Catch up with CURMUDGUCATION
Rural Schools and Phauxlanthropy
9by Peter Greene / 1h
Over at Philanthropy Roundtable, Andy Smarick has contributed a piece entitled "Don't Forget Rural Schools." which immediately attracted my attention because forgetting rural schools is something that pretty much everybody does, except for those of us who live and work in those areas. While I disagree with some of what Smarick has to say, he also raises some important points that folks on all side
YESTERDAY
Librarians Take Reading Level Stand
300+by Peter Greene / 1d
One of the weird little sideshows of modern ed reform has been an unhealthy preoccupation with reading levels. What lots of folks heard Common Core say was that we had to lock students in to their lexile reading score level (whether the Core said exactly that or not is another debate, That in turn has triggered a resurgence in programs like Renaissance Learning's dreadful Accelerated Reader incent
JUL 13
NY: Warm Bodies for Charters
29by Peter Greene / 1d
Travel with me to a board meeting at Giant Imaginary Hospital. Board Member #1: We are still unable to fill several openings in the surgical department. What shall we do? Board Member #2: We'll just have to offer a more competitive package, with better pay and better perks. I mean, that's how the free market works, right? Board Member #3: I have a better idea. Let's just promote Sven. Board Member
A Very Special Busted Pencils
12by Peter Greene / 1d
I find it extraordinary difficult to find time to take in podcasts. I'm a text guy; I want to consume information through words that I see (I say very Awful Things when a news site tries to make me watch a video). But there are two education podcasts that I try to listen to regularly. Have You Heard I've plugged before, but I am also a fan of BustED Pencils, a podcast that has been around for a fe
JUL 12
Collective Freedom
38by Peter Greene / 3d
The tension between individual freedom and collective action, between what the individual wants and what the community wants, between the needs of the many and the needs of the few-- that tension has been with us since Day One. Puritans came here to declare,"This will be a place where people are free to worship as they please-- as long as it's a form of worship we agree with." Southern colonists a
JUL 10
Meet the New Boss
16by Peter Greene / 4d
If there was one thing that was going to be a hallmark of the Betsy DeVos Depatrment of Education, it was going to be their studious hands-off approach. Previous departments may have used all manner of extra-legislative legerdemain to impose their will on the states (Common Core arm-twisting, Race to the Top bribery, waiver-based extortion). ESSA was born out of bipartisan grumpiness over USED's l
What About Flat Earthers?
38by Peter Greene / 5d
This week the Denver Post ran an.... intriguing? unexpected? gob-smacking? piece about the Flat Earther community in the US , which is, for some reason, centered in Colorado. And these folks are committed. You might think that this is some sort of hipster irony thing, like the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster . But take a stroll through just one flat earther youtube channel-- Globebusters- -
JUL 09
ICYMI: Stuff To Read Edition (7/9)
28by Peter Greene / 6d
Yeah, I'm short a clever title this week, but I'm not short worthwhile pieces for you to read. Here we go. On Global Teacher Prize Winner Maggie MacDonnell and What Humility Looks Like Jose Luis Vilson talks to prize-winner MacDonnell, and we're all a little better for it. This will make you feel a little better about the work. Utica Charter School Allegedly Required Salary Tithe How about yet ano
JUL 08
What They Deserve
37by Peter Greene / 7d
Before we get started, let me be clear-- this is not ALL conservatives, and in many cases not ONLY conservatives. But there is a thread that runs through current aspects of conservatism that ties many issues, from education to health
CURMUDGUCATION:
