Michelle Rhee Has Been Robbed As the various lists of faces, names, moments that defined the education policy debates of the last decade have been tallied up, one name has been, I think, unfairly overlooked-- Michelle Rhee. No, really, bear with me. The very fact that I don't really need to review her story makes part of my point. Rhee was the previous decade's best-known public face of educatio
Educators’ 2020 wish list - Education Votes By Amanda Menas As we start a new decade, educators are hopeful and energized, ready to work hard for the future of their students, schools, and communities. Last year, educators made dreams a reality by rallying for investment in public schools and showing up on election day. They advocated for higher salaries and better funding for their school progr
The New Orleans public school busing crisis should be treated as the civil rights issue that it is. Public schools in New Orleans have long struggled with providing quality public transportation for its students, a problem that has been particularly exacerbated by the advent of a decentralized public school system—a system in which charter management organizations (CMOs) primarily exist as their
John Thompson: Why Is Tulsa in Crisis? John Thompson is a historian and a retired teacher, who blogs often, here and on other blogs. He has keen insight into what’s happening in Oklahoma. He writes: Since 2015, the Tulsa Public Schools have cut $22 million from its budget, even dipping into its reserve fund to balance the books. Now it must cut another $20 million. Given the huge support for the
Economists Ate My School – Why Defining Teaching as a Transaction is Destroying Our Society Teaching is one of the most misunderstood interactions in the world. Some people see it as a mere transaction , a job: you do this, I’ll pay you that. The input is your salary. The output is learning. These are distinctly measurable phenomena. One is calculated in dollars and cents. The other in academic
Albany to High Schools: Buena Suerte, Vaya Con Dios, and Drop Dead My Christmas break, sad to say, was not all glamor and world travel. Alas, there were various things that kept me here. That in itself was not so bad, and I suppose most of my students were around too. One thing I had that they did not was homework. Someone at UFT gave me two books about a month ago, One was Cultivating Knowledge
Education in the Age of Globalization » Blog Archive » PISA Peculiarities (1): Why doesn’t growth mindset work for Chinese students? PISA Peculiarities (1): Why doesn’t growth mindset work for Chinese students? Having a growth mindset is negatively associated with academic performance for participating students from China (Beijing-Shanghai-Jiangsu-Zhejiang or B-S-J-Z China), according to the 2018
Can Historians Help Reformers Improve Schools? I wrote this piece a decade ago. I believe it continues to be relevantfor both historians, policymakers, practitioners, and parents who unrelentingly seek to improve schools in their district, stat e, or nation. Historians are divided over what can be learned from history. When policymakers (and public school students) ask about the usefulness of hi
Ohio’s Aggressive School Vouchers Set to Cripple Even High-Scoring Public Schools In the December 30, 2019, Troy Daily News (Ohio) , retired superintendent Tom Dunn published a scathing review of the ills of education reform mandates, concluding with Ohio’s private school voucher program, EdChoice , which has twisted “underperforming” to include the highest-graded public schools in the state. Oh
NPE Stands Up to the Charter Lobby, Diane Ravitch’s New Book, and More … Since the publication of our latest report, the charter lobby has resorted to ad hominem attacks on Diane Ravitch and the Network for Public Education. Take a moment to read my reply published today in The Washington Post Answer Sheet. In that reply, I share a letter to Congress from Betsy DeVos that confirms our findings r
The Ed Reform Glossary You Need If that Amazon gift certificate is burning a hole in your pocket, I have a few suggestions. Let's start with this one. In 2006, education historian Diane Ravitch published EdSpeak , a glossary of education policy jargon to help those folks who found it all, well, jargonny. But the education world has shifted around just a tad since 2006, and it is time for a brand
NewBlackMan (in Exile) Single Mothers and the Boys and Men Raised by Them by Mark Anthony Neal / 3h 'Filmmaker Daphne McWilliams joins All Of It to discuss her documentary , In a Perfect World , about the experience of boys raised by single mothers.' An Alternative to Our Broken Prison System by Mark Anthony Neal / 3h ' On the Media co-host Bob Garfield speaks with Danielle Sered , author of Unt
