Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
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What Trump’s Executive Orders Really Do
by dianeravitch / 1h
David Dayen writes the blog “Unsanitized” for the American Prospect. In this post, he explains what Trump’s executive orders really do. Please open the links to see the many embedded links. After weeks of unproductive talks with Democrats bending but the White House unyielding, over the weekend Donald Trump issued three memoranda and an executive order that, at this moment, reflect the only addit
Leonie Haimson: The Risks and Benefits of Opening New York City Schools
by dianeravitch / 2h
Leonie Haimson summarizes the pluses and minuses of reopening schools in New York City. She points out: Many public health experts and epidemiologists agree that NYC schools seem to be in the best position of any large district in the country to offer face-to-face learning, with an COVID positivity rate of only about one percent. Our positivity rate is very low and the lowest we are likely to see
A Face Mask That Teachers Should Consider
by dianeravitch / 3h
NPR had a story recently about a face mask designed to help those who are deaf and hard of hearing . It has a large plastic panel that reveals the mouth and aids those who read lips. It’s not just those with hearing loss who are clamoring for cloth face masks that have a see-through panel. They are a hot item among teachers, for example, and others who work with children or the elderly. Vendors o
Bob Shepherd: How to Use Remote Learning Wisely
67by dianeravitch / 4h
Bob Shepherd. Is a former teacher, editor, curriculum designer, and assessment developer. He believes that a return to in-person instruction would be “an unprecedented catastrophe.” But he defines remote learning as a guarantee that any real learning will be remote. How to find a path forward give the dangers of reopening and the tedium of remote learning? He writes: Clearly, if we are to depend
Jack Hassard: Georgia Is Not Ready to Open Schools
by dianeravitch / 5h
Jack Hassard has spent his career teaching science and training science teachers. He lives in Georgia, where Governor Brian Kemp is determined to open schools without regard to the state of the virus. Hassard says, based on the science, that Georgia is not ready to open its schools . The infection rate in Georgia is unacceptably high at 13-16%. It is important for us to use the science to make de
Is Brian Kemp of Georgia the Dumbest Governor?
by dianeravitch / 5h
That’s a trick question because a Governor Kemp has stiff competition from several other governors, such as Florida’s Ron DeSantis. Politico interviewed Georgia Governor Brian Kemp. He said his early reopening of schools for full-time in-person instruction was going really well, except for the photo that went viral of high school students packed together in a hall while changing classes. Under Ke
Today is the Anniversary of Magellan’s Voyage
by dianeravitch / 1d
This account was posted on Garrison Keillor’s “The Writer’s Almanac.” It was on this date in 1519 that the explorer Ferdinand Magellan set off to sail around the world. Although he was Portuguese, Magellan had sworn allegiance to Spain, and he began the journey with a fleet of five ships and 270 men to see if he could accomplish what Columbus had failed to: find a navigable route to Asia that did
Trump Wants His Face on Mount Rushmore
by dianeravitch / 1d
Trump believes he is one of the greatest presidents ever. He is surrounded by enablers who encourage his fantasies. Those who speak truth to Trump are soon fired. Think Mattis, Kelly, Tillerson. James Hohmann writes today in the Washington Post: President Trump said Sunday night that etching his likeness in granite on Mount Rushmore alongside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln a
New Orleans: Why Some Charter Teachers Want to Join a Union
54by dianeravitch / 1d
The Education Research Alliance of New Orleans just released a study of why some charter teachers in the nation’s only all-charter district want to join a union. Their reasons sound very much like the reasons that teachers in public schools want a union. No one told them that the Waltons, charter lobbyists, and other supporters of the charter movement don’t like unions. Immediately after Hurrican
Gary Rubinstein Reviews Thomas Sowell’s Book About Charter Schools
by dianeravitch / 1d
Gary Rubinstein reviews Thomas Sowell’s recent book about charter schools and their enemies. Thomas Sowell is an economist and a senior fellow at the conservative Hoover Institution. He is African American and has long been highly critical of affirmative action and anything that smacks of lowered standards for black students. He is a hard-right libertarian. Many years ago, we were friends, and I
Mercedes Schneider: My Pandemic Classroom
20by dianeravitch / 1d
Mercedes Schneider teaches high school in Louisiana. She is supposed to resume full-time, in person instruction in a few weeks, although her state has a 14% positivity rate for COVID. She describes how she will rearrange her classroom and how she will teach, in detail. I am the teacher, and I am supposed to limit my movement in my own classroom. Is every conversation with a student to be said lou
Teacher: The Hidden Scandal in U.S. Education
95by dianeravitch / 1d
A teacher in the District of Columbia wrote about the hidden scandal in public education: crumbling buildings. She writes: For all the debate about why schools should not open … the most obvious elephant in the room is invisible
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all