A detailed critique of a PBS-run education documentary - The Washington Post : A detailed critique of a PBS-run education documentary This is a detailed critique of a three-part documentary called “School Inc.,” which was aired recently by some PBS stations across the country. Written by Diane Ravitch and Carol Burris, the critique looks at some of the claims made in the documentary about traditi
CURMUDGUCATION: What Is Test Prep? : What Is Test Prep? Yesterday I fell into a discussion of test prep on Twitter where a participant tossed forward the notion that test prep actually decreases test results. Others asserted that test prep doesn't really help. I'm pretty sure that both of those assertions are dead wrong, but I also suspect part of the problem is that "test prep" is an Extremely F
We cannot teach dead children. | Reclaim Reform : We cannot teach dead children. Education issues are healthcare issues. Children with birth defects, children requiring special education, and other children with special needs are now being denied their basic needs because they don’t “deserve” them and are a financial and academic drain. Fully qualified teachers have been scapegoated as being gree
Key Democrat calls for ouster of DeVos’s civil rights chief in light of ‘egregious’ remarks about sexual assault - The Washington Post : Key Democrat calls for ouster of DeVos’s civil rights chief in light of ‘egregious’ remarks about sexual assault Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on the Senate education committee, is calling for the ouster of the Education Department’s civil ri
What Is the Quality of America's Schools? - The Atlantic : Why Americans Think So Poorly of the Country's Schools Are public schools generally meeting Americans’ expectations? Or are they teetering on the brink of failure? Each year, parents responding to the Phi Delta Kappan poll report high levels of satisfaction with their kids’ education. Asked to assign letter grades to their children’s scho
CURMUDGUCATION: Building a Better Charter Authorizer : Building a Better Charter Authorizer There has been a bit of a kerfluffle going on in reformsterland over charter accountability. Kicked off by the Center for Education Reform's book about how there should be less accountability, followed by Chester Finn (Fordham Emeritus) calling their ideas names . That conversation eventually led to this p
Teacher Pay Penalty Driving Educators Away From Profession : Teacher Pay Penalty Driving Educators Away From Profession Randy Pontius makes less money now as an Indiana social studies teacher than he did when he started 15 years ago. “I know of no other profession where you have that many years of experience and have consistently received evaluations of highly effective or effective and your pay
DeVos: Civil rights office will return to being a 'neutral' agency - POLITICO : DeVos: Civil rights office will return to being a 'neutral' agency Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said she is "returning" the Office for Civil Rights "to its role as a neutral, impartial, investigative agency." In a July 11 letter to Democratic Sen. Patty Murray , DeVos asserted that the department's civil rights arm
The Quest for Inclusive Sex Ed - The Atlantic : The Power of Inclusive Sex Education LGBTQ students say they need programming that speaks to them, and some school districts are finding ways to deliver. The night the cable channel Freeform aired an LGBTQ sex-education-themed episode of its teen drama The Fosters earlier this spring, Madison Russell spent the evening in front of her television with
Sacramento City schools look to Philippines to hire teachers | The Sacramento Bee : Sacramento district can’t find enough teachers, so it turns to Philippines for help Officials at the Sacramento City Unified School District took an international field trip to the Philippines this year – to hire teachers. The district says it has no choice but to look abroad to fill vacancies, as schools around C
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all : Message in a Bottle Diane Ravitch's blog A site to discuss better education for all Betsy DeVos Tells Senators She Will “Return” Office for Civil Rights to a “Neutral” Role by dianeravitch / 3min A group of Democratic Senators wrote a letter to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to express their concern that she was abandoning ci
When Black Hair Violates The Dress Code : NPR Ed : NPR : When Black Hair Violates The Dress Code Raising teenage girls can be a tough job. Raising black teenage girls as white parents can be even tougher. Aaron and Colleen Cook knew that when they adopted their twin daughters, Mya and Deanna. As spring came around this year, the girls, who just turned 16, told their parents they wanted to get bra