Education Research Report THIS WEEK Education Research Report What Is the Price of College? Total, Net, and Out-of-Pocket Prices by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 3d in 2015–16 focuses on four price measures, including total price of attendance (tuition and living expenses), net price of attendance after all grants, out-of-pocket net price after all financial aid, and out-of-pocket net price after all aid
Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... | The latest news and resources in education since 2007 This Week With Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... The latest news and resources in education since 2007 This Week’s “Round-Up” Of Useful Posts & Articles On Ed Policy Issues by Larry Ferlazzo / 10h Here are some recent useful posts and articles on educational policy issues (You might also be inter
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all KEEP UP/ CATCH UP WITH DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG A site to discuss better education for all Slaying Goliath: The Passionate Resistance to Privatization and the Fight to Save America's Public Schools CLICK HERE TO Pre-order NOW John Thompson: Why Is Tulsa in Crisis? by dianeravitch / 6min John Thompson is a historian and a retired teache
Angie Sullivan Tells Every Nevada Legislator to Read SLAYING GOLIATH Angie Sullivan teaches in a Title 1 elementary school in Carson County, Nevada. She teaches the children who were left behind. She sent this post to every legislator in Nevada: A small group of vocal teachers, parents, and activists have been publicly concerned about national public school privatization for two decades. Diane R
SCUSD and Black Parallel School Board Seek Settlement SACRAMENTO, CA - The Sacramento City Unified School District (District) and plaintiffs suing the District for alleged discrimination against students based on race and disability asked the federal court to pause litigation so the parties may seek potential resolution through settlement. The lawsuit, alleged as a class-action, was filed by a c
OKCPS teacher complaints should be taken seriously OKCPS teacher complaints should be taken seriously I’ve read school climate surveys and listened to teachers for decades. In my experience, most educators hold their frustration in — until they can’t take it anymore. I thought morale bottomed out in Oklahoma City Public Schools under former Superintendent Aurora Lora, before the recent statewide
Mailer encourages Washington state teachers to stop paying their union dues and ‘save up to $1,200’ | The Seattle Times Mailer encourages Washington state teachers to stop paying their union dues and ‘save up to $1,200’ Get the Facts about the 'Freedom' Foundation - http://freedomfoundationfacts.com/ When Seattle teacher Alice Lippitt checked the mail last week, she was puzzled by a flyer she fou
The Most Important School Case Before the U.S. Supreme Court This Session The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case called Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue that will determine whether the United States–or any state–may still respect a separation of church and state. In the wake of Donald Trump’s choice of two far-right Justices to the Supreme Court, this case might well be decided in a wa
Where do the 2020 candidates stand on education issues? Here’s the information you need to help you make the better choice in 2020 The education columns from 2019 you don’t want to miss We’re less than a year away from the 2020 presidential election; last week we saw seven Democratic presidential candidates participate in a forum dedicated to education issues held in Pittsburgh. If you follow my
Inside a Training Course Where School Workers Learn How to Physically Restrain Students While reporting on the use of physical restraint in schools, I wanted to understand if school workers properly used their training in the classroom. They often did not. This week’s ProPublica Illinois newsletter is written by Jennifer Smith Richards, a Chicago Tribune reporter who has been working with ProPub
Jennifer Berkshire: The Democratic Candidates and Their School Choice Problem Jennifer Berkshire writes in The Nation about the quandary of Democratic candidates . For years, charter schools had bipartisan support. Clinton and Obama both supported charter schools, and joined with Republicans to expand the federal Charter Schools Program, which is now the single biggest source of funding for char
New Report: Charter Fraud And Waste Worse Than We Thought Last March, the Network for Public Education released a report showing that the federal government has lost a billion dollars to charter school waste and fraud . But the organization had not stopped sifting through the data. Their follow-up report , “ Still Asleep At The Wheel: How the Federal Charter Schools Program Results in as Pileup
