Schools Matter:
Schools Matter All Week
The Unbearable Lightness of Neo-Liberal Historical Revisionism in Education
Dana Goldstein studied intellectual history at Brown before she became a reporter, then a grad student at Columbia, and now another author among the growing tribe of young, privileged white folks with new books intended to make the world safe for corporate education reform.Goldstein joins Cornellian Amanda Ripley, Yalie Anya Kamenetz, and fellow Columbia alum, Elizabeth Green, in offering their no
On Rhonda of the Hamptons
A nice piece from Perdido Street School:Lyndsey Layton reports the Center for Union Facts is attacking AFT President Randi Weingarten again:The 11-page mailing, on expensive paper stock, was sent first class to 125,000 households across the country this week. “I’m writing to you about Randi,” the letter began. “You probably don’t know who Randi is. Most people don’t. The terrible impact Randi has
SEP 25
Aspire Charter Schools: Busing to Maintain Segregation
When parents showed up last week to enroll their children at the Aspire (Coleman) charter school in Memphis, they were told there were no more seats, due to plans to expand next year to take in 6th grade. Even if there were no expansion plans, you can't have too many children of parents who weren't there months ago to squeal with delight at the prospect of getting their children into a new segreg
SEP 24
Peg Robertson Says No to Common Core Testing in CO
Posted here earlier:Citizens of Colorado, I address this letter to you, because you are my community, my people. You have the power to shift the momentum in our public schools – where our students are increasingly being taught to the test under the intense high stakes conditions created via Race to the Top. Meanwhile, child poverty is ignored. I send this letter to you because I have made attempts
Teacher Preparation Matters for Teacher Attrition
from Ingersoll, Merrill, and May (2014), available here:
SEP 23
New NC Standards Commission Headed by IBM Offshoring Expert and Tea Party Darling
From WRAL:IBM executive Andre Peek of Wake County and longtime Forsyth County school board member Jeannie Metcalf were named co-chairmen of the commission.Jeannie Metcalf is Tea Party school board member. Andre Peek's LinkedIn page has his expertise listed as Outsourcing/Offshoring (really!).What can go wrong?
SEP 22
KIPP Teaching: "Sprinting a Marathon for Two Years"
At some KIPP schools teachers ride the buses so that children come to school ready to learn and go home ready for homework. What can be effect on children who have to remain silent from when the leave home until the time they return?From a former KIPP teacher: It was ultimately unsustainable. It felt like sprinting a marathon for two years. Probably worked somewhere between 80 and 100 hour
Responding to "Why Poor Students Struggle"
My response to this at the NYTimes:James Horn Cambridge, MA Pending ApprovalI think you might trust many of the souls to come along when you put some weight on their end of the economic tug of war that most poor college students are losing. The Ivy League's Raymond and Caitlin will always be who they are, as tangible examples of a the clueless classist and racist system we have created. You might
SEP 21
Will Humans Allow Capitalism to Destroy Life on Earth?
Today 400,000 say No in NYC. What do you say?
The Plan Is Working: Real Teachers Quit
with links to research study, from MSU website:Contrary to popular opinion, unruly students are not driving out teachers in droves from America’s urban school districts. Instead, teachers are quitting due to frustration with standardized testing, declining pay and benefits and lack of voice in what they teach. . . .
Paying Off Time on the Lazy River with Lives on the Corporate Treadmill
The New York Times has a piece today about the latest in the recreational arms race at the second and third tier colleges that are educating the next generation of America's corporate drones. It's called the Lazy River, which allows students to totally relax between fraternity/sorority parties and football weekends.Meanwhile over at the VA and the homeless shelter, the online colleges are aggress
SEP 20
Breaking Non-News: All 4 of MA's New Low-Scoring Schools Have High Poverty Scores
And the planned cultural sterilization and segregation turnaround plans continue. . . .At first glance, we may want to blame the educators and their teaching methods. They are primarily responsible for the material that each student learns everyday. However, looking deeper into this issue, each of the six new schools contain students with underpreviledged families.The National School Lunch Program