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Why a kindergarten teacher is running for Congress
Janet Garrett is a veteran kindergarten teacher in Oberlin, Ohio. She just started her 35th year of teaching — which will be her last. She is running as a Democrat for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives from the 4th Congressional District of Ohio, challenging the conservative Republican incumbent, Jim Jordan. In this […]
Clemson U. stops mandatory student survey with detailed sex questions
Clemson University has said students do not now have to fill out a survey that had been mandatory and that included some highly detailed questions about sex, such as, “With how many people have you had sex (including oral) in the last 3 months?” The Greenville News reported that the survey was part of an […]
Why ‘no excuses’ charter schools mold ‘very submissive’ students — starting in kindergarten
If you have heard the phrase “no excuses” charter schools but don’t really know what they mean, here is an informative post about them and the controversial philosophy under which they approach student discipline and achievement. Joan Goodman, a professor in the Graduate School of Education University of Pennsylvania and director of the school’s Teach […]
The importance of a name
Here is a post by a Colorado teacher about what seems to be a simple observation about some students — that they don’t correct adults who mispronounce their names — but is really a nuanced look into the psyche of some students of color who live in poverty. This public school teacher blogs anonymously under […]
SEP 18
19 states still allow corporal punishment in school
While a national debate roils about professional athletes whacking kids, it seems useful to remember that 19 states still allow children to be hit in public school, sometimes to the point of bruising. A federal data analysis found that on average, one child is hit in public school every 30 seconds somewhere in the United […]
SEP 17
More students are illegally downloading college textbooks for free
It’s hard (if not impossible) to know just how prevalent this practice is, but some college students around the country are uploading their expensive college textbooks onto the Internet so other students can download them for free and avoid the hefty fees that are sometimes more than $200 a book. Vocativ.com has a story titled […]
Four Common Core ‘flimflams’
Award-winning Principal Carol Burris of South Side High School in New York was once a supporter of the Common Core but came to be a critic after her state began to implement the initiative. (You can read some of her work on the botched implementation in New York here, here, here and here.) Burris was named […]
SEP 16
The Washington Post’s Constitution Day quiz
Sept. 17 is Constitution Day, celebrating the document that is at the foundation of the United States of America. Take this quiz to see how much you know about the Constitution.
Poll: Most Americans no longer think a college education is ‘very important’
Amid a national debate about the worth of a college education, a respected annual poll about the education views held by Americans has found that only 44 percent of Americans now believe that getting a college education is “very important” — down from 75 percent four years ago. It also found that a majority of […]
One senior’s story: Starting college admissions process is like ‘being sent out to sea by myself with 20 different maps’
With the 2014-15 school year now in full swing, many high school seniors are finding that they have two jobs: keeping up with classes and filling out college applications. This blog will follow one senior as she navigates the college search and application process. She is Samantha Fogel, a student at The Derryfield School, a […]
How Common Core’s recommended books fail children of color
Critics of the Common Core have questioned a number of different aspects of the standards, including how they were written, whether they are developmentally appropriate and whether too much emphasis has been placed on non-fiction at the cost of literature. Here is a look at an issue that has gotten little attention: How the recommended […]
SEP 15
Florida drops test after kindergarten teacher took public stand against it
(Update: Adding Education Department comment) Last week I published a highly popular post that included a letter that kindergarten teacher Susan Bowles of Lawton Chiles Elementary School in Gainesville, Fla., posted on Facebook telling parents that she was refusing to administer the Florida Assessments for Instruction in Reading, or FAIR. She explained what she said […]
A warning to U.S. about ‘educational authoritarianism’ — from a Chinese scholar
Yong Zhao is a respected education scholar who has been a fierce critic of high-stakes standardized testing, both in China and the United States. Zhao, the presidential chair and director of the Institute for Global and Online Education in the University of Oregon’s College of Education, has written a new book entited “Who’s Afraid of […]
How one middle school handled 136 unruly students
Normandy Middle School in north St. Louis — a few miles away from Ferguson, where the August killing of a black teenager by a white police officer sparked civil unrest — has been the worst-performing district in Missouri for several years. As a result, the state took over the Normandy School District, replaced 45 percent of […]
How to get girls more interested in STEM subjects
Why are girls underrepresented in STEM classes and careers? What can be done about it? Author Annie Murphy Paul discusses that in this post. She is a contributing writer for Time magazine, writes a weekly column about learning for Time.com, blogs about learning for a number of websites and contributes to various publications. She is […]
SEP 14
Chicago schools filthy with rodents, roaches, garbage — principals say
School reformers today, operating under the illusion that the private sector can do just about everything better and cheaper than government institutions, have been working to privatize public education by contracting out to private entities key operations of schools — and often entire schools. Such a move with the custodial force in Chicago Public Schools has, […]
Common Core: yes or no? A debate.
Embrace the Common Core State Standards? Do not embrace the Common Core? That was the question in New York when four people — two for embracing and two against — participated in a recent debate about the controversial initiative. The event was sponsored by an organization called Intelligence Squared U.S., which offers forums for debates […]
SEP 13
Former education secretary Bill Bennett paid to praise Common Core to conservatives
Bill Bennett, who was education secretary under President Ronald Reagan, just published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal: “The Conservative Case for Common Core,” with the subhead: Federal intrusion and misleading rumors do a disservice to an effort that started in the states. The piece begins with Bennett saying he has been “following the […]