Breaking News: Tennessee Legislature Rolls Back Test-Based Teacher Evaluation Law
In a stunning reversal,the Tennessee Legislature overwhelmingly repealed a law to evaluate teachers by test scores, and the law was swiftly signed by Governor Haslam. On a day when Arne Duncan withdrew Washington State’s failure to enact test-based teacher valuation system, this is a remarkable turn of events. Joey Garrison of The Tennessean reports: “Gov. Bill Haslam has signed into law a bill
BREAKING NEWS: Duncan Withdraws NCLB Waiver from Washington State
Subject: POLITICO Breaking News The Education Department is pulling Washington state’s No Child Left Behind waiver because the state has not met the department’s timeline for tying teacher evaluations to student performance metrics. Washington is the first state to lose its waiver. The loss will give local districts less flexibility in using federal funds. For instance, they may now be required
A Former Charter Teacher Defends the Noble Network in Chicago
The Noble Network of charters in Chicago has come under criticism on this blog and elsewhere for various reasons. The network collected $400,000 in fines from low-income families, who are required to pay a $5 fine for disciplinary infractions. Noble network charters are named for the super-rich people who endow them, like billionaire heiress Penny Pritzker, now U.S. Secretary of Commerce, and bill
Reader Jim Explains Why Due Process Matters
Legislatures in various states are trying (and in many cases, recently Kansas, succeeding) to eliminate “tenure” for teachers, which means the elimination of due process. If a student makes a baseless claim against a teacher (“he touched me”) or a parent complains that the teacher discussed evolution or global warming or taught an “offensive” book, the teacher may be fired on the spot, without a
Save Our Schools NJ Complains That Public Schools Are Recruiting for Charters
Camden, New Jersey, is one of the state’s impoverished small cities that is under state control. It may be the poorest district in the state. It is rhe lowest performing. The Chris Christie administration appointed a 32-year-old inexperienced young man (Teach for America alum) with some time working in the New York Department of Education and Newark as Camden’s superintendent, and naturally, his g
Peter Greene: Did Connecticut Discover a Way to Measure Grit?
In the ever-ending boundaries of educational science, there is a new frontier: measuring grit. Peter Greene discovers a striking phenomenon: apparently Connecticut has unlocked the secret of Grittology. “I am sure that all of us, all around the country, want to know how this is done. I am sure that phones are ringing off the hook in CT DOE offices as other educational thought leaders call to ask
Teacher to David Coleman: Yes, What Children Think and Feel Does Matter
Veteran teacher Eileen Riley Hall has some advice for David Coleman, architect of the Common Core standards. Coleman famously said, in taped remarks at the New York State Education Department, that “As you grow up in this world, you realize people really don’t give a (expletive) about what you feel or what you think.” That remark, she says, typifies “all that is wrong with the soulless Common
Wendy Lecker: Why So Many Segregated Charter Schools in Connecticut?
Civil rights attorney Wendy Lecker calls out the charter sector of Connecticut for its unabashed practice of racial segregation. A new report from Connecticut Voices for Children finds that charter schools are hyper segregated and that they exclude children with disabilities and English language learners. Don’t expect the State Commissioner of Connecticut to care: he was co-founder of one of the
Does Data Matter to the Status Quo Defenders?
Reader Chiara Duggan says that study after study shows that charters and vouchers demonstrate that data don’t change their minds. She is right. The charters that get high test scores systematically exclude the most challenging students. Some public schools get higher test scores because they serve affluent districts. The differences between charters, vouchers, and public schools tend to be small i
“Common Core: Building the Machine”
This is an interesting documentary on the Common Core, featuring some of its strongest supporters at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute (as well as guest cameos by Jeb Bush and Bill Gates) and some of its strongest critics, notably Sandra Stotsky and James Milgram, both of whom served on the “validation committee,” but refused to sign off on the standards. It was produced by the Home School Legal Def
4-23-14 LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: ALEC Model Legislation for the Third Grade Reading GuaranteeALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council) is an organization founded in 1973 to promote free-market ideas throughout society. ALEC has about 2,000 members who belong to state legislatures. It is funded by major corporations. Its purpose is to write model legislation