, but the letters that followed are amazing. She got responses from the CEO of inBloom, defending it,
English Teacher: Why I Had to Leave a Profession I Loved
In this post, a veteran teacher with 30 years of experience explains why she had to retire. She didn’t want to. But the obsession with data-based decision-making finally broke her spirit. She recounts incidents where she was able to help students, where students gave her their trust, where classes learned to love literature as she did. She remembers staff meetings devoted to lessons and students,
Paul Thomas: An Educators’ Agenda for 2014
Paul Thomas proposes that educators must set goals for other crucial sectors of our society. After all, there is such low confidence in other institutions, and it is our joint responsibility to do what we can to restore confidence for the good of society. If we do not solve the crisis of our times, we will lose the global competition to other nations that are not only catching up with us but surpa
Why G.F. Brandenburg Objects to Common Core
Blogger and former teacher G.F. Brandenburg has written an important and thoughtful post explaining his objections to Common Core or any other national standards that are overly prescriptive. He writes: “…. It’s utterly false to say that SOMEBODY knows all the answers to the questions about how to educate our youth, our younger generation. Whenever I have a serious or even frivolous conversation
Ohio’s Richest Charter Operator, with Very Low-Performing School
Plunderbund writes here about the largest charter school in Ohio. Its revenues are staggering, its test scores and graduation rates are low, its political contributions to its allies top $1 million. “The Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT) is the largest charter school in the state of Ohio. The online school is easily the largest charter school in Ohio, is larger than the vast majority of Ohi
YESTERDAY
2013 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: About 1,000,000 people visit the Seattle Space Needle every year. This blog was viewed about 6,500,000 times in 2013. If it were the Space Needle, it would take about 7 years for that many people to see it. Click here to see the complete report.
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH ALL WEEK LONG Diane Ravitch's blog 1-4-14 #thankateacher #EDCHAT #P2
Diane Ravitch's blogLISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH ALL WEEK LONGDIANE RAVITCH'S BLOGJulian Vasquez Heilig: A TFA Alumna Tells All to JulianJulian Vasquez Heilig recounts the story of a graduate of his university who reported plans to enter Teach for America. The University of Texas, he says, sends more students to TFA than any other university. This young person was filled with idealism and hope about ma