All Week @ THE CHALK FACE
@thechalkface is going mainstream, our official press release #NPEConference
We’re in Austin, TX for the first Network for Public Education conference with an actual radio crew as we find our way towards a mainstream and syndicated radio presence, in particular to topics in education. Here’s a link to our official press release from syndication. If you have a moment, consider helping us by forwarding […]
My Open Letter to Dennis Van Roekel
Mr. Van Roekel: I haven’t formally thanked you for allowing me to share the stage with you in December of last year at the NCUEA conference in Austin. It was an enlightening experience for me and it was a pleasure to meet you. I remember being pleasantly surprised by your speech! Your insistence that the […]
Wisconsin #commoncore Senate Bill 619: A conundrum?
Here it is as plain and simple as I can make it. Wisconsin Republicans in the state Senate drafted a bill that essentially turns over the writing of education standards to politicians and kills the common core. Someone has to say it: “Any bill that would allow politicians the ability to directly and/or indirectly write learning […]
South Carolina and Common Core: A Next Step?
South Carolina and Common Core: A Next Step?. via South Carolina and Common Core: A Next Step?.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
FEB 27
Wisconsin #commoncore Senate Bill 619: A conundrum?
Here it is as plain and simple as I can make it. Wisconsin Republicans in the state Senate drafted a bill that essentially turns over the writing of education standards to politicians and kills the common core. Someone has to say it: “Any bill that would allow politicians the ability to directly and/or indirectly write learning […]
Beware of Education Reformers who Co-Opt the Language of the Civil Rights Movement
Originally published by emPower Magazine on 2/27/14 The legacy of the Civil Rights Movement is so great, that it come as no surprise that many groups would try and use the movement to bolster their own cause. Utilizing the lessons learned from the Civil Rights Movement to continue to fight against all forms of oppression […]
More History Ignored by Common Core Advocates
A grandiose vision of school reform took off during the 1990s as the digital revolution seemed to be freeing society and the economy from the constraints of the industrial era. It was a time that inspired book titles such as Francis Fukuyama’s The End of History. It was even suggested that computer technology, through “just […]
A Brief Meditation on Choice
A Brief Meditation on Choice. via A Brief Meditation on Choice.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
FEB 26
Thanks to @MelissaGuion and @AOBFound for their visit.
If you’re in the DC area and you care at all about books, especially children’s books, I’m sure you’ve been to Politics and Prose. Right? One of the last, great independent bookstores. I’ve been going there for years. When I walk into the children’s section, they always seem to be reading my mind and I […]
New Orleans Recovery School District *Choice*
The state-run Recovery School District (RSD) in New Orleans is about appearance, not truth. It is about control, not choice. I have written extensively on the “RSD success” illusion. It is an illusion that has come to the New Orleans community at great cost. Below is a firsthand account of life in the RSD written by […]
The Middle School Mess and How Reform Made It Worse
The Washington Post’s Emma Brown recently explained something that has been lost on reformers in Washington D.C. and elsewhere. Teaching in high-poverty middle schools has always been challenging. But, the extreme proliferation of choice has created intense concentrations of children from generational poverty who have endured extreme trauma. Now that less than a quarter of […]
The Middle School Mess that Reformers Made Worse
The Washington Post’s Emma Brown recently explained something that has been lost on reformers in Washington D.C. and elsewhere. Teaching in high-poverty middle schools has always been challenging. But, the extreme proliferation of choice has created intense concentrations of children from generational poverty who have endured extreme trauma. Now that less than a quarter of […]
Crisis In Education!
I hate to be the voice of bad news, but the U.S. must face a CRISIS IN EDUCATION! When students in the U.S. are compared to students in other countries, they simply do not measure up. U.S. teachers are central to student achievement, but “a discouraging number of them are incompetents.” The top students in […]
“Hunting Scapegoats”: WWII Literacy Crisis and Current Education Reform
“Hunting Scapegoats”: WWII Literacy Crisis and Current Education Reform. via “Hunting Scapegoats”: WWII Literacy Crisis and Current Education Reform.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
FEB 25
A Liberal and a Conservative Reach Remarkable Agreement on Edu-Philanthropy
Richard Kahlenberg moderated a discussion between Joanne Barkan and Rick Hess at the Shanker Institute. As it turned out, no moderator was needed. By the end of the conversation, there was a remarkable consensus about the overreach of foundations. Barkan kicked the discussion off with a historical analysis regarding the use and abuse of […]
What Shall We Do About Reading Today? (1942)
What Shall We Do About Reading Today? (1942). via What Shall We Do About Reading Today? (1942).Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
Cornel West and Carl Dix say: Hoodies Up! on February 26
Cornel West and Carl Dix say: Hoodies Up! on February 26. via Cornel West and Carl Dix say: Hoodies Up! on February 26.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
FEB 24
Weingarten’s AFL-CIO Power
As I was researching and writing my post, The Gates Grant Addiction, a post in which I use the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) as an illustration of an addiction to Gates money garnered via installments, two pieces of information stood out to me like the final clicking of tumblers in unlocking a revelation. The first […]
Knowledge: Not If, but How (and Who Decides)
Knowledge: Not If, but How (and Who Decides). via Knowledge: Not If, but How (and Who Decides).Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
FEB 23
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While writing my post on the NEA-Teach Plus “partnership,” my attention was drawn to more of the information available regarding grant payment on the Gates grants search engine. My curiosity concerned the simple word, “term.” Gradual Grant Disbursement (?) On the Gates grants site, “term” definitely means the number of months expected to fulfill the grant agreement. The […]
Fiction changed to informational text, #commoncore
This looks about right.Filed under: SHAUN JOHNSON, PHD: Musings from the Chalk Face Tagged: common core, corduroy, informational text
A lot of discussion about these “data walls” lately
The concept of the “data wall” has been gathering some attention lately, more so than normal. They’ve been with us, I don’t know, for a few years now. To be honest, I don’t have much experience with them. I certainly don’t have one in my classroom, even though I was told I needed to have […]
FEB 22
On the Serving Platter: The NEA-Teach Plus “Partnership”
I think both national teachers unions have some skewed arrangement to “seek solidarity” by fastening themselves to privatizing groups. Perhaps such is an adult display of grasping to belong to the “cool kids” clique. The “cool kids” are the ones exploding with reform philanthropy money to invest in ways to drain money from the teaching […]
Register for UOO’s annual spring event in Denver, CO, March 28th to 30th
Click the box below to head over to Eventbrite. All the action you need for $20. Filed under: SHAUN JOHNSON, PHD: Musings from the Chalk Face Tagged: action, Denver, education reform, protest, testing, united opt out