Education in the Age of Globalization » Blog Archive » More and Different: The Impact of AI on Future Jobs and Education More and Different: The Impact of AI on Future Jobs and Education “ Better-paid, better-educated workers face the most exposure” to AI , concludes a recent report about the impact of Artificial Intelligence on jobs in the future. This conclusion should make us question the wide
The surprising source of key data in a report critical of U.S. Charter School Program I recently wrote about a report by the advocacy group, the Network for Public Education, about waste in the federal Charter Schools Program (CSP). It was the second such report published in 2019 by the group, which was co-founded by historian and activist Diane Ravitch. Both of them, not surprisingly, received
IMANI – Parenting for Liberation IMANI - Today is the seventh and final day of Kwanzaa Today is the seventh and final day of Kwanzaa, a week-long celebration that honors African heritage of the Black Diaspora. Today, on the seventh day of Kwanzaa, we celebrate Imani (Faith) which is to believe with all our hearts in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, & the righteousness & victory
Houston: The Betrayal of the Public Schools As State Attacks Democracy The public schools of Houston are going to be taken over by the incompetent State Education Department, which has never run a school district of any size and which has failed in its previous takeover efforts. The Houston Chronicle hailed the pending takeover, while noting that the Houston Independent School District has been
California Charter Schools Had a Rough Year – and the Future Is Uncertain Charter schools emerged from 2019 plenty scuffed up – but the new regulations that will govern them are far less restrictive than those proposed at the beginning of the year. “Charter schools cheat the hangman.” That was how Dan Walters put it in a column for CalMatters after state lawmakers brokered a compromise on sweepi
NewBlackMan (in Exile) Stephanie Mills Is Honored at the Black Music Honors by Mark Anthony Neal / 2h ' Regina Belle , Angela Winbush and Paris Bennett honor the legendary Stephanie Mills at the 3rd Annual Black Music Honors.' -- Black Music Honors Sonic Futures: The Music of Afrofuturism with George Clinton, Nona Hendryx, Vernon Reid and Alondra Nelson by Mark Anthony Neal / 2h 'Three musical g
A Book You Should Own That Explains Education Today Perhaps you have been confused by the proliferation of organizations that claim to be all about fixing schools and teachers. Perhaps you can’t figure out who is who in the galaxy of billionaire-funded world of fake reformers. Buy this reference book! I t names names! It is the glossary you have been waiting for! EDSPEAK AND DOUBLETALK: A Glossa
Albany and the New Ten Commandments Forget everything you've heard and read about education. There's a new paradigm, and it's called Teaching Advanced Literacy Skills. This is revolutionary, of course, because it appears clear to the authors that no English teacher in the history of the universe has ever taught advanced literacy. Also, since no one in the world will ever go into a trade, and sin
Louisiana Magnet School Principal Under Investigation Patrick F. Taylor Science and Technology Academy is a public magnet school located in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. Enrollment is contingent upon achieving a satisfactory score on an admissions test . The school’s website includes a proud display of its accolades: The State of Louisiana recently implemented a new, more stringent, formula to ca
I Have One Good New Years Story New Year's Eve is not one of my favorite holidays, and some of them have been downright unpleasant, but I have one good story. It involves the Olympic torch. This was the route. I wasn't kidding with "circuitous." Back on New Year's Day of 2002, the Olympic flame was on its way to Salt Lake City, and on its long circuitous route out West, the flame passed through
MY TOP BLOG POSTS OF 2019. Kiss it goodbye. Exclusive to this blog from Kentucky teacher and pension activist Randy Wieck. Here is an update on Kentucky teacher pension: KISS IT GOOD-BYE Kentucky public school teachers were recently told by Governor Matt Bevin, that if the Kentucky Supreme Court rejected recent Senate Bill 151, (known in Kentucky as the Sewage Bill – all mentions of sewage were
The Ground Level Ed Reform Decade Retrospective Yeah, it's time for everyone to do decade lists (including "Ten Reasons The New Decade Doesn't Start For Another Year") from the list of education faces that Alexander Russo is doing on Twitter to this absolutely-the-only-list-you-need-to-read from Audrey Watters, " The 100 Worst Ed Tech Debacles of the Decade. " I'm not going to try to sum up the
Happy New Year! To everyone who reads this blog, I thank you and wish you a happy, healthy New Year! Thank you being part of this wonderful community of people who care passionately about children, education, and the common good. May you find many reasons for joy, many reasons to celebrate, many reasons to feel happiness in your work and your daily life! Look around you and find the goodness and
