Good News! A Big Win Against Testing Frenzy in Pittsburgh!
The school board in Pittsburgh voted this week to reduce testing in K-5 by 50%. This is a huge win for children. What this means is an additional 33 hours for learning, for recess, for all manner of things other than standardized testing. Jessie Ramey, who blogs as Yinzercation, said: “We scored a big victory in Pittsburgh last night! The school district and school board agreed to substantially
“Embrace the Common Core?” A Debate
I am not exactly sure what “Intelligence Squared” is, but it sponsored an interesting debate about Common Core. Here is the transcript. Here is the video. Speaking for Common Core was Mike Petrilli, president of the conservative Thomas B. Fordham Institute, and Carmel Martin, formerly assistant secretary for civil rights in the U.S. Department of Education and a strong enthusiast for Race to the
Ben Jatos: Why I Teach
Ben Jatos is a high school English teacher in a Portland, Oregon area high school. He has taught for 20 years. He just started his own blog, and he began by asking why he became a teacher and why he continues to teach. He begins: “As a new school year begins, I think it’s important for every teacher to answer the question: Why do I teach? This year, this is my answer. “When I reflect on the circu
Los Angeles Board Votes to Shred Staff Emails, Then Reconsiders
Talk about bad timing! The Los Angeles Unified School Board voted 6-0 to adopt a policy to shred most internal emails after one year. The iPad scandal came to light only after reporters gained access to two-year-old internal emails. As Annie Gilbertson of public radio station KPCC wrote: The decision comes less than three weeks after KPCC published two-year-old internal emails that raised qu
Frank Breslin: A Moral Vision of Schooling
These days we seem to have forgotten what schools are for. Our national leaders see them only as economic institutions, preparing students for careers and college. Business leaders see them as workplace training. Frank Breslin, a retired high school teacher of German, Latin, and history, has a vision of schooling that is far broader than training to get a job or get ahead. This is how he begins:
Schneider: Gates Foundation Gives Grant to “Hardwire” the Common Core Curriculum
Mercedes Schneider wrote a book about the origins of the Common Core this past summer, and she continues to keep a close watch on Bill Gates’ investment in the purchase of American education. In this post, she recounts Bill’s infatuation with the idea of standardizing every classroom, because he believes in the glories of standardization. And if he believes in it, so should everyone else. You kno
Wendy Lecker: Our Real National Standards
Wendy Lecker, senior attorney for the Education Law Center, writes here that our most important national standards are found in our obligation to provide a high-quality education, adequately funded, to all children. She was reminded of this by the recent court decision in Texas, where Judge John Dietz ruled that the schools were inadequately funded. “Dietz found that to prepare children for citi
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 9-10-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Jersey Jazzman Corrects Pundit Jonathan AlterA few years ago, I “debated” Jonathan Alter on a Denver radio show but soon realized that I had entered a zone where facts were irrelevant because Alter’s mind was made up. He loves charter schools. He thinks testing and accountability are the answer to the deep problems of education. He