All Week @ THE CHALK FACE
Recent #optout episodes of @thechalkface
As testing season is upon us, we’ve got a couple of recent, special episodes on the subject of opting out or refusing state testing. In the few years we’ve been covering this issue, this is the first time, at least to my knowledge that, one, massive opt outs are occurring, two, they’re being covered extensively, […]
College Athletes’ Academic Cheating a Harbinger of a Failed System
College Athletes’ Academic Cheating a Harbinger of a Failed System. via College Athletes’ Academic Cheating a Harbinger of a Failed System.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
YESTERDAY
Katherine Duran Shares More of Her Story
I’m the mom who was “suspended” from my son’s elementary school. They can lie all they want about me, but this is about my child. When they crossed the line at firs,t I gave them the benefit of the doubt because just as stated in the letter my son handed out, we love or teachers […]
The Conversation: Relaxing zero tolerance in schools could be Obama’s boldest civil rights reform
Relaxing zero tolerance in schools could be Obama’s boldest civil rights reform Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
Reclaiming “No Excuses”: A Reader
Reclaiming “No Excuses”: A Reader. via Reclaiming “No Excuses”: A Reader.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
MAR 27
#optout contemplation 2011: This is how it happened.
For as long as I can remember I have had serious issues with high stakes standardized tests. However, it wasn’t until after NCLB was in full swing and my son started to dread going to school that I actually contemplated doing something about it. I know that sounds kind of funny coming from me—a full […]
My Book Is Soon to Arrive
Hello, all. I wanted to let you know that it looks like my book will be published at some point over the next couple of weeks. The title is A Chronicle of Echoes: Who’s Who in the Implosion of American Public Education. Information Age (North Carolina) is the publisher. It is a big book– 508 […]
MAR 26
Parent Suspended and Threatened with Arrest for Opt Out Notices
Not too long ago, some parents from the small oil town of Hobbs, New Mexico, told me that some middle school kids had been handing out test refusal forms to their peers for the upcoming state tests. The principal, unsurprisingly, collected the remaining opt out forms and asked the students to stop passing them around. […]
The Gates Foundation MET Research Does NOT Provide Evidence for the Anti-Teacher Vergara v California
Rick Hess, in “A Small Request for My Friends at Gates,” was kind enough to urge the Gates Foundation to consider three of my research proposals in order to better estimate the bias resulting from the inability of value-added added models to control for peer effects. I am pleased to say that Chief Research Officer […]
The Indignant Teachers Message to Her Massachusetts Colleagues About PARCC
http://theindignantteacher.wordpress.com/2014/03/26/a-letter-to-my-massachusetts-colleagues/Filed under: SHAUN JOHNSON, PHD: Musings from the Chalk Face
Snow Blind: “Trapped in the Amber of This Moment”
Snow Blind: “Trapped in the Amber of This Moment”. via Snow Blind: “Trapped in the Amber of This Moment”.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
MAR 25
What Common Core Looks Like In Desperation
It seems that the protests of the American citizen against the so-called Common Core State Standards (CCSS) has become proverbial grains of sand in the works of the mammoth corporate reform machine. Die-hard supporters of CCSS are becoming desperate, and such is showing in their words and actions. Consider Jeb Bush’s declaration, “In Asia today, they […]
Are We (Finally) Ready to Face Teacher Education’s Race Problem?
Are We (Finally) Ready to Face Teacher Education’s Race Problem?. via Are We (Finally) Ready to Face Teacher Education’s Race Problem?.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
What to Expect When Your State is Being Run Amok
I had the unique experience of living in several states as the reform onslaught took hold over America’s public schools. Each state had its nuances, its preferences, its prejudices, and its own structure. I also had the priviledge of living in New York State just as the shit was hitting the fan and parents decided […]
MAR 24
What Is Your Experience With Common Core Math?
Hello, all. In an effort to understand the experiences of teachers, parents/guardians, students, administrators, and other local-level officials regarding the impact of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) upon math classrooms across the nation, I am requesting reader comments of firsthand experiences. Please tell me whatever you believe is important for me to know. Feel […]
The Fatal Flaw of the Common Core Standards
Originally posted on The Indignant Teacher:The following as a copy of an article posted tonight by Diane Ravitch…it speaks volumes, and should be shared far and wide. The Fatal Flaw of the Common Core StandardsPosted: 03/24/2014 9:16 am EDT Updated: 03/24/2014 9:59 am EDT Print ArticleShare157Tweet192Email31Comment20 MORE: Éducation Common Core Standards Bill Gates Common…
Conditions v. Outcomes: More on What’s Wrong with Teacher Education (and Accountability)? pt. 2
Conditions v. Outcomes: More on What’s Wrong with Teacher Education (and Accountability)? pt. 2. via Conditions v. Outcomes: More on What’s Wrong with Teacher Education (and Accountability)? pt. 2.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
“Grit”: Demanding Superhuman from African Americans, Impoverished
“Grit”: Demanding Superhuman from African Americans, Impoverished. via “Grit”: Demanding Superhuman from African Americans, Impoverished.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
MAR 23
An Urgent Call to Action for Massachusetts BATs and Their Colleagues
As the PARCC is about to be piloted in school districts across Massachusetts, news reports have been swirling. The major issue at hand? Whether parents have the right to “opt-out” their children from taking this assessment. A small number of districts have made headlines for “allowing” parents this choice, but could they really have said otherwise? […]
Of the thousands of slacktivists, we only have 1,756 signatures?
I know what you’re going to say: petitions don’t matter. I get it. But I’ve seen one of the most respected authors and activists around, Susan Ohanian, publish a new White House petition to “Direct the Department of Education and Congress to Remove Annual Standardized Testing Mandates of NCLB and RtTT.” Just this morning, I […]
Random thought to start the day, on #grit and instructional time
Katie Osgood once again waxes defiantly against the most ridiculous concept of “grit.” I suggest reading that. I want to support this with my own experience. It is one thing to ensure that all students are reading, or what have you, on the monolithic concept of “grade level,” which is in and of itself an […]
MAR 22
Jeb Bush: Willing to Emotionally Damage Your Child for a Higher Test Score
Former Florida Governor (and likely 2016 presidential hopeful) Jeb Bush made the following comment, recorded in The Miami Herald, on March 21, 2014. It’s Bush’s undeniably callous perspective on attempting to force American public education to fit a mold that benefits American education corporations such as Pearson (and here, and here): Let me tell you something. In Asia today, they […]
Ignoring Mental Health in the Grit Debate
This week, NPR has (once again) jumped onto the “gritty” bandwagon by playing a number of pieces related to the corporate education reform favorite of “grit.” On my way to work one morning, I heard an NPR reporter share in a perky voice, “Experts define grit as persistence, determination and resilience; it’s that je ne sais […]