2020. PENSIONS AND THE MINIMUM WAGE. It’s the first day of the new decade and I wish you a peaceful year and an end to the reign of Donald Trump. Convict him or beat him at the polls. I’m good either way. Illinois state retired workers will see their state pensions increase by 3% over what it was in 2019. The first check that will reflect that increase will be in February. No thanks to Illinois
How Have Teachers Taught: A Look Backwards So much policy making aimed to improve classroom lessons is anchored deeply in myth and memory. Both morph into one another as policymakers (aka “reformers) filter their children’s tales of what occurs in classrooms festooned with iPads and Chromebooks through their recollection of what went on in their elementary and secondary classes. Oh yeah, policy
KUUMBA – Parenting for Liberation Habari Gani? Kuumba! Today is the sixth day of Kwanzaa, a week-long celebration that honors African heritage of the Black Diaspora. We will be highlighting the importance of the seven core principles of Kwanzaa, how you can practice in your families and communities, and share how Parenting for Liberation work embodies the tenets of each principle. Today, on the s
Cheating Scandals, Charters and Falling Test Scores: 5 Takeaways From the Year in Education - The New York Times Cheating Scandals, Charters and Falling Test Scores: 5 Takeaways From the Year in Education Five big trends, from stagnant student performance to declining faith in colleges. There was no shortage of news about American education in 2019. Presidential candidates debated school segregat
It's Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... A VERY BUSY DAY The latest news and resources in education since 2007 Quote of the Day: I’m Going To Keep “The Stonecutter’s Creedo” In Mind This Year by Larry Ferlazzo / 29min This year, as in all years past, there will be times when I’m feeling frustrated, disappointed, or impatient when I’m in the classroom. I’m going to try and keep “The Stonecutt
A Review of Daisy Has Autism: In 2020, a Commitment to Students With Disabilities! A Review of Daisy Has Autism: In 2020, a Commitment to Students With Disabilities! Daisy Has Autism by Aaron J. Wright should be mandatory reading for every school board member, school administrator, and teacher. It’s a book that will help parents of children with disabilities know they’re not alone. It’s an intere
Happy 2020! I want to wish every reader of this blog a happy, healthy and prosperous 2020. It's a new decade. Let's start clean and look forward. Danielson is not the end-all be-all, especially if you're gifted with a Boy Wonder supervisor who wouldn't know a competent teacher if one were beating him over the head. Look at your interactions with kids and see who you're helping. Your help, in fac
Breaking: Our class size lawsuit will be heard Jan. 13 & last chance in 2019 to support our efforts Dear Friend: I wanted to let you know that we just heard yesterday that the appeal of our class size lawsuit vs the DOE Chancellor and State Education Commissioner, Agostini vs. Elia, will be heard on Monday, January 13 at 1 PM in the Appellate Court in Albany. We filed the lawsuit originally in A
OH: Ohio Excels and the Hostile Takeover of Education Ohio is one of many states in which business leaders have appointed themselves education overseers. The most recent version of this phenomenon is Ohio Excels , a lobbying group that believes that Ohio's education system owes them better meat widgets for job fodder. "improving the quality of education will give students a better chance to succ
Blogging Resumes It's been a while... I won't get into the details, but suffice to say I had to take some time off from blogging. Too much stuff on my plate, and I was running the risk of doing it all badly. Something had to give. During the time off, I thought about shutting the blog down. I've got a place to do my Jersey-specific work, another place to do descriptive analysis and other similar
Arguably the two most appalling stories about the standardized testing obsession of the 2010s Of all of the absurd and appalling stories that emerged from the standardized test-based school reform movement in the 2010s, there were two that, arguably, best revealed to me how bankrupt and even cruel some of the things policymakers foisted on children could be. There were, to be sure, plenty of sto
Audrey Watters: The Most Important Post of the Decade: The 100 Worst EdTech Disasters of the Decade I just opened my email and discovered this brilliant post by Audrey Watters , whose critical voice on EdTech is indispensable. Watters lists the 100 biggest EdTech debacles of the past decade, and seeing them all in one place is astonishing. What strikes me is the combination of unadulterated arro
