Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Russ on Reading: The Devil's Dictionary of Education Reform

Russ on Reading: The Devil's Dictionary of Education Reform:



The Devil's Dictionary of Education Reform




As a teenager one of my favorite books was The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce. His satirical definitions of words struck at the heart of hypocrisy in the early 20th century. For example Bierce defined absurdity as a "statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one's own opinion." The humor struck a chord in my snarky teenage brain. Now as a snarky senior citizen,  I borrow from Bierce to present The Devil's Dictionary of Education Reform. 

A month ago I set out to write 30 twitter size sound bites capturing the hypocrisy of the corporate education reform movement. Here is a compilation. 
If you have some defintions to add to the collection please send them along to me.

21st Century Skills - a broad range of abilities, enumerated in the Common Core , that 21st century children need to thrive in the 20th century.


accountability - holding the 99%, especially teachers, students and administrators, responsible for the damage done by the 1%.


achievement gap - symptom of income inequality and segregation treated by education reformers by testing children and punishing teachers and public schools.


blended learning - a unique blend of educational experiences that combines inferior online learning with inadequate classroom instruction.