CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Fourth of July Edition (7/4)
Fourth of July Edition
Here's hoping that you are busy with some combination of friends and family today that leaves no time for the weekly collection of readables. But just in case, here's the list.
Tired of reading CRT pieces? Me, too. But people keep writing good ones. Here's an op-ed in Washington Post by Karen Attiah, writing about one school district leader many other folks will wish they worked for.
If your question is, how did white evangelicals end up cranky about CRT, this is a good procedural explainer, from Religious Dispatches.
Yes, I'm putting up something from school choice advocate Robert Pondiscio, and yes, I think it's worth reading, because in it he calls out a lot of tactical reformster nonsense. Edit--"nonsense " on reflection is a bit stronger than I intended. But this piece is an honest assessment.
Many observers, including moi, have pointed out some similarities between the right-wing attack on common core and the right wing attack on CRT. Andrew Ujifusa at EdWeek does a really good job of looking at the parallels and differences between those two battles.
An interview of author Clint Smith by Anand Giridharadas about Smith's new book. It's encouraging and interesting.
If you're curious about how CRT blew up exactly, this explainer from the Guardian has some good explainy parts.
Diane Ravitch discusses the topic du jour in the NY Daily News
Nancy Flanagan reflects on the dystopian novel and the world we are living in. As always, worth the read.
I had not really been paying much attention to the green school movement at all, so this explainer from Nancy Bailey was very useful.
Steven Singer looks at the troubling rise in teacher gag laws in response to--well, you know.
Accountabaloney with yet another bright idea in Florida--using SATs to grade schools.
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Moms For Liberty And The Unified Theory of Far Right GrievanceAnti-maskers. Anti-school closings. Anti-vaxxers. Anti-something-vaguely-lumped-under-critical-race-theory. If it seems as if these folks are all actually the same people coming back with new signage every could of months, join me as we take a look at Moms For Liberty. MFL was launched at the beginning of 2021 by two Florida women, both with school board experience. Tina Descovitch ran for Brevar
Language Generating AI Still Lacks IYou may remember that last year, a piece of language simulation AI software appeared touted as the next big thing. OpenAI rolled out GPT-3 . The claims were huge. It can write poetry. Various writers wrote pieces about how realistic it was. It can write computer programs--well, actually that was less unbelievable. But the other claims were looking somewhat shaky already , including some linguisti
NC: Another Way For Charters To Hit TaxpayersWith all the CRT fooferraw and voting suppression and a world of other hurts coming from legislatures and courts, it would be easy to miss this latest wrinkle from North Carolina. Durham is already awash in charter schools, but as we've seen many times, the wisdom of the invisible hand of market forces does not include charters looking at a saturated market and saying, "We might as well not" and
One More LensI often talk about education as the work of acquiring more tools, but there's value (particularly right now) in framing education as a collection of lenses. There's a scene in the counter-reality romp National Treasure in which our heroes have to use some fancy glasses to see secret messages on important documents. And that's a good simplified model--looking through different lenses allows you to
The Importance of School AdministratorsSchool administration jobs suck. Principals and superintendents have are responsible for everything and accountable to everybody while having little actual power. It's an aspect of the charter revolution is understandable--let's give the school CEO all the power and make him accountable to nobody--even if it is wrong. But as little power as administrators seem to have, they still serve a critical
CRT Warriors Are Coming For Individual TeachersAnti-Critical Race Theory warriors are coming for schools, and for the teachers in them. In New York City, the group Free To Learn is spending millions of dollars on ad buys to target NYC schools (including some private ones) who are accused of indoctrinating children. The group says it supports the basic principle that students should be free to ask questions, develop individual thoughts and opi
ICYMI: Warming Way The Hell Up Edition (6/27)The Institute is located right on the banks of the Allegheny River, which means while I'm sitting here baking I can at least look at water, but dang, it is unpleasant today. Not as unpleasant as it is out West. But I'm sure this is all just a momentary blip and nothing to be concerned about. In the meantime, here's a batch of reading from the week. I oppose indoctrination, which is why I want sch
NY: Buffalo's New (Probably) Mayor Knows About Charter PushoutBuffalo, NY, primary voters tossed out a four-year incumbent in favor of India Walton, a nurse and self-identified socialist (as oppose to someone targeted with the S-word by cranky conservatives). Buffalo is a busy city for charter schools. It is where Carl Paladino put on a master class in how to use charter schools to make a profitable real estate empire . At one point he got himself elected t
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