CHECK IT OUT: DIANE ON A ROLL TODAY - Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

CHECK IT OUT: DIANE ON A ROLL TODAY 

Big Education Ape: KEEP UP/ CATCH UP WITH DIANE RAVITCH'S BLOG A site to discuss better education for all https://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2020/11/keep-up-catch-up-with-diane-ravitchs_21.html 

SomeDam Poet: Privatize the Planet

by dianeravitch / 1h

Our blog poet frequently favors with rhyme: Privatize the planet Privatize the planet Plunder it for gain Light the fire and fan it Mine the golden vein Privatize the water Sell it to the poor Privatize your daughter Sell her as a whore Privatize the wildlife Charge a viewing fee Like a Wall Street low life That is what you’ll be

Denver: Turmoil Over Superintendent’s Exit

34by dianeravitch / 2h

The superintendent of Denver Public Schools, Susana Cordova, resigned abruptly, and her departure was followed by finger pointing. Denver has been a hot spot for “reformers,” and it’s school board elections attract DFER, “Education Reform Now,” and other big-money donors from out of state. I asked Jeanne Kaplan, a former DPS board member, to explain what’s going on. She sent me her comments and a

Laura Chapman: Who Is Behind the “Read by Third Grade or Be Retained” Campaign?

by dianeravitch / 3h

Laura Chapman recently wrote about the policy of holding third grade students back if they didn’t pass the third grade reading test. One result of this initiative is to raise fourth-grade reading scores on state tests and NAEP. She writes: There is a national read-by-grade three campaign. The practice of holding students back a grade is not new, but in the olden days it was never based on test sc

Los Angeles: Charter School Games the System for More $$$

25by dianeravitch / 3h

Parent advocate Carl J. Peterson writes here about a charter school in Los Angeles that figured out to game the system for more money and space. He writes that “Citizens of the World” collects signatures of parents who are not likely to apply for the school and uses them as expressions of intent to enroll. A Facebook post by Jirusha Lopez, the principal of COW’s Hollywood campus, provides some in

Why I Object to the Term “Science of Reading”

22by dianeravitch / 4h

As anyone who read my book Left Back (2000) knows, I have long been persuaded of the value of phonetic instruction for early readers. I was a friend of the late Jeanne Chall, who began her career as a kindergarten teacher and eventually became a Harvard professor and the nation’s most eminent reading researcher. Her 1967 book, Learning to Read: The Great Debate, should have ended the reading wars

Marco Rubio Says He Will Oppose Biden’s Cabinet Choices

by dianeravitch / 20h

This afternoon, President-Elect Biden introduced his first Cabinet picks, all of whom are highly qualified and experienced. None is remotely controversial. Senator Marco Rubio tweeted that he would oppose them all. One reason he gave was that they had Ivy League educations. On Twitter, one of the many responses was a list of Trump Cabinet members who had gone to Harvard, Yale, and other Ivies. Tr

Kevin Welner: The Urgent De-Vos-Ing of the Department of Education

53by dianeravitch / 1d

I recently had the pleasure of reading Kevin Welner’s terrific new Onion-like book, “Potential Grizzlies: Making the Nonsense Bearable.” In tweets, I described Kevin as the Stephen Colbert and Groucho Marx of American education. Kevin and I had fun discussing the book on a Zoom sponsored by the Network for Public Education. ( WATCH: Diane Ravitch in Conversation with Kevin Welner ). Kevin has ple

What Happened to the School in New Orleans That Was First to Desegregate?

85by dianeravitch / 1d

You may recall the iconic painting of little Ruby Bridges, a first-grader, who was the first African American student to enroll in a previously all-white segregated school in New Orleans. If you don’t, be sure to read this article, which tells what happened to the William Franz Public School. Three scholars–Connie L. Schaffer, Martha Graham Viator, and Meg White–tell the story. The three are also

What My High School Did for One Student

25by dianeravitch / 1d

I am a 1956 graduate of San Jacinto High School in Houston, Texas. The school no longer exists; it is now part of the campus of Houston Community College. When I attended San Jac, it was a thriving community of about 1500 students. Most of the teachers were old-timers. There were many clubs for after-school activities and many sports teams. We were known as the Golden Bears. As a senior, I was ed

To Test or Not to Test, That Is the Question

79by dianeravitch / 1d

Everyone seems to have an opinion about whether the mandated federal tests should be administered this spring. When the pandemic was first acknowledged last March, Betsy DeVos offered waivers to states that wanted 

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all