CURMUDGUCATION:
Duncan Lays It All Out (2010 edition)
If you want a complete explanation of the CCSS Reformy Master Plan, as well as one more piece of evidence that the CCSS regime is in fact a federal program, you can't do much better than Arne Duncan's speech on November 4, 2010, to UNESCO, "The Vision of Education Reform in the United States."I recommend you read the whole thing, but if you're in a hurry, or you just enjoy commentary, le
School Accountability Has Changed Forever
Regardless of how the battle for the soul of public education shakes out in the end (or at least in the future-- I don't know that we'll ever see an end), there are things that we have already lost for at least a generation, collateral damage, the china in a shop over-run by a herd of clashing cattle.Perhaps the biggest casualty is the trust of parents.It's not just that the last twelve years have
YESTERDAY
What Would Winning Look Like?
The comment keeps coming (most recently from Rick Hess) that Common Core regime opponents can't just say "no" to the Core, that they must stand for something-- not just against something.I don't entirely agree. If a mugger approaches you and says, "I'm going to beat you up and take all your money," I will probably say, "I prefer not to be mugged." At that point, I don
What if there were 50 standards?
(Part II of a series; Part I is here) Sol Stern has been trying to cyber-argue with Diane Ravitch and Mercedes Schneider lately (you can read his latest thrash here and watch Schneider shrug it off here). His latest flight into the higher altitudes of Mt. Dudgeon builds to a roar and finishes with this closer:If Diane Ravitch and other anti-Common Core campaigners on both the left and right succee
What about Palloohkaville?
(Part 3 of 3: Part 1 and Part 2 are not required reading, but it all sort of fits together) When we talk about the need for standardization, we inevitably come back to the issue of bad schools."If we don't have educational standards and high-stakes test accountability," goes the argument, "then over in Palloohkaville they'll be teaching about the flat earth and Jesus riding dinosaur
APR 17
Paul Bruno's Advice for CCSS Supporters
Paul Bruno is a science teacher who writes a blog of his own while occasionally contributing to This Week in Education over at Scholastic. He calls himself a CCSS agnostic and generally writes about the standards with a fairly even hand.After spanking CCSS supporters for abandoning an affirmative case for the standards, Bruno was asked by Morgan Polikoff to provide a positive suggestion, and so to
CT Makes New Strides in Grittology
Sandwiched in the midst of a puff piece about Connecticut's new elite cadre of Common Core teacher shills is this important paragraph:Getting on the list was competitive. According to a news release from the Department of Education, teachers "were chosen through a competitive statewide application on the basis of their content knowledge, grit, and understanding of the Common Core State Standa
APR 16
Making a Difference
The Reformy Creed With proper standards alignment, it should not make any difference whether a student learned math in Tennessee or Kentucky.If the teacher is doing a proper job, it should not make any difference whether a student comes from a privileged, enriched background or a poor one.If a school has implemented a good teacher-proof program (like engageNY), it should not make any difference wh
Bill McCallum, CCSS Author & Sad Scientist
When movies present us with science-related disasters, we generally involve one of two sciency types-- the mad scientists and the sad scientist. The mad scientist is the one genetically engineering giant gerbils to take over the world (cue maniacal laugh). The sad scientist is the one who believes that he is Doing Great Things, like creating no-leak ice cream cones for poor children everywhere, on
APR 15
John White Has LA Teachers' Backs
Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana had barely finished joining the crowd of politicians dancing rapidly away from various aspects of Common Core when State Superintendent of Education John White continued his streak of bad wrong no-good comments by sticking up by the people who will be most hurt by something as wild and crazy as dumping the PARCC testing. White wanted to speak up on behalf of the
Insulating the NEA
How is it that NEA becomes so insulated from its members? After all, we are the union, right?My first big lesson in representative democracy came courtesy of the United Methodist Church. In the church structure, local churches are grouped into districts, and districts are grouped into larger regions, and on and on to the national level. Theoretically all these levels are responsive to the concerns
APR 14
Today's NEA = Yesterday's GOP
Today's NEA is not your father's NEA. It's more like your grandfather's NEA.NEA reminds me of the GOP of the last two Presidential elections-- they've heard of the technology stuff that the Young Folks are using, what with their social medianting and playing with their twitters, but it's probably just some passing fad (like the rap) and, anyway, the people who know how to work with that stuff don'
Edupreneuring Hard Rock Instructional Boondogglery
Are you too non-rich to attend Camp Philos, the philosophical retreat for educational thought leaders at Lake Placid this summer? Then 2014 Rock the Core! may be for you! If nothing else-- it provides an object lesson in edtrepreneurship in action.Rock the Core will take place June 9-11 at the Hard Rock Casino in Biloxi MS. 2014 Rock the Core is the fancy name for the 2014 New Teacher Institute,
APR 13
Five Best Positive Posts
Even though this blog is mostly about the spleen ventage, I do make it a point to remember the Good Parts, too. So here, for your Sunday night (or Monday morning or Wednesday afternoon or whenever your Up could use some Pickme), here are the five most positive posts from Curmudgucation (so far). I know that irony is often my stock and trade, but for these posts, I'm not kidding!Why American Public
From One Reluctant Warrior to Another
Anthony Cody posted A Call to Battle for reluctant Warriors earlier this week, and it got me to really thinking about my own reluctant warrior status, and what I would say to someone else just entering the fray.I'm not a fighter. On those personality tests that measure such things, I usually emerge as a peacemaker. But from day one, teaching have forced me to confront the need, sometimes, to fight
APR 12
Interviewing with HAL
In a recent post, The New Teacher Project (TNTP) asks an interesting question. And by "interesting," I mean "dumb."Can Better Questions Lead to Better Teachers? By "better," TNTP means "very specific multiple choice questions asked by a computer." As it turns out, I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this question, so let's end the suspense right away. Jessi
Duncan to Rest of US: Shut Up
Last week Arne Duncan John King shared a bill at the National Action Network gathering in NYC. King's message was "Blah blah blah standards tests blah." Same old, same old. Duncan, however, field tested a new message that translates basically to, "All youse normals, just shut up."John King's history as NY High Commissioner of Educationy Stuff is that of an old school politician