Recommended: Literacy Crises: False Claims and Real Solutions, Jeff McQuillan Recently, I have been (frantically but carefully) drafting a new book for IAP about the current “science of reading” version of the Reading War: How to End the Reading War and Serve the Literacy Needs of All Students: A Primer for Parents, Policy Makers, and People Who Care . Those familiar with this blog and my schola
“We Are the Resistance and We Are Winning.” By Thomas Ultican 1/1/2020 Historian and former United States Assistant Secretary of Education, Diane Ravitch’s, new book, Slaying Goliath: The Passionate Resistance to Privatization and the Fight to Save America’s Public Schools is due for release January 21. This masterpiece weaves together recent history with illuminating data concerning “ corporate
Big Education Ape TOP POSTS THIS YEAR The real story of New Orleans and its charter schools - The Washington Post Bill Gates spent hundreds of millions of dollars to improve teaching. New report says it was a bust. - The Washington Post Seattle Schools Community Forum: Gay Pride Month Starts Today Jackie Goldberg Hits the LAUSD Board Running NEA Announces #StrongPublicSchools Presidential Forum C
Failing the Test: Oakland’s Charter School Tipping Point - Beyond Chron FAILING THE TEST: OAKLAND’S CHARTER SCHOOL TIPPING POINT Last September’s sensational leak of the Great Public Schools Now Initiative, a half- b illion-dollar plan to double the number of charter schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), sparked a firestorm of controversy. Citing the plan’s potentially cripp
The LAUSD’s 2019 Report Card “ The strike that nobody wanted is now behind us ” - Austin Beutner When I predicted that the charter industry’s recapturing of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Board would bring a level of chaos not seen in the district since the days of the iPad debacle, the MiSiS Crisis and other John Deasy disasters , I had no idea how quickly this would occur. Within mo
NIA – Parenting for Liberation Habari Gani? Nia! Today is the fifth day of Kwanzaa, a week-long celebration that honors African heritage of the Black Diaspora. We will be highlighting the importance of the seven core principles of Kwanzaa, how you can practice in your families and communities, and share how Parenting for Liberation work embodies the tenets of each principle. Today, on the fifth d
Opposing Charter Schools Equals Defending the Common Good | Dissident Voice Opposing Charter Schools Equals Defending the Common Good There is no shortage of convoluted and bizarre “arguments” for creating and multiplying privately-operated non-profit and for-profit charter schools. The rich and their conscious and anti-conscious allies in politics, the media, think tanks, higher education, and m
Unvaccinated Seattle Students Could Be Barred From School In The New Year Washington state has eliminated exemptions for the MMR vaccine on personal and philosophical grounds. Students in Washington state’s largest school system who have not met their vaccination requirements will not be allowed back at school next week, according to school officials. Seattle Public Schools has informed parents
Recommended: Literacy Crises: False Claims and Real Solutions, Jeff McQuillan Recently, I have been (frantically but carefully) drafting a new book for IAP about the current “science of reading” version of the Reading War: How to End the Reading War and Serve the Literacy Needs of All Students: A Primer for Parents, Policy Makers, and People Who Care . Those familiar with this blog and my schola
It's Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day... A VERY BUSY DAY | The latest news and resources in education since 2007 “Elements of an Effective Math Lesson” by Larry Ferlazzo / 11h Elements of an Effective Math Lesson is the headline of my latest Education Week Teacher column. In it, teachers explain how creative math lessons can spring from students’ surrounding environments and culture such as
Grassroots Education Network- December 2019 Newsletter The NPE Grassroots Education Network is a network of over 150 grassroots organizations nationwide who have joined together to preserve, promote, improve, and strengthen our public schools. If you know of a group that would like to join this powerful network, please go here to sign on. If you have any questions about the NPE Grassroots Educat
Fulfilling FDR’s Dream: His Second Bill of Rights I have engaged in a heated exchange off line with people who are upset about taxing billionaires. They feel sure that taxing the 1% or the .00025% is a slippery slope, and soon enough we will all pay taxes so high that we will have to give up our homes. This is a good time, I think, to revisit Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1944 State of the Union A
