Some Christmas Tunery
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Here at the Institute (where the Board of Directors still firmly believe in
Santa Claus), we like our seasonal music, both as consumers and as
producers,...
Greg Olear: Reading Charles Dickens Today
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Greg Olear writes a blog that is always rewarding to read–full of insight,
experience, knowledge, wisdom. His post below connects the world of Dickens
to t...
Finding Light in Winter by Mary Pipher
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The mornings are dark, the late afternoons are dusky, and before we finish
making dinner, the daylight is gone. As we approach the darkest days of the
ye...
Last Minute Gift Ideas!
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We've been bombarded with "last minute" gift idea promotions since at least
mid-November, but now, finally, the last minute is truly upon us. As a
publi...
Cartoons about the Holiday Season
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Here are some cartoons that got me to smile about this time of year. I hope
they will do the same for you. Happy holidays to all of my readers. Enjoy!
HAIRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAIRY HANUKKAH TOO!
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*HAIRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAIRY HANUKKAH TOO!*
* The Big Hairy Education Ape Spreads Holiday Cheer! Ah, December! The time
of year when the air tur...
About the Social Security Fairness Act
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On December 21, 2024, the US Senate passed the Social Security Fairness
Act, otherwise known as HR 82, a bill that restores full Social Security
benefits t...
Apologies to Dan Alicea
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I want to truly apologize to Daniel Alicea. On November 30, Dan wrote a
blog post about how, despite millions of dollars being available, Mulgrew
refused...
The 2024 NPE “Coal in the Stocking” Awards
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At NPE, we know who is naughty and nice when it comes to supporting our
public schools and their students.
The post The 2024 NPE “Coal in the Stocking” A...
Big Lies of Education: Grade Retention
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The Big Lie of grade retention in the US is that it is often hidden within
larger reading legislation and policy, notably since the 2010s: Westall and
Cumm...
Juntos lo haremos
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En el año que viene, tendremos que tomar decisiones difíciles sobre quienes
queremos ser en cada comunidad y como nación. Ha sido un año muy intenso.
Desde...
WTF, Democratic Caucus?
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Why is the failure of this current budget bill being blamed on Republicans
when almost every single Democrat voted against it? If only half of the
Dems had...
Peace through Beauty
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I am and always have been more musical than I have been verbal. I have
always found beauty in sound. Often it can be purely instrumental, such as
playing...
San Diego School Board Election Outcomes
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By Thomas Ultican 12/17/2024 Before the recent election, I wrote
recommendations for several school board seats in San Diego County. The San
Diego County R...
SPI Supports SB 48 to Keep ICE Off School Campuses
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State Superintendent Tony Thurmond sponsors Senate Bill 48 to keep
Immigration and Customs Enforcement off of school campuses, protecting
school attendance...
Schrödinger’s Cat
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Schrödinger’s cat is a famous thought experiment in which the renowned
scientist pondered how a cat in a closed box could be thought of as
simultaneously a...
In Memoriam: Nikki Giovanni
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The literary and cultural world has lost an irreplaceable voice with the
passing of Nikki Giovanni. As one of the most celebrated poets and
activists of ou...
Education Has Failed and What Can We Do Next?
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Education has failed to prepare children for the world today. Despite the
increased investment, impactful reforms, hardworking teachers and school
leaders,...
Defining Productivity, Cost, and Efficiency
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Recycled material here… The central problem with US public schools is often
characterized as an efficiency problem. We spend a lot and don’t get much
for i...
November Parent Engagement Resources
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Greeting a family in their preferred language is a small gesture that
demonstrates respect and eagerness to connect with parents. Creating a
Welcoming Envi...
Try Substack?
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Seems like the popular new thing. Here’s my first try – it’s about
yesterday’s UFT Retired Teachers Chapter meeting – first ever not run by
Unity. (Spoiler...
Number 18 — A barely-hanging-on Blogoversary
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Blogoversary #18 SEPTEMBER 14, 2006 I started this blog while I was still
teaching, in 2006. I had just begun my 31st year as an educator. Just like
in pre...
Student "Growth" Measures Are STILL Biased
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This caught my attention:
New Jersey school districts may soon be evaluated differently, *with a
greater emphasis on student growth* as compared to stud...
AIN’T IT AWFUL
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As the terrible feelings of dread and angst spread across the world the
great majority of the American people feel powerless before the onslaught
of those ...
The Sky is Falling, or is it?
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Well, this is the first anniversary of the introduction of Generative AI in
the form of ChatGPT to the world of education. Before it was a week old,
over o...
Vote NO on the UFT Contract. Here is Why:
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The best reason to vote no on this contract is this: UFT Unity* lied* to us
in 2018. They misrepresented that contract. It was predicated on deals we
wer...
Metaphors in ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech
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In this article, we will explore the powerful use of metaphors in Martin
Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” ...
Read more
Testimony to the CPS Truancy Task Force
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I prepared testimony for one of two public hearings held by the Chicago
Public Schools Truancy Task Force, a body mandated by state legislation.
The meetin...
There Is A Teacher Shortage.Not.
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THERE IS A TEACHER SHORTAGE. And just to be sure you understand, it’s not
that teachers don’t want to teach. It’s not that there aren’t enough
teachers cer...
Book Banning Turns to Dick and Jane
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Breaking News: Dateline February 4, 2022 - Parents in Dimwitty, Alabama
have asked the Dimwitty Board of Education to ban the children's primer *Fun
with...
Have You Heard Has a New Website
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TweetHave You Heard has a new website. Visit us at
www.haveyouheardpodcast.com to find our latest episodes and our entire
archive. And be sure to check out...
Follow me at Substack
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I've moved. Follow me at Substack
I'm now posting regularly at Substack. You can subscribe for free to my new
Edu/Pol blog at michaelklonsky.substack.com
...
Aspiring Teachers Get New Help Paying For College
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[image: colorful classroom pattern]
*; Credit: shuoshu/Getty Images*
Cory Turner | NPR
New rules kick in today that will help aspiring teachers pay for c...
Tips Akses Situs Judi Qq Tanpa Perlu Takut Nawala
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Kegiatan berjudi slot melalui situs judi qq online, sekarang sudah
dilakukan oleh banyak penjudi Indonesia. Tentu, Kamu yang sedang membaca
artