Arthur H. Camins: Have We Abandoned Our Neediest Children??
Arthur H. Camins, the Director of the Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ, sharply critiques current education and social policy. He writes in this post that we have given up efforts to reduce poverty and segregation, policies that would produce the greatest number of young people. Instead, our nation’s leaders are prepa
Are Charter Schools Short-Changed?
$’Way back in the early days of the charter movement, its advocates were certain that these deregulated schools would not only produce better results but they would cost less. Central office bureaucracies wasted resources that could be directed to the classroom. Taxpayers would see significant savings. Win-win-win. Over time, however, charters leaders changed their tune. They wanted exactly the s
The Portelos Case: Why Tenure Exists
Francis Portelos, tenured teacher in Néw York City, was just exonerated after a suspension that lasted 826 days. The Néw York City Department of Education tried to fire him, but he refused to leave. Nearly $1 million was spent in this long ordeal. Just recently, Portelos won, was exonerated, given a $10,000 fine for some minor offense, and restored to his classroom. Here is the latest: Subject:
Pennsylvania On Track to Starve Philadelphia Schools
The City Council sparred with the stat-appointed School Reform Commission about how and whether the Philadelphia schools would get enough funding to open in September. Under the current budget, another 1,000 staff may be laid off, and class size will soar over 40. Neither Governor Corbett NPR the legislature appears willing to help the district, even though they have a constitutional duty to do s
Rick Cohen: What Happened to Zuckerberg’s $100 Million?
Rick Cohen admired an article in The Néw Yorker about Cory Booker and Chris Christie’s grand plan to overhaul the schools of Newark, which inspired Cohen to write his own reflections. Cohen has written an informative article about the fate of Mark Zuckerberg’s $100 million gift to Newark. Originally the money was supposed to transform Newark into an all-charter district, a model for the nation. Th
Gary Rubinstein: Does Learning Math Make Students College-Ready?
Gary Rubinstein, a math teacher, plays the role of the heretic and wonders whether students need more than 5th or 6th grade math unless they plan to be math majors. His answers: no, maybe, no. He writes: “‘No’ because as a Math teacher and a Math lover, I do think that the ‘importance’ of Math is overstated. Like Music and Art, Mathematics is one of the most amazing creations (discoveries?) of
Laura Chapman: The Problems with EdTPA
Laura Chapman writes: Unfortunately, this next generation of teachers is not just subject to manipulation by Teach for America. The new EdTPA (Teacher Performance Assessment) is one of the new gatekeepers for entry into teaching. EdTPA was designed by scholars at Stanford. It has been rubber-stamped by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE). AACTE represents 800 teach
Alan Singer: We Don’t Need EdTPA
Pearson administers a new teacher certification program called edTPA. The acronym stands for Teacher Performance Assessment. Student teachers must pay $300 to be evaluated and tested. In this article, Alan Singer explains why education faculty and their students reject edTPA. Although some states are delaying implementation, Arne Duncan is forging ahead to make this process a national requirement
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 5-21-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Paul Jones: A Hero Superintendent in TexasEvery once in a while a superintendent tells the parents in his district what is in his heart, not the bureaucratic blather that usually comes out automatically. Paul Jones is the superintendent of the Paris Independent School District in Texas. He posted a letter to the parents in his dist