My 2014-15 “Back to School” Post
I started my 2014-15 school year on Monday, August 4. On Thursday, August 7 (which happens to be tomorrow), the students return. Thus, the three days beginning this week have been faculty professional days.
I planned to write a different, more research-based post in the days prior to my students’ return, but mentally, I feel like I am on vacation after spending two months writing my second book. Starting school requires a different energy than the intense self-discipline I had to impose upon myself in order to complete a book in a summer. (I do enjoy writing; however, in order to complete a book before returning to school, I often had to write whether I felt like it or not. That’s just how it works.)
In many ways, starting a school year after having written so much this summer (not only the book, but also blog posts) is like exhaling a deep breath.
So, no lengthy investigative post for now.
Instead, I would like to offer a word regarding the very beginning of my 2014-15 school year.
It was nothing like last year’s start, when Louisiana State Superintendent John White decided to speed up Common Core (CCSS) implementation by a full year. When I returned, I and my colleagues faced “the CCSS sales job” in which we were told we were going to “do this thing.” By October 2013, our local school board approved an anti-CCSS resolution that our local superintendent and local union president both signed.
However, our district still considered itself “in” CCSS since CCSS was adopted at the state level.
Well. It seems now that the state is suing itself over CCSS and the related Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) tests. And not only the state is suing itself, but also a charter-backed, pro-CCSS group is suing part of the state (the Governor Jindal part), and 17 legislators and approximately 200 parents and students are suing the state board of education (BESE) for improper adoption of CCSS.
The suit of the 17 legislators et al. suing BESE and the Louisiana Department of My 2014-15 “Back to School” Post | deutsch29: