CURMUDGUCATION: Barber: Let It All Burn : Barber: Let It All Burn On Valentine's Day, Sir Michael Barber (the head education honcho at Pearson) took to the74 to offer a rather odd and ultimately confused metaphor for education reform by walking us through the story of St. Paul's Cathedral . It's the test from his speech at the 2016 Global Google Education Symposium. Yikes. The problem, he asserts
Finland’s School Reforms are Troubling: 4 Reasons Why : Finland’s School Reforms are Troubling: 4 Reasons Why Finland’s new curriculum means that schoolchildren will no longer need to sit down quietly in classrooms, since they will instead be able to choose where and how they study. In future there will not necessarily be any traditional enclosed classrooms. —“The Truth About Finnish Schools” Thi
A Third of Californians Approve of Trump’s Job Performance (PPIC Press Release) : Two Thirds of Californians Disapprove of Trump’s Job Performance Views on Immigration, Health Care, Climate Change, Abortion at Odds with President SAN FRANCISCO, February 9, 2017—Just a third of Californians approve of the way President Trump is doing his job, according to a statewide survey released today by the P
The Japanese education system may solve the problems of US public education | TheHill : The Japanese education system may solve the problems of US public education The uproar over the new Secretary of Education’s first days in the cabinet and the state of American public education K through 12 ignores the challenge of how we might actually improve teaching. And it can be a relatively simple fix.
Happy (Not My) Presidents Day! Anti-Trump protesters come out for ‘Not My Presidents Day’ rallies A broad range of activists opposed to the month-old Trump administration were using Monday's President's Day holiday to hold “Not My ” rallies nationwide. With most government workers, school employees and students enjoying a day off due to the federal holiday, events were underway in New York, Chica
Keep DeVos Away From Our Public Schools! - Action Network : Keep DeVos Away From Our Public Schools! Tell the National School Boards Association, The School Superintendents Association, and The National PTA to keep DeVos out of our public schools! Her goal has been, and always will be, to liquidate our public school system. BATs will deliver this petition to the NSBA, SSA, and Nat. PTA on March 2
Betsy DeVos Had an Awfully Difficult First Week on the Job | Diane Ravitch's blog : Betsy DeVos Had an Awfully Difficult First Week on the Job Teachers who teach children with multiple disabilities and children who are homeless may think that they have a tough job, but consider what a very hard time Betsy DeVos had in her first week as Secretary of Education , very likely the first paying job she
Activist, politician Tom Hayden is remembered at UCLA memorial - LA Times : Activist, politician Tom Hayden is remembered at UCLA memorial tomhayden.com - The Democracy Journal - http://tomhayden.com/ When Robert Kennedy was assassinated in 1968, the senator’s family picked Tom Hayden to be an honorary pallbearer at the funeral because the young antiwar activist embodied “the great hope that my f
The Importance of Asking the Right Policy Question: Technology in Schools | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice : The Importance of Asking the Right Policy Question: Technology in Schools About a century ago, electronic technologies entered the classroom. Initially as the film (1920s), radio (1930s), and instructional television (1960s), these devices derived from the entertainmen
Experience Matters | EdCentrist : Experience Matters The new Secretary of Education, Betsy Devos, is receiving quite a bit of slack for this recent interview . Although the interview covers a variety of education-related topics, I want to focus solely on the question and answer regarding her visit to Jefferson Academy Middle School, in Washington, D.C. Full disclosure, I have the privilege of wor
The problem with special education in Illinois is not over-funding or over-identification of students with special needs. Amend HB 2808. | Fred Klonsky : The problem with special education in Illinois is not over-funding or over-identification of students with special needs. Amend HB 2808. State Senator Andy Manar told the Gov. Rauner’s School Funding Reform Commission on January 17 that there wa
The Mile High Promise, And Risk, Of School Choice : NPR Ed : NPR : The Mile High Promise, And Risk, Of School Choice Choice here, he charges, represents "hope and ideology not supported by current evidence" that closing low-performing schools really improves outcomes. During Betsy DeVos' bitter confirmation hearing last month for education secretary, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet pointed to Denver as
Rough First Week Gives Betsy DeVos a Glimpse of the Fight Ahead - The New York Times : Rough First Week Gives Betsy DeVos a Glimpse of the Fight Ahead By the end of her first full week as the secretary of education, Betsy DeVos had already sparred with a middle school and a former schools chancellor in Washington, accused some of the school’s teachers of passively awaiting instruction and said sh
Education Law Prof Blog : It’s a Terrible Time to Be Secretary of Education, Especially If You Don’t Understand the Job Publish Post Even if Betsy DeVos understood her job, she could not have taken over the Department of Education at a worse time. The busiest and most complex process that any Secretary of Education will likely see over the next several years is beginning. States are set to submit
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES : WEEKEND QUOTABLES Toni Morrison Toni Morrison This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal. -- The Nation Rick Ayers Threats and bluster might work when you are building a casino bu
Schools Matter: Yolie Flores Aguilar email colluding with charter school executives : Yolie Flores Aguilar email colluding with charter school executives “PLEASE don’t forward this email. simply state it in your own words.”— Yolie Flores Aguilar This email was addressed to some 60 individuals, including myself, on February 4, 2017. While its authenticity is not absolutely certain, I have research
Married teachers, their children, and President Trump’s supporters | Reclaim Reform : Married teachers, their children, and President Trump’s supporters My friend Darcey Addo and her husband, Dan, are teachers on the Space Coast in Brevard County. They have two young children in the public schools. They are sweet and loving people. Here is Darcey’s own account of one witnessed incident that occur
Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 2/19/17 Featured Post Ed Notes Online: DeVos to Tour Schools With Randi - Marshals Doubled to Protect Randi From Union Members' Outrage NYC Public School Parents: Update on Lead -