Love Is The Only Revolutionary Force Psychologist Carl Jung wrote, "Where love rules there is not will to power; and where power predominates, there love is lacking." This, I think, is an important thing upon which modern educators in general, and early childhood educators in particular, could stand to meditate. I strive to place love at the center of my practice, as I know is true of most of my
Why Isn't Every School Like Brooklyn Tech? Let me say this first--I adore AOC. I think she's wonderful. I would vote for her against just about anyone. I think she's brilliant. She asked a question , though, comparing schools, at a forum in Brooklyn. While I think she's got great intentions, I'm a little surprised. To me at least, the answer is obvious. Why can't every school be like Brooklyn Te
Breaking: Our class size appeal will be heard on Jan. 13 in Albany! Big news just announced today: Our class size lawsuit vs NYC and NY State, Agostini vs. Elia, will finally be heard on Monday, January 13 at 1 PM in the Appellate Court in Albany. Last spring, May 23, 2019 , attorney Wendy Lecker of the Education Law Cente r filed our appeal on behalf of nine NYC parents, Class Size Matters and
CANCELLING CONGRATULATIONS Dear Friend, Last week I congratulated you for earning enough money to allow you to give generously to deserving non-profit organizations. As I told you then, I hired a high tech firm to crunch the data from my 5,000 person mailing list. Well, one person (not you) was outraged that I had spent my money invading the privacy of friends and others. LIGHTEN UP! THAT WAS A
Every Incident of Mishandled Guns in Schools Editor’s Note: This list is comprehensive as of December 10, 2019. We will make periodic updates to keep it up to date. Armed adults frequently mishandle their guns in schools. Arming teachers wouldn’t decrease risk to students—it would increase their risk. Our comprehensive analysis finds there have been more than 85 publicly-reported incidents of mi
Why Teaching “Grit” Is Not Necessarily a Good Thing Mike Rose opined a few years back about “grit” and its limitations. This is one of those articles that is never dated. Rose, one of my favorite authors, writes: In a nutshell, I worry about the limited success of past attempts at character education and the danger in our pendulum-swing society that we will shift our attention from improving sub
Expunging injustice. – Fred Klonsky EXPUNGING INJUSTICE As a teenager and and young man in L.A. in the Sixties I smoked a lot of pot. Everybody did. It was cheap and widely available. And illegal. Although I wasn’t aware of it – even before The War on Drugs – there were already lots of people in jail for marijuana possession. In June 1971, Richard Nixon officially declared his “War on Drugs,” cla
10 of the most popular stories about education research in 2019 Debunking critical thinking, 'grit' and what goes on in gifted classes For my year-end post, I’m highlighting 10 of the most well-read Proof Points stories of 2019. They are listed in the order of popularity — by the number of times readers viewed them on our website, The Hechinger Report. What stands out for me is how popular educa
Habari Gani? Ujamaa! Today is the fourth day of Kwanzaa, a week-long celebration that honors African heritage of the Black Diaspora. We will be highlighting the importance of the seven core principles of Kwanzaa, how you can practice in your families and communities, and share how Parenting for Liberation work embodies the tenets of each principle. Today, on the fourth day of Kwanzaa, we celebra
Ten Education Stories We'll Be Reading in 2020 As we bid adieu to 2019 and look forward to another year of tranquil good cheer, it's time for my annual prognostications. Now, while some of you have uncharitably observed that I've an uneven record on this count, I shall soldier on, undaunted by the naysaying. Thus, without further ado, here's my best guess at 10 big education stories we'll be rea
Kentucky: First Charter School Kentucky passed a law authorizing charters but never provided funding for them. The new governor of Kentucky, Democrat Andy Beshears, was elected in part because of his strong support by teachers and his commitment to public schools. https://www.fox19.com/2019/12/28/latest-kentucky-news-sports-business-entertainment-am-est/ CHARTER SCHOOL-DENIED First charter schoo
Education Research Report A large negative fiscal impact of charter schools on both urban and nonurban school districts by Jonathan Kantrowitz / 1h Complete report A significant criticism of the charter school movement is that funding for charter schools diverts money away from traditional public schools. The magnitude of such adverse fiscal externalities depends in part on the nature of state a
