Two critical education issues for the Connecticut legislature By Anne Manusky - Wait What? : Two critical education issues for the Connecticut legislature By Anne Manusky Education advocate Anne Manusky weighs in in two extremely important issues that the Connecticut General Assembly should address this legislative session. Her commentary piece originally appeared in the CT Mirror. You can read a
CURMUDGUCATION: Should Devos Make This Argument for Choice? : Should Devos Make This Argument for Choice? Rick Hess (American Enterprise Institute) is using the occasion of the DeVos nomination to make some points about choice as a reform strategy. This is fair-- all of us in the education debates are both agitated about the nomination and aware that, for at least these fifteen minutes, American
On Writing Workshop, Cognitive Overload, and Creative Writing | radical eyes for equity : On Writing Workshop, Cognitive Overload, and Creative Writing “The cause for my wrath is not new or single,” wrote Lou LaBrant in 1931 , targeting how too often the project method engaged students in activities other than literacy. This sharp critique by LaBrant has always resonated with me because even thou
The Myth of “Failed” School Reform, (Part 1) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice : The Myth of “Failed” School Reform, (Part 1) Were the “Open Space” schools of the 1960s and 1970s a reform failure?. Instead of self-contained, four-walled classrooms of about 900 square feet holding one teacher and 25 students that opened up into long hallways, school boards hired architects to d
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Following the Bouncing Money Ball at Seattle Schools : Following the Bouncing Money Ball at Seattle Schools Most of my readers know by now that I am very interested in capital issues and funding. I care for two reasons. One, every single student deserves a clean, well-maintained, safe building to call "my school." It would be great if the technology is up-to-date
Donald Trump Is "an Existential Threat to Public Schools" | Mother Jones : Donald Trump Is "an Existential Threat to Public Schools" How teachers' unions are fighting his education secretary pick, Betsy DeVos. On the day President-elect Donald Trump announced Michigan billionaire philanthropist Betsy DeVos as his pick for education secretary, the heads of the country's two largest teachers unions
Schools Matter: Lamar Alexander Assures Diane Supporters about DeVos : Lamar Alexander Assures Diane Supporters about DeVos When Diane Ravitch wanted her flock to be herded into supporting the federal charter school expansion legislation known as ESSA, she called upon Lamar Alexander's office to offer a nine-part spin session (see below) designed to mislead, obfuscate, and soothe any remaining sk
GOP megadonor wants Trump to start praising school choice | Washington Examiner : GOP megadonor wants Trump to start praising school choice Republican megadonor Betsy DeVos seems to want Donald Trump to start talking about school choice before she'll support him. Trump has yet to mention school choice much on the campaign trail, although he has said education needs to be done at the state and loc
Schools Matter: Who is Cambridge Education? : Who is Cambridge Education? On September 15, 2016, the Philadelphia School Reform Commission approved a $200,000 contract with Cambridge Education for investigation of the cash-strapped Philadelphia School District that stated: RESOLVED, that the School Reform Commission authorizes the School District of Philadelphia, through its Superintendent or his
Betsy DeVoucher - Living in Dialogue : Betsy DeVoucher I found this great animation by Ryan Sluggett on the web. Hopefully, with Betsy DeVos’ confirmation hearing postponed a week, new disclosures will save us from this nightmare scenario. –Vincent Betsy DeVoucher - Living in Dialogue :
Positive School Cultures Thrive When Support Staff Included : Positive School Cultures Thrive When Support Staff Included The whole village concept for improving schools stresses the importance of all school employees working together to help students succeed – everyone from principals, custodians and bus drivers to teachers, nurses, administrators, security and food service workers. The objectiv
Betsy DeVos, Trump’s Education Pick, Plays Hardball With Her Wealth - The New York Times : Betsy DeVos, Trump’s Education Pick, Plays Hardball With Her Wealth After Tom Casperson, a Republican state senator from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, began running for Congress in 2016, he assumed the family of Betsy DeVos, President-elect Donald J. Trump ’s nominee to be education secretary, would not oppos
Marie Corfield: The First Week of the 115th Congress : The First Week of the 115th Congress NJ Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman posted this on Facebook yesterday (all emphasis mine): The week in review: Trump fires all Ambassadors and Special Envoys, ordering them out by inauguration day. House brings back the Holman rule allowing them to reduce an individual civil service, SES position, or po
Sen. Patty Murray seeks update on ethics review for Trump’s education pick, Betsy DeVos - The Washington Post : Sen. Patty Murray seeks update on ethics review for Trump’s education pick, Betsy DeVos A key Democratic senator is seeking more information about the status of a required ethics review for Betsy DeVos, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for education secretary. The Office of Govern
NAACP | NAACP Task Force to Hold Memphis Hearing on Education Quality : NAACP TASK FORCE TO HOLD MEMPHIS HEARING ON EDUCATION QUALITY Jan. 10 Discussion between Public and Charter Education Advocates will include Charter Impacts on Underfunded School Districts MEMPHIS, TN – A new NAACP task force studying education quality will be taking input from advocates, teachers, parents, and policy experts
