Big Education Ape: Sep 27, 2020

Sunday, September 27, 2020

CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION + ICYMI: Hanging In There Edition (9/27)

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Hanging In There Edition (9/27)

Hanging In There Edition (9/27)

Well, that was another week. Just keep trying to avoid being crushed by what feels like a physical increase in the air pressure over the entire country. Here's the list. And I'll remind you-- share the stuff that speaks to you. Everyone is an amplifier.

Give Teachers Status and Stacks of Money
Lee Childs, the author of the Jack Reacher books, has some thoughts about how teachers ought to be treated. They are nice thoughts.

No Teachers, But Making Millions
A look at Prenda schools, yet another attempt to get rid of those dumb, salary-wanting teachers and cash in big time on providing an education-flavored product.

3rd Grade Reading Laws Are Harmful
Stefanie Fuhr takes a guest turn at Nancy Bailey's blog to remind us of something that should be repeated daily-- those laws that retain 3rd graders who don't pass the reading test are bad laws, and they are doing bad things.

DeVos Investigated for Hatch Act Violation
Politico has the details on how DeVos got herself in trouble this time.

Jeff Bezos wants to start a school for kids whose families are underpaid by people like Jeff Bezos

Anand Giridharadas says this is a crash course in why generosity is no substitute for justice.

COVID relief-- Congress Dithers

EdWeek looks at all the relief that still isn't coming, and the growing frustration with same.

GreatSchools Overhauls Ratings

You mat recall that Chalkbeat ran a story showing how GreatSchools ratings have racism and classism baked in. Now Chalkbeat reports on their attempt to fix that problem. Score one for Matt Barnum.

Bill Gates is still Dabbling on Common Core

The indispensable Mercedes Schneider says that signs show Gates still hasn't let this drop. C'mon Bill.

How To Ruin a World Class Education System

Andy Hargreaves and Michael Fullan are talking about Canada here, but you'll recognize all the issues they bring up.

Endangered Public Schools Need Federal Leadership

An editorial from the Hechinger Report calls on the feds to get off their butts. Good luck with that.

Teaching Critical Thinking

Can critical thinking be taught? Daniel Willingham has some ideas, and they're thought-provoking on their own.

Demand This: Teach Empathy, Ethics and Evidence

Arthur Camins at the Daily Koss with a call to focus on what really matters.

I Can't Shield My Daughter From Coronavirus and Edmentum

Steven Singer shows just how bad the on-line platform really is (spoiler alert: pretty damn bad)

The Business of Education

An article at the Regulatory Review takes a look at a paper tracing the way business management techniques have bled into education with less-than-optimal results.

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Hanging In There Edition (9/27)

CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION

AND DON'T FORGET PETER GREENE ON FORBES CLICK HERE

Survey: How Pandemic Schooling Affects Early Childhood Education - https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2020/09/25/survey-how-pandemic-schooling-effects-early-childhood-education/#329eca1716ef by @palan57 on @forbes

Trump’s Patriot History Lessons Or Critical Thinking: You Can’t Have Both - https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2020/09/21/trumps-patriot-history-lessons-or-critical-thinking-you-cant-have-both/#2aaed57848ca by @palan57 on @forbes

CT: Another Edu-phauxlanthropist Fails Hard
68by Peter Greene / 21h
It was just last fall that we were all talking about Ray and Barbara Dalio and their big plans for helping education in Connecticut. Now, less than a year later, the dream is dying an ugly public death. In many ways, the Dalios didn't look like the usual phauxlanthropic edu-dabblers. He is a successful hedge fund manager and the richest guy in Connecticut. She immigrated from Spain fifty-ish years
GA: State Super Wood Outmaneuvers DeVos
100+by Peter Greene / 1d
Richard Woods was elected state superintendent for Georgia in 2014 . He's a Republican, but what makes him special among stat education bosses is that prior to his election, he spent twenty-some years as an actual honest-to-God educator. Not some Teach for America insta-expert, but an actual fourteen years in the (rural) classroom (HS social studies) then another decade as an administrator educat
Arne Duncan's New Corporate Edu-biz Job
100+by Peter Greene / 2d
If there's one thing we know about folks in the education disruption biz, it's that they are remarkably adept at finding work no matter how much failure they pack into their CV. Yes, it's freakin' hilarious. And so it is with little surprise that we note that Arne Duncan has picked up a new job as the chairman of the board for FullBloom . This comes on top of his job as a partner of the Emerson Co

DeVos Has No Plan
500+by Peter Greene / 3d
It's a brief three and a half minute interview on Fox's "The Daily Briefing," but in just a few quick questions, Dana Perino pushes Betsy DeVos to show that during this pandemic, families with concerns about school are on their own. The spot opens with a quick clip from an Alabama infectious disease expert explaining that you kids "pose an even bigger risk than college students." Dr. Michael Saag
DC: Lessons About Charter Schools
by Peter Greene / 4d
DC schools have a history of being messy. There's the entire checkered history of Michelle Rhee , followed by the entire checkered history of the people either trying to build on or clean up after Michelle Rhee. I'm reminding you of this as context for the revelations that are about to be unintentionally provided about the DC charter sector. You can get a taste of the mess in the public schools fr
FL: How To Punish A School Board
86by Peter Greene / 5d
Miami Dade County Public Schools have been having some issues lately, and the public has them on the ropes. They decided to hand their virtual schooling over to K12, the cyber school giant founded by William Bennett with funding by junk bond king Michael Milken . It's an odd choice, given that a quick Google reveals the many, many problems with the business, from faking enrollment in California to
Lies Matter (Or, When People Show You Who They Are...)
22by Peter Greene / 5d
From Merrick Garland to the seat of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, there is plenty to rage at, and much cyber-ink has been distance-spilled raging about it. But I was particularly struck by this piece at Slate by Lili Loofbourow. She talks about some larger issues here, and I think there's a lesson for folks in the education world. She talks here about the effects of McConnell's cavalier dismissal of his ow
Will China Help Pay For Trump's History Project
47by Peter Greene / 6d
This, believe it or not, is about the deal involving social media sensation, Tik Tok. At first, the whole Tik Tok business looked like a basic old-fashioned shakedown. "That's a nice little tech biz you have there," said Trump. "Be a shame if anything happened to it." Okay, not really that subtle-- it was more along the lines of "I'm going to ban your business unless you give my buddies a cut." Ti
ICYMI: One More Damned Thing After Another (9/20)
29by Peter Greene / 7d
Well, that week sucked. And there's a lot to read, too. Let's start with something positive. Drum prodigy Nandi Bushell has been youtubing covers for a while, but a few weeks ago she challenged Dave Groh to a drum battle ;
CURMUDGUCATION - http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/