All Week @ THE CHALK FACE
Constructive critique and what is actually harmful to children
I saw this circulate today through my circles on doling our better criticism. I like it. It applies to my discipline because I feel as if I am constantly scrutinized by individuals who do not know how to give critique without immediately establishing a dishonest, hostile, and overall unsatisfactory professional relationship. This part is most […]
Why do we #optout?: Just fighting the good fight.
It is definitely getting close to testing season. My email and voice mail are flooded. Parents and concerned community members have questions about the opt out process. Opt out Facebook pages are buzzing with questions and of course continued stories of bullying from education professionals engaged in deception by telling interested opt outers that there […]
Update on Common Core Status in the States: Part Two
On February 6, 2014, I posted my first of three installments regarding the state of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in statehouses nationwide– and even in the US Senate. Reaction to CCSS includes the Huckabee-promoted “rebranding” of the CCSS “product” as well as CCSS investigation, testing delay, and prohibition/voiding. Quite the spectrum of reaction. In the first […]
Wise Up To Non Classroom Experiences As The Key To The “College And Career Ready” Door.
David T. Conley’s standard for high schools is the following: “They should be considered successful in proportion to the degree to which they prepare their students to continue to learn beyond high school.” He has defined learn as “ the ability to engage in formal learning in any of a wide range of settings’. He […]
Fight the Good Fight!
I visited a failing school today. Here’s what I witnessed. Compliance and Accountability vs Justice and Responsibility.
A Bill Gates Reader: Where Are We Going, Where Have We Been
Teflon reformers Bill Gates and Arne Duncan are hard to separate, but Duncan sure is trying. In a videoed talk with teachers, Duncan claims: Lisa Clarke: One of the particular questions we’ve heard teachers ask is if corporate-based philanthropists are playing too heavy a role in public education, and if there’s a corporate agenda at […]
FEB 06
Update on Common Core Status in the States: Part One
With many states beginning their legislative sessions, issues surrounding the fate of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are front and center in statehouses across the country. Below is the first installment of updates on the issue of CCSS. Given the volume of information, I will likely have to break the information into three posts. […]
Teflon, Fatalism, and Accountability
Teflon, Fatalism, and Accountability. via Teflon, Fatalism, and Accountability.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
FEB 04
The Moratorium Miracle: Delaying PARCC Can Actually Help Save It
Today I read two articles regarding testing and the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). After reading both, I am left with the same thought: The events detailed in both articles promote CCSS survival– and by extension– PARCC survival. The first is this press release regarding the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness of College and Careers (PARCC): […]
Teachers aren’t Cattle! (VAMs 101)
If you ever need a simple explanation for how VAMs are highly unreliable, then look no further! This is, by far, the best video I’ve seen on this issue. It’s definitely worth watching & sharing! Ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, we – teachers – are not cattle! We’re more than shady measurement “tools.” […]
Media Alert: On ASCD Media Alert
This is not satire, and if I had made this up, no one would have thought it was funny because, well, you just can’t make this stuff up. I got a MEDIA ALERT email from ASCD announcing “Common Core Experts Available for Interviews.” This seems pretty important because ASCD uses all caps, bold, and even […]
Gates Scholar, Tom Kane, Wants Schools to Replicate His MET Experiment
I would have nothing but praise for the Gates Foundation Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) project if it only claimed to be doing theoretical research. Neither would I have a real complaint with the work of the MET’s director, Tom Kane, if he saw it as basic research, not policy research. Kane seems to be […]
Toni Morrison, the White Gaze, Race, and Writing
Toni Morrison, the White Gaze, Race, and Writing. via Toni Morrison, the White Gaze, Race, and Writing.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
IEJ Vol 12, No 2 (2013): The local vernaculars of high-stakes testing
IEJ Vol 12, No 2 (2013): The local vernaculars of high-stakes testing. via IEJ Vol 12, No 2 (2013): The local vernaculars of high-stakes testing.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
FEB 03
School Choice: Do “The Rules Matter”?
The proposal from Senators Lamar Alexander and Tim Scott — offered during “National School Choice Week” — for turning nearly half of the federal K-12 spending into school vouchers was notable for its explicit embrace of assumptions that the GOP had often been hesitant to discuss. When offering their plans at the American Enterprise Institute, […]
NYS PTA: We want your two dollars (but not your input.) #PTA
Let me start this post out by saying that as an educator and parent the local PTA groups in the districts I am involved with are amazing. The volunteers of the PTA do so much to enhance the experiences of our children. We cannot thank active local PTA members enough for all they do for […]
Criticizing KIPP Critics
Criticizing KIPP Critics. via Criticizing KIPP Critics.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
FEB 02
My Endorsement for Governor of New Mexico
I know what you’re thinking: “Why are you endorsing a candidate? You’re just an independent blogger who likes to rabblerouse!” And you would be right. But, c’mon, give me some credit. I’m also a community activist and organizer who likes to rabblerouse. I also pay attention–very close attention–to the goings on in my state of […]
School Discipline: The U.S. vs. The Brits
Quality teaching and student learning cannot occur in a chaotic classroom. Organized chaos, i.e. student-centered stations and activities, is extremely productive. Disruptive behavior, however, is extremely unproductive and problematic, to say the least. So, it’s rather interesting that while the USDOE is calling for schools to relax its “zero tolerance” disciplinary policies, the Brits are calli
SC’s Low Self-Esteem, Florida Addiction, and Education Policy
In the 1980s and 1990s, the decades of my career as a public high school English teacher, South Carolina was early and all-in as an accountability/standards/testing education reform state. One interesting aspect of that commitment is that SC has had at least 4 generations of standards and tests (including the current adoption of Common Core), […]
FEB 01
What Teach for America Says When It Talks to Itself
As I was researching my “Bill Pays to Help Arne” post, I came across a discussion site, Wall Street Oasis, where those hoping to Make It Big on The Street are able to connect in order to solve issues related to their career ambitions. The site has a link for Teach for America (TFA). The link includes a […]
Advertisement: Attend our school and avoid the #CommonCore
Here is a two-sided advertisement flyer inserted into a local newspaper from a Rochester, New York private school. Do you get the feeling that more private schools will be reacting to the anti-Common Core sentiment to draw more students into their programs? Sadly I have heard many teachers and parents who love public education, but […]
Dialing 911 for Math Homework Help?
By far, this is the cutest audio clip I’ve heard in a while. Even though it’s illegal to call 911 for anything other than a life-threatening emergency, this little four-year old boy dials 911 because he needs help solving subtraction (“take away”) problems. I can’t help but laugh at the mom’s reaction towards the end […]
Please give us the status of Malcolm X in DC. #DCPS @hendersonkaya
We have been nice. We have been doing everything suggested mandated by the District. Now, what do you plan to do? Close us or not? Here’s the problem. I am new to this school, but I’m not new to the issues at play here. I’ve been dealing with this for quite some time. To put […]
A Critical Truce in the War between Traditionalists and Progressives
A Critical Truce in the War between Traditionalists and Progressives. via A Critical Truce in the War between Traditionalists and Progressives.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
Student Slang 102
As a follow-up to the first version, here are a few more slang words and phrases that students use throughout the school day: jonin’: This term has replaced “dissin’ / dissing” from yesteryear’s slang. Example: Student-to-student: “Your sneakers are dirty.” Student reply: “I know you’re not jonin’! dry: This term describes something or someone […]