Mitt Romney Speaks Up for Governance by Plutocrats | janresseger : Mitt Romney Speaks Up for Governance by Plutocrats Mitt Romney had a preposterous op-ed in the Washington Post over the weekend. He suggests that Betsy DeVos, a billionaire, is ideally qualified to be U.S. Secretary of Education because she is so rich she doesn’t stand to benefit from any kind of future employment in a public scho
Do Connecticut’s privately-managed charter schools outperform local public school districts? (By Robert Cotto Jr.) - Wait What? : Do Connecticut’s privately-managed charter schools outperform local public school districts? (By Robert Cotto Jr.) Despite the political rhetoric coming out of ConnCAN and other charter school industry front groups, Trinity’s Robert Cotto reveals that Connecticut’s cha
Opposition grows over Senate confirmation of Betsy DeVos, Trump’s education nominee - The Washington Post : Opposition grows over Senate confirmation of Betsy DeVos, Trump’s education nominee DeVos Hearing 1/11: UPDATED Senate HELP Committee Members. Call today. - Network For Public Education Public education was not much of an issue during the 2016 presidential campaign — but it sure is now as o
The Long Shadow of John Deasy : The Long Shadow of John Deasy Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it ” – George Santayana It has been more than two years since LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy was forced to resign in disgrace. Unfortunately, the legacy that he has left for the District’s students echoes into the present day. After spending at least $189 million on the “ disa
US Ed Sec Nominee Betsy DeVos Has More Firsthand Experience Selecting Carpet Swatches | deutsch29 : US Ed Sec Nominee Betsy DeVos Has More Firsthand Experience Selecting Carpet Swatches DeVos engrossed with carpet. On January 09, 2017, founder of the Center for Education Reform (CER), Jeanne Allen , issued a press release stating (warning: worn-out phrase coming), “But charter schools are public
Senate postpones confirmation hearing for Betsy DeVos, Trump’s education pick - The Washington Post : Senate postpones confirmation hearing for Betsy DeVos, Trump’s education pick The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions has postponed the confirmation hearing for Betsy DeVos, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for education secretary. DeVos’s hearing, originally scheduled
Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 1/9/17 Featured Post Meryl Streep gives shout-out to public schools during her Golden Globes anti-Trump speech - The Washington Post School Privatization Turns Business Into Predator and
Why Teacher Uprisings May Hit Blue States Too
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Surprising results from a new survey of teachers reveals the depth of
“financial strain” classroom professionals face. These include high levels
of college...
2018 Medley #10
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Teacher Activism, Retention-in-Grade, Charters, Testing, First Amendment,
Science TEACHER ACTIVISM The 9 states where teachers have it worst
According to C...
Ohio: Online Testing System Crashes
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Ohio testing is bogged down by failure of the online system supplied by
vendor AIR. Can anyone remind me why everyone began switching to online
assessme...
Educators have no business supporting war
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Damascus after the attack. War is the enemy of education, of children and
families. Education leaders have no business supporting war or encouraging
war-m...
The Story Of How He Fell And Got Back Up
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As the two-year-old boy tried to walk up a short, sand-dusted concrete
slope, his feet slipped from beneath him. He fell forward onto the
concrete. I...
Join Us April 20th
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Communities across the nation will demand that our leaders protect students
and take real action to end gun violence on the National Day of Action
Against ...
An end to Friday night lights
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I don’t get it; will somebody please explain it to me. Jacksonville’s
schools, which mean Jacksonville’s children, are facing 62 million dollars
in cuts, y...
OF EFFICACY AND EQUITY
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I’m looking forward to the day when I write a piece that focuses on the
success of students and fails to mention the inadequacies of adults. Though
it does...
A Rotten Peach Poisoning Atlanta Public Schools
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Sadly, the Atlantic Public Schools (APS) are careening from one destructive
tragedy to the next. On the heels of the great cheating scandal of 2009,
APS hi...
Coalition Calls on Congress to Rewrite FERPA
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American Principles Project and individuals from more than 100
organizations including Education Liberty Watch and Eagle Forum called on
Congress to rewr...
Choice as a Substitute for Adequacy?
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Originally posted on School Finance 101:
Another excerpt from forthcoming work… Much of the expansion of charter
schooling occurred during the recession. T...
Can the Reading Pendulum Be Swinging?
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Two articles and some twitter chatter do not a trend make, but a guy can
hope.
One of the worst trends to come out of modern reform has been the
repackagi...
