Friday, April 25, 2014

4-25-14 The Answer Sheet What teachers really want

The Answer Sheet:






Oklahoma school district accepts Bible curriculum that says sinners must ‘suffer’ for disobeying God
A suburban Oklahoma City  public school district has adopted a curriculum for high schools that its backers say uses Bible stories to teach subjects such as history and the arts and that says all sinners must “suffer the consequences” of disobeying God. It also says that some U2 songs are based in the Psalms. The […]


Does it pay to obsess on where your kid goes to college?
We all know people who seem to spend all of their time obsessing about where their children are going to go to college, as if there is a magical place that will ensure success. There isn’t. Jack Schneider, an assistant professor of education at the College of the Holy Cross, looks at this phenomenon. He […]

Obama plans new regulation on colleges of education
The Obama administration’s obsession with standardized test scores knows no bounds. The newest example: a plan to spend millions of dollars to reward those colleges of education whose graduates, among other things, are successful in raising their students’ standardized test scores. Education Secretary Arne Duncan hopes to have a draft regulation ready by this summer […]



AFT asks Pearson to stop ‘gag order’ barring educators from talking about tests
American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten is sending a letter (see below) to the executives of Pearson, the world’s largest education company, asking them to stop a  ”gag order” that is part of their $32 million contract with New York state to design new standardized tests aligned to the Common Core. The “gag order” […]


4-24-14 The Answer Sheet What teachers really want
The Answer Sheet: How, after 60 years, Brown v. Board of Education succeeded — and didn’tThe 60th anniversary of the historic Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling is almost upon us and it’s a good time to take a look at whether it succeeded in its mission: to end segregation in public schools. Here is an important report about what has and has not been accomplished by the case. It […]b