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Actually, Louis C.K. was right about Common Core — Ravitch
Louis C.K., the multi-talented entertainer, has suddenly found himself in the news for an unlikely reason. It has nothing to do with any of his projects but, rather, his comments on Twitter and the “Late Show With David Letterman” about how standardized testing and the Common Core State Standards are affecting his daughters, who attend […]
Teaching is harder than working in high tech — by a teacher who worked in high tech
After spending 25 years in high-tech — primarily in the wireless and Global Positioning System (GPS) industries – Dave Reid became a high school mathematics teacher and is now in his third year of teaching. It didn’t take him long to realize just how hard teaching really is — and how much harder it is than his […]
YESTERDAY
Why sexual assault cases on campus are often investigated by school, not police
The new focus on sexual violence on campus has prompted many people to wonder why local police don’t investigate all such assault allegations, given that such behavior is criminal. The White House this week released a list of 55 colleges and universities with open “sexual violence investigations” as the Obama administration puts a new focus on […]
Is Obama’s Education Department overreaching in higher ed?
The U.S. Education Department recently announced that it was reviving a plan to regulate colleges of education by using millions in federal funds to reward those that achieve specific targets and forcing those that don’t to change or close. Federal financial aid to students who go into teacher prep programs would not be based entirely on […]
6 reasons to reject Common Core K-3 standards — and 6 rules to guide policy
The Common Core State Standards for students in kindergarten through Grade 3 have come under severe criticism by early childhood education experts who say that they are not developmentally appropriate. Even some supporters of the Core initiative, including American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, have called for a revamping of these early education standards. […]
MAY 01
What if we approached testing this way?
Arthur H. Camins writes about the unintended consequences of many education reform policies. Camins is the director of the Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J. The ideas expressed in this article are his alone and do not represent Stevens Institute. His other writing can be found at www.arthurcamins.com. A version […]
Is the $1 trillion student loan debt really a crisis?
When you read about the more than $1 trillion student loan debt in the United States, the word “crisis” invariably appears. But is it? Donald E. Heller, dean of the College of Education at Michigan State University, offers a different view of the common media portrayal of the issue. By Donald Heller For the last […]
APR 30
Houston teachers sue over controversial teacher evaluation method
Andrew Dewey is an award-winning history teacher at Carnegie Vanguard High School in Houston. In 2011-12, he earned the top merit pay award that his school district gives out and had “most effective” teacher status through a controversial evaluation system that uses student standardized test scores. The next year, after teaching similar students in the […]
2014 National Teacher of the Year: Let’s stop scapegoating teachers
Sean McComb of Maryland was named 2014 National Teacher of the Year on Wednesday. In an interview, McComb, a strong advocate for public education, talked about the complexities of teaching, the challenges that face educators and school reform policies that scapegoat teachers while ignoring many of the powerful factors that affect student performance. The 30-year-old […]
Live online chat today at 1 p.m.
I’ll be doing a live chat on washingtonpost.com at 1 p.m.EDT today, so if you have any questions or comments about anything in education (or even marginally related), send them in here: http://live.washingtonpost.com/the-answer-sheet-20140430.html Here are transcripts of my first chat, the second, and the third, and last week’s.
America’s best teachers got a B on this quiz
The 62-year-old National Teacher of the Year Program is the oldest national honors program that focuses on teaching excellence, and this week, the 2014 winners from each state, the District and U.S. territories are in the nation’s capital’s for the annual celebration. (You can read about the 2014 National Teacher of the Year, Sean McComb of […]
Maryland educator named 2014 National Teacher of the Year
The 2014 National Teacher of the Year is 30-year-old Sean McComb of Maryland, an accomplished English teacher who started a program at Patapsco High School & Center for the Arts in Baltimore County Public Schools to help students in the “academic middle” stretch themselves so they can succeed in college. In an all-East Coast finish, […]
APR 29
Do school ‘reformers’ really believe in accountability? Let’s look at Florida.
(Correction: Fixing status of FSU institute) Education policymakers today insist that teachers, principals and schools must be “held accountable.” You would assume, then, that they would take every opportunity to ensure that all students who are educated with public money take the all-important standardized tests that are used as the chief accountability metric and that […]
The scary way Common Core test ‘cut scores’ are selected
You may have given no thought to the “cut scores” that are set for various tests, but they make all the difference in who passes and who fails. What exactly are cut scores? The Educational Testing Service describes them this way: Cut scores are selected points on the score scale of a test. The points […]
APR 28
Computer troubles mar standardized testing in multiple states
If you are wondering how the high-stakes standardized testing season is going around the country — including field testing of new Common Core-aligned standardized exams — here’s the answer: Not so great. Since millions of kids began taking standardized tests online in March, computer problems have been reported in California, Florida, Indiana, Kansas and Oklahoma […]
Louis C.K.: Common Core makes my kids cry
(Update: More tweets) Here’s a series of tweets that Louis C.K. wrote on standardized testing and the Common Core. (If you don’t know who Louis C.K. is, I can’t help you. Google him.) My kids used to love math. Now it makes them cry. Thanks standardized testing and common core! — Louis C.K. (@louisck) April […]
APR 26
Kindergarten show canceled so kids can keep studying to become ‘college and career ready.’ Really.
An annual year-end kindergarten show has been canceled at a New York school because the kids have to keep working so they will be “college and career” ready. Really. That’s what it says in a letter (see below) sent to parents by Ellen Best-Laimit, the interim principal of Harley Avenue Primary School in Elwood, N.Y., […]
APR 25
Oklahoma school district accepts Bible curriculum that says sinners must ‘suffer’ for disobeying God
A suburban Oklahoma City public school district has adopted a curriculum for high schools that its backers say uses Bible stories to teach subjects such as history and the arts and that says all sinners must “suffer the consequences” of disobeying God. It also says that some U2 songs are based in the Psalms. The […]