The Teacher Strikes: Teachers Speak Out about Their Activism California Sunday Magazine published interviews with teachers about their role in striking, walking out, negotiating, bargaining. It begins: On February 22, 2018, some 20,000 teachers in West Virginia — many of them wearing red in solidarity — walked out of their classrooms. That April saw strikes in Arizona, Colorado, and Oklahoma, as
The Height Of A Dead Salmon A while back someone sent me an article with a striking lead : The methodology is straightforward. You take your subject and slide them into an fMRI machine, a humongous sleek, white ring, like a donut designed by Apple. Then you show the subject images of people engaging in social activities — shopping, talking, eating dinner. You flash 48 different photos in front o
THE GREATNESS [A DECADE IN REVIEW] I became a math instructional coach, went back to the classroom a few years later, graduated hundreds of students, achieved National Board certification, received the Math for America Master Teacher Fellowship, spoke at over 100 venues, was the first current classroom teacher to keynote the American Education Research Association annual meeting and the National
CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Almost A New Decade Edition (12/29) Almost A New Decade Edition (12/29) Yep, soon anything from the 1900s will be "a long time ago." But we can meditate on how experience fades into the dim past some other day. Right now we'll just worry about last week. Here's some of the worthwhile reading; it's a short list because holiday time. Remember to amplify the stuff that speaks
Cursive Writing and Coding: Conflicts over School Goals I published this post originally on May 18, 2014. Since then the regular media run pieces on the disappearance and revival of cursive writing. I am re-printing this post since again proposals to resusitate cursive writing have appeared. As reported in the New York Time s, 24 states now require different forms of cursive writing with seven t
Reader: I Taught SAT Prep. It’s a Sham. An anonymous reader left this comment about the SAT. Once upon a time, 25 years ago, I ‘offered’ SAT tutoring (at a rather high price of $50/hr.) to denizens of a tony private school. I could charge that much because I ‘got results’. But, it was rather easy to improve scores. First, there was the fact that almost all of my clients had scored ‘too low’ when
Listen to This – Nineteen for 2019 Nineteen meaningful comments and quotes from 2019 from my blog and others… JANUARY Making Laws About Teaching Speaker Bosma, Qualifications Matter! Jennifer McCormick Perplexing but not surprising- people who are most judgmental & outspoken about the qualifications necessary to perform a job are typically those people who have never done the job. Hey Kindergart
Massachusetts Nonprofit, Building Excellent Schools, Receives $57M from Arkansas Waltons The billionaire Walton family spends millions promoting school choice, including fronting money for charter school start-ups. Moreover, the Walton “paths to public charter school startup” advertises a number of “partners,” including Massachusetts-based Building Excellent Schools (BES). BES received its tax-e
Sixteen Gadfly Articles That Made Betsy DeVos Itch in 2019 | gadflyonthewallblog Sixteen Gadfly Articles That Made Betsy DeVos Itch in 2019 “Life can only be understood backwards,” wrote Søren Kierkegaard, “but it must be lived forwards.” I remember reading the Danish philosopher’s “Fear and Trembling” in my philosophy of religion class back in college. To be honest I was never a big fan of his w
Dana Goldstein's Common Core Ten Year Tale, Annotated Dana Goldstein's NYT ten year retrospective of Common Core has been sitting on my desktop since it was published, making me grumpy. It's yet another example of how the stories we are told about modern disruptive education reform are subtly sugared and carefully crafted to avoid discussing some of the larger issues. I don't know-- after all, G
Education in New York: Looking Back and Looking Forward: Remembering 2019 and Anticipating 2020 The decade of the teens began with high expectations and ended in confusion, both for New York State and New York City. The decade started with a new leader of the Board of Regents, Merryl Tisch, and a new commissioner, David Steiner. Ever rising questionable test scores led to Tisch and Steiner, brav
On Academic Language and ELLs I've read most of a book called Cultivating Knowledge, Building Language . Someone from UFT told me it was the book on which the geniuses in Albany based their ELL policy. I'm not sure where to begin, if indeed that's the case, but I'll start with the fact that it focuses exclusively on elementary students. I'm a high school teacher. The fact is my students come to
Big Education Ape TOP POSTS THIS WEEK 12/28/19 The real story of New Orleans and its charter schools - The Washington Post Bill Gates spent hundreds of millions of dollars to improve teaching. New report says it was a