Heartbroken
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She was brilliant in high school. I admired her so much. She traveled to
our not so great school in the Bronx from Manhattan because of our honor
prog...
Featured Author @ Palmdale Book Festival
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Join me for a captivating book signing & storytelling! Get your very own
signed copy of 5 stars Chike the Invincible! and Oma the Faithful
Daughter! ...
Terrorism?
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Could somebody explain to me why acts like the unprovoked and senseless
attack by Salman Abidi in 2017 on an audience of predominantly innocent
children wa...
Some thoughts on Trump, Rosenstein, and Mueller
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offered in light of recent events, and the information floating around both
that Trump wants to get rid of Rosenstein and that Rosenstein expects to be
f...
Expanding "No Excuses" Models is a Bad Idea
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An organization called The Future of Children came out recently with a
report titled* Charter Schools and the Achievement Gap* by Sarah Cohodes,
an assist...
ELA Assessment: Dear Board of Regents,
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Dear Members of the Board of Regents,
Thank you for your service as leaders in public education in New York
State. I am writing as a parent of two public ...
Advocating for Schools to City Leaders
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Dr. Robert Moses, civil rights icon and education advocate, joined the
April 12 Education Town Hall, along with long-time DC education advocate
Suzanne Wel...
Suffering Teachers Can't Be Good Teachers
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Teacher walkouts are the ultimate outcome of wringing every drop of energy,
patience and creative juice out of a well-meaning workforce.
PAA joins Google/You Tube FTC complaint
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Today, Parents Across America joined more than 20 civic and children’s
advocacy organizations in filing a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) complaint
against ...
Helping an ATR
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The following are real words and real life from a current ATR. The
statement below was read to the UFT executive board on March 26, 2018. Her
name has been...
This Week in Education Organizing - April 6, 2018
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*Teacher Uprisings Continue!*
The West Virginia teachers strike was as close to a general strike as we’ve
seen in the U.S. in decades. Their historic and...
A maximizing area question
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I gave this question to students as a challenge at the end of a trig unit.
A quadrilateral has perimeter = 60 and a 30º angle. What is the maximum
possible...
Welcome to the walkout, from okeducationmom
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When I marched for the passage of HB 1017 in 1990, I was hopeful and then
grateful that Governor Henry Bellmon and a bipartisan group of legislators
found ...
Who Survives Success?
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Success Academy opened in 2006 with 156 students — 83 kindergarteners and
73 first graders. Now, eleven years later, they have their first
graduating seni...
Silence Speaks At March For Our Lives
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Listen to Emma’s profound silence. Remember the silence of students
crouched in closets, hiding from the sound of an automatic weapon being
fired in their ...
Jeanette Deutermann: The True Cost of the Tests
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Watch as parent Jeanette Deutermann gets straight to the heart of why so
many parents opt out
The post Jeanette Deutermann: The True Cost of the Tests ap...
Scenes for the March For Life in New York
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And so they came and came by the thousands, flooding Central Park West with
citizens of all ages, all races, all creeds, all who have had enough of
insane ...
A NATION THAT FEARS ITS CHILDREN?
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Here we are again. The murders caused by the NRA-GOP-Gun manufacturers
corruption have terrorized America for over a generation. Young people do
not see ad...
I’m voting for Chris Kennedy
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A question was posed to me last night. “At this point, does a vote for
Daniel Biss instead of Chris Kennedy help JB Pritzker?” During the last
presidential...
Amy/Andy and the Orphans
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Willowbrook. Any New Yorker of a certain age shutters at that name–and no,
not because it was Geraldo Rivera who brought it to our attention.
Willowbrook w...
Florina Rodov: The Truth About Charter Schools
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*“[W]hen teachers aren’t unionized, they’re exploited — and when teachers
suffer, so do kids.” — Florina Rodov*
This amazing piece by Florina Rodov on *S...
#NationalSchoolWalkout – Grown Ups Need to Listen
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Student activists, responding to the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman
Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, organized a national walk out to
memoriali...
Letter for BCPS Parents: My Child is Not a Pipeline
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(Image courtesy of Alison McDowell) Dear County Council Members, I am
writing on behalf of concerned BCPS parents regarding the newest rounds of
BCPS polic...
3rd Grade Reading: Who is Failing?
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Education Trust Midwest has just released its study on third grade reading
and, predictably, the results aren’t great. This study uniquely compares
Michiga...
Opting out of the Dinosaur (end of year test)
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Today I sent in a second letter to refuse PARCC/CMAS for my son, Luke. The
first email I sent at the beginning of the year was not sufficient as they
requi...
Resurrection
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I realized it's Lent, but this blog, bless Jesus Christ, can't wait.
Ok, so with that said, I plan to discuss Class Action suits in existence,
as well as w...
