Breaking News: Florida Suspends Online Standardized Tests for K-2, Temporarily
Bedeviled by technical glitches and the growing parent revolution against high-stakes testing, the Florida Department of Education announced it would suspend certain standardized tests for grades K-2, at least for this year. The announcement came after school systems, including Miami-Dade, ran into technical troubles administering the Florida Assessments for Instruction in Reading to students in
What Is It Like to Work in a Public School Where Success Academy is Co-Located?
In this post, Daniel Katz, director of secondary education and secondary special education teacher preparation at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, interviews Mindy Rosier about what it is like to work in a public school that shares the same building with one of Eva Moskowitz’s Success Academy charter schools. Rosier is a teacher at PS 811, the Mickey Mantle School, which serves children with s
NYC Parents and Teachers Criticize Omissions, Distortions in Times’ Article About Moskowitz
The New York City Parents Blog compiled the many complaints of parents and teachers about Daniel Bergner’s article about Eva Moskowitz. Bergner interviewed many critics, but he quoted only two: me and Michael Mulgrew of the UFT. Unlike the magazine article, the post explains that the main reason Mayor de Blasio rejected Moskowitz’s efforts to expand within PS 149 was that it would cause the displ
York City, Pennsylvania, Protests Attempted Corporate Takeover of Public Schools on Wednesday
For further information contact: Clovis Gallon, 717-487-2530, clo95@hotmail.com Lauri Rakoff, 717-577-8327, lrakoff@psea.org YORK CITIZENS TO SCHOOL BOARD: STOP THE CORPORATE TAKEOVER OF OUR SCHOOLS Community members will march outside School Board, Community Education Council meetings York, Pa. (Sept. 12, 2014) – Parents, educators, and members of the York community are calling on York City Schoo
Laura H. Chapman on Creativity
Laura H. Chapman, a reader who is an expert curriculum consultant in the arts, wrote the following in response to studies that say that “grit” is unrelated to creativity: “This discussion about creativity should include mention of theoretical and empirical work from the 1950s and 1960s such a J.P. Guilford’s broad view of human intelligence, reworked by Howard Gardner; Getzels & Jackson, “Cre
Ohio: Where For-Profit Charter Schools Flourish
Bill Phillis founded the Ohio Equity and Adequacy Coalition, which advocates for public schools and exposes for-profit scams. He writes here: ” Imagine Schools, Inc.: For-profit, out- of- state business operation took $44.9 million of Ohio school districts’ funds last school year Imagine Schools, Inc., based in Arlington, VA, has 18 Ohio business centers, authorized by eight different charter s
Amy Frogge: A Novel Idea for Real Education Reform!
Everyone wants to reform education. Everyone went to school, so everyone has ideas. But Amy Frogge, a member of the Metro Nashville School Board, has a truly novel idea: Let experienced educators lead the way. Think of it. Who knows best what children need? Experienced teachers. Who knows best what’s needed to make schools run more efficiently? The people who have been working in them. Frogge al
Frank Breslin: Dickens and Standardized Testing
Frank Breslin, retired high school teacher, considers the current obsession with standardized testing in reading and mathematics and laments the neglect of history, foreign languages, science, and everything else that is not tested. He writes: “Reading and math, indeed, must be taught, but much more besides — literature, history, science, world languages, music, art, and, in an age of childhood
Anthony Cody: Is It a Problem When Gates Funds the Media?
Anthony Cody noted a very interesting exchange of comments about the Gates Foundation on Mercedes Schneider’s blog. Schneider wrote about a perceived conflict of interest when the Gates Foundation funds media and even meets with their representatives. One of her examples was a grant to establish the “Education Lab” at the Seattle Times. The Lab is supposed to report on “success” stories. Focusing
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 9-14-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Charter Schools Expand Rapidly in Central Falls, R.I.Remember Central Falls? That is the small district in Rhode Island where the superintendent Frances Gallo decided to fire every staff member at the high school in spring 2010 because of low test scores. Gallo got the support of State Commissioner Deborah Gist, and the firings got