Watching Pearson: A Micro-Documentary by Todd Finley
The Invisible Poor in Trump’s America
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Trump declares that “everyone is doing well.” I call B.S.
2 hours ago

In this era of school reform, turn around, and educational change, it is easy to overlook the basics of why we educate and what we want for our children. These aren't the typical basics—reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic. Rather, these are the "real basics" of learning: developing a sense of belonging, instilling a sense of purpose, and expanding each child's potential for what the future may hold.
Yesterday at This Week in Ed I wrote aboutthe American Statistical Association’s reporton value-added modeling in education:[I]f you were to hear about this report only from the staunchest, most ideological opponents of VAM, you would think it says something else entirely. Valerie Strauss, for instance, claims the report “slammed” the use of VAM to evaluate teachers and Diane Ravitch seems to think it is a “damning indictment” of such policies.The report itself is not nearly so hyperbolic.For a useful summary check out Stephen Sawchuk, but the report itself is a mere seven accessible pages so I encourage you read it yourself.The bottom line for the ASA is that they are optimistic about the use of “statistical methodology” to improve and evaluate educational interventions, but current value-added models have many limitations that make them difficult to interpret and apply, especially when evaluating individual teachers.


