When Betsy DeVos "Likes" Your "Research"…
The New York Post recently published an eye-catching headline (“Case closed: Charter schools deliver more education ‘bang’ for the buck“) about a new “research study” (more on that in a bit…) from Corey DeAngelis and Patrick Wolf, from the Walton Family Foundation-funded “Department of Education Reform”, not to be confused with an actual school or college of education, that…you know…prepares teachers…or…teaches stuff, on the…checks notes…efficiency of charter schools?
Now, when someone starts talking to me about “efficiency” in education, I know they don’t know the first thing about education…or kids…or teachers…or learning. Because education is not about being “efficient”–it’s about helping children become who they want to become, and building relationships along the way. And there’s a huge, school-shaped gulf of difference between the two.
If you’re doubting me, try this little thought experiment: think about something you really value and like to do…playing golf, enjoying a good meal, spending time with loved ones, curling up with a good book in front of a roaring fire in a cabin next to a lake. Got your’s? Good.
Now, think about whether it would ever occur to you to think about, or concern yourself, with doing that thing “efficiently.”
Would you try to spend as little time as possible doing that thing, thereby maximizing your ROI (“return on investment,” a business term, not an educational term, and one of the main “research CONTINUE READING: When Betsy DeVos "Likes" Your "Research"… | Eclectablog