Are Our Educators Prepared For Their Students?
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If there is one thing that I am sure of as an educator it is that rapid
change greatly affects both what and how we learn. If there is a second
thing that ...
2018 TSJ Inquiry to Action Groups (ItAGs)
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We are excited to announce the 2018 TSJ *Inquiry to Action Groups *(ItAGs).
ItAGs gather educators, activists and others to study a topic and
collectively...
Who Is Pulling The Muppet Strings?
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Originally posted on Wrench in the Gears:
Sesame Street is an iconic brand that embodies humor, acceptance, and
humanity. Who doesn’t love a muppet? So, on...
IDEA Is Still The Law Of The Land
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Unless you've been living under a rock, you know the US Department of
Education (USDOE) rescinded 72 Dear Colleague and other letters of
explanation to s...
Budget Cuts To Kids Are Not Necessary!
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We’ve been hearing a lot of news from OUSD about how cuts to schools and
kids are necessary. So we’ll need to keep saying the truth… they are not
necessar...
Education Is a Civic Question
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In their final post to end Bridging Differences' decade-long run, Deborah
Meier and Harry Boyte urge readers to put the energy, talents, wisdom, and
hard w...
This is our Sputnik moment.
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School’s all across the nation are either starting or about to start a new
academic year. It’s suppose to be an exciting time for students and
teacher. How...
Student of the Month Nightmare
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*This is something I wrote for a monthly gathering to honor some of the
best students at our school. I figure most teachers will relate:*
I was grading pap...
99 Years of Progress Erased – unless we fight back
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Public healthcare for all? Public education for all? What is being done to
our monetized children regarding their potential healthcare and their
existing e...
You Can Be an Astronaut, but You Can't Be Black
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“What do you want to be when you grow up?” It’s a question I always
imagined every kindergarten student hearing.
“I want to be a doctor!” declares Sally.
...
Site News: New Home for Education News & Commentary
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Quick! Get over there! The daily education news roundup and education
commentaries that you're probably looking for are now being published over
at The Gra...
An Open Letter to NC Lawmakers
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An Open Letter to NC State Lawmakers and NC State Superintendent Mark
Johnson: I am a NC native, voter, and public school teacher. I am
addressing you all ...
Don't Like Chris Christie? Blame the Democrats.
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Yesterday Diane Ravitch published a piece in The New Republic, titled Don't
Like Betsy DeVos? Blame the Democrats.
If you care about public education at al...
The Secret to Fixing Schools (My Next Bestseller)
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The Secret to Fixing Schools (My next bestseller) Prologue I just finished
watching a fascinating documentary on Netflix entitled, “The Secret”. The
film p...
Farewell, Sleep
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Today is the official last day of my spring break. I've done a scientific
survey: My natural bedtime is 2 AM, and my natural wake up time is 9:41
AM. Tom...
New Local Businesses in Sacramento
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Starting a new local business in Sacramento is a monumental task, but can
be accomplished with footwork, perseverance and knowledge. One must learn
the loc...
Education Bloggers Daily Highlights 3/2/2017
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Education Bloggers Daily Highlights 3/1/2017 Education Bloggers Daily
Highlights Courtesy of Big Education Ape A special thank you to education
blogger Mik...
Bad Hair Day
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It’s winter time. It’s cold — okay, not for anyone outside California and
Florida, but still — I’m wearing hats in the morning. Lovely knitted hats
that I’...
Capturing the Spark
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It’s been a long time since InterACT was an active education blog, though I
remain quite proud of what we did here. Those of us who wrote blog posts
here h...
Random Musings and Observations. . . .
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I’ve been gone a while from the blogging scene. Some of my more regular
readers no doubt noticed but did not hassle me about it. Thank you for
that. Sinc...
WTU Peterson Slate: Not a 1 Woman Dictatorship
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Candi Peterson & GeLynn Thompson
Candidates for WTU Prez & GVP 2016By Candi Peterson, WTU Gen. Vice President
*Statements or expressions of opinions herein...
MY NEW BLOG
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My new blog will consist of fictitious headlines, meant to be a blend of
humor and satire. I apologize ahead of time if any other satirical site has
simila...
Thank you
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Dear Readers,
Thank you for visiting *The Perimeter Primate*. This blog is being retired
for the time being. Although I no longer post here, I do still s...
I am Retiring
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I have some news: I am retiring from the PBS NewsHour and Learning Matters.
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other
conte...
All Aboard the Opt Out Bus
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The #OptOutBus is currently traveling the country giving away free books to
children! Follow their progress at their Facebook page and donate to their
FR...
Flaws at the Heart of Current Education Reforms
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Originally posted on Creative by Nature:
“Teaching is an art form rooted in the wise and careful use of educational
research and assessment tools. When gove...