Curmudgucation Week
Every profession measures time differently. Doctors and lawyers measure time in hours or vague lumps. Teachers measure time in minutes, even seconds.If a doctor (or his office) tell you that something is going to happen "at nine o'clock," that means sometime between 9:30 and Noon. Lawyers, at least in my neck of the woods, can rarely be nailed down to an actual time. Anything that's not
Poverty and the Moral Imperative of Education
We are being bombarded regularly with arguments about poverty and education that are fallaciously constructed, used to support the wrong conclusion, and, ironically, are unnecessary.The Big Scary FactsIt usually begins with a list of assorted research factoids like these:* Students who fail school are three times more likely to be unemployed.* Students who fail school will make far less than what
Details on New Teacher Equity Equality Plan
This aspect of school reform has been lurking around the edges for some time-- the notion that once we find the super-duper teachers, we could somehow shuffle everybody around and put the supery-duperest in front of the neediest students. But though reformsters have occasionally floated the idea, the feds have been reluctant to really push it.Now that the current administration has decided to brin
JUL 07
Hitting the Road
In a few hours my wife and I will get on a plane and head off for Seattle, where I will learn about PLCs (yay) and stay with my daughter and son-in-law. From there, it's off to LA, where we will stay with my son and future daughter-in-law. Consequently, things will be quieter than usual here. Were I a blogger of Diane Ravitch's stature and stamina, I would keep up my regular output while strapped
JUL 06
There Really Is No Superman
Though personally I always wanted to be part of the Doom Patrol (original flavor, not modern artsy version). But no Doom Patrol, either.There is something very seductive about the superhero ideal, the notion that as soon as X gets on the job, things will finally be okay. Here he (yes, almost always he) comes to save the day.There are subtler versions of the superhero ideal as well. Maybe we don't
All Minority Schools
Last Tuesday the Atlantic became the gazillionth news outlet to report that this coming fall, the student population of the US will be less than 50% white.There's remarkably little comment on or discussion of this, even in the Atlantic's article. I can think of several reasons for this to go unremarked.1) It's not exactly news because it's been coming for quite a while. It would be like throwing a
JUL 05
Meet the New NEA Presidents
In election results that surprised nobody anywhere, NEA delegates crowned heir apparent Lily Eskelson Garcia the new presidents of NEA.Liana Heitin reported on the election for EdWeek, and... well... I'm excited? Bemused? Worried about Garcia's susceptibility to cognitive dissonance."I believe Secretary Duncan is sincere...""And I absolutely believe he is sincerely wrong," she
Duncan Slapped by NEA Rank and File
The NEA resolution calling for the departure of Arne Duncan will be picked apart at great length this weekend. I'm pretty sure that Arne is not looking at his paper this morning thinking, "Well, damn. I guess I'd better resign then." Nor do I think his resignation would accomplish much in practical terms. But it sends a message-- several, actually-- and those are interesting on their own