On Common Terminology and Teaching Writing: Once Again, the Grammar Debate | radical eyes for equity : On Common Terminology and Teaching Writing: Once Again, the Grammar Debate In 1971, after years of scrounging and clawing, my parents were able to build their dream home on the largest lot at the new golf course in my home town. This was a redneck working-class vision of what it meant to achieve
Education Law Prof Blog : The Compromise That Secured a Constitutional Right To Education In my forthcoming article, The Constitutional Compromise to Guarantee Education, Stanford Law Review , I argue that, contrary to popular belief, our federal constitution does protect a right to education. I base the argument on congressional debates, state constitutional conventions, and the new state consti
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: WEEKEND QUOTABLES : WEEKEND QUOTABLES "We want the USGA to dump sexist Trump because women and men deserve to make sure that they are safe and that sexual predators are not considered ambassadors of sports." -- Protesting Trump at U.S. Open Catherine Rampell Everything is a distraction from something much, much worse. -- Washington Post Walt Gardner It's so easy to
Louisiana Educator: The Common Core Experiment in Louisiana is Stalling : The Common Core Experiment in Louisiana is Stalling Lackluster LEAP test performance and lax promotion/retention practices combine to shortchange students. Public records requests reveal the bleak truth. The Louisiana Department of Education released LEAP test scores in math, English, and Science last week. The average test
IEA was neutral on pension theft. What else is new? – Fred Klonsky : IEA was neutral on pension theft. What else is new? “There are no neutrals on a runaway train.” Howard Zinn Illinois President Cinda Klickna showed up long enough to explain the legislature’s recent pension theft and then quickly left town. Her two terms as president of the organization ended last week. But not before declaring
Coding: The New Vocationalism (Part 3) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice : Coding: The New Vocationalism (Part 3) What are public schools for? That is the larger question raised by the “new vocationalism” in the past decade, as vendors, donors, and technology-enthused policymakers have pushed coding and computer science courses into public schools. Through advocacy groups that
Seattle Schools Community Forum: Mayor Murray Needs to Step Down : Mayor Murray Needs to Step Down The Sunday Times story revealed a report from the '80s about Mayor Murray and his role as a foster parent. An Oregon child protective services investigator in 1984 determined that Mayor Ed Murray sexually abused his foster son, according to documents published by the Seattle Times today. From The St
Does KIPP Deserve To Expand In Philly? | Gary Rubinstein's Blog : Does KIPP Deserve To Expand In Philly? Charter schools are a large component of the modern education reform movement. In theory, the charters will get better results because with the added autonomy they get, there is also added accountability. A charter school can lose its charter for poor performance. ‘High performing’ charters wi
CAN THE ONE L.A. ORGANIZATION "MAKE DEMOCRACY WORK"? - Perdaily.com : CAN THE ONE L.A. ORGANIZATION "MAKE DEMOCRACY WORK"? Can the One L.A. Organization "make democracy work" again in Los Angeles? Not without addressing a still segregated and purposefully dumbed down LAUSD that is exclusively run for the benefit of its entrenched bureaucracy and the obscene profits of their corporate vendors' int
Teacher Tom: That's What I Want For All Children : That's What I Want For All Children We often discuss teaching as a profession, and it certainly is a field populated by professionals, but the longer I do this the more I come to understand that what we do falls much more precisely under the heading of a "calling." I've never met a preschool teacher who went into it for the money: everyone knows
An Urban Teacher's Education: You Can Be an Astronaut, but You Can't Be Black : You Can Be an Astronaut, but You Can't Be Black “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. “I want to be a teacher!,” exclaims Johnny "I want to be an astronaut!,” shouts Bobbie. The possibilities were alway
Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 7/16/17 Featured Post One Way Teachers Can Fight Exhaustion Before It Starts - Teacher Habits Texas High Schoolers Rise Against Anti-Immigrant SB 4 Law - News Taco by mike simpson / 8min Texas High Schoolers Rise Against Anti-Immigrant SB 4 Law - News Taco : Latin@ high school students are rising to protest hateful SB 4 law in Texas. Students raising a f
