NY Teacher: Why Teachers Became Disillusioned with the Common Core Standards
A comment on the blog today: “Common Core was imposed on teachers by non-educators. We were fed a lot of mistruths along the way, as well. However, there would be no backlash if the CC founders gave us an educationally sound reform package. We are rejecting CC primarily because the standards in ELA are un-teachable and un-testable, abstract and subjective thinking skills – essentially content fre
Controversial NJ Superintendent Leaves Post After One Year
Highland Park, New Jersey, bought out its controversial superintendent Timothy Capone for $112,766 (less than a year’s salary), although he had another three years to go on his contract. Jersey Jazzman had previously written about Capone and identified him as a “reformer” connected to Chris Cerf who was anti-union and focused solely on test scores. Among his first actions was to fire nine employe
Sara Stevenson Keeps Watch Over WSJ
Sara Stevenson, school librarian in Austin and a member of the blog honor roll, is intrepid. she reads the Wall Street Journal every day and responds promptly to every attack on public schools and teachers, one of WSJ’s major preoccupations. She wrote the letter below. She forgot to ask Peterson and Hanushek to give up their tenure at Harvard and Stanford to prove they don’t believe in tenure: F
Georgia: Time to Reform the Reformers
In this post, Jim Arnold and Peter Smagorinsky dissect the myths and baloney of the reformers. The “reformers” love to talk about the good old days and about how schools were so much better back then. As the authors demonstrate, those “good old days” weren’t good for everyone–especially when there were grown men running around in white gowns and pointy hats. And they demonstrate with solid facts t
Gallup-PDK Poll Shows “Common Core” Losing Support
As Stephanie Simon of politico.com put it, it’s been a bad week for the Common Core. Yesterday, The conservative journal Education Next showed a precipitous drop in support by teachers in only one year–from 76% to 46%. It seems that the more they learn about the standards, the less they like them. Then today the annual poll by the Gallup organization and Phi Delta Kappa revealed growing public op
Bruce Baker: How to Get Rid of Accountability, Transparency, and Student Rights
This may be the most important article you read this week, this month, or this year. It was published last year, and I missed it. But, wow, Bruce Baker nails what is wrong with “education reform.” Basically, the public has been sold a bill of goods. We have been told that charters, vouchers, tuition tax credits, and other means of removing governance from the public sector to the private sector w
Florida: State Will Close Rick Scott’s Star Charter School
In 2011, soon after his election, Florida’s new Governor Rick Scott took Michelle Rhee on a tour to show off what Florida was doing in education. He took her to visit a charter school in Miami/Dade County, a middle school called Florida International Academy. “We have to make sure our system does exactly what you are doing here at Florida International Academy,” Scott said. Sad news. The elementa
Peter Greene: Why So Many Teachers Turned Against Common Core
The conservative journal “Education Next” reported a poll showing that support for Common Core plummeted among teachers from 76% to 46%. Conservative supporters of Common Core think that teachers are afraid of accountability but that doesn’t explain why 76% thought it was a good idea last year. Peter Greene explains the teachers’ change of mind, which he is well-qualified to do since he is a teac
Network for Public Education on the Death of Michael Brown
Last night, the Network for Public Education issued this statement on the death of Michael Brown: The killing of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Missouri, is a national tragedy. The Network for Public Education sends our condolences to his family and community. We also decry the inequitable treatment that Michael and millions of other young people of color receive in the form of
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 8-19-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Texas: Latino Activists Declare Their Education AgendaNext year, students of Hispanic descent will be a majority in the public schools of Texas. Yet the voices of Latino parents, educators, and advocates are seldom heard in legislative hearings. Instead, it is usually business leaders calling the shots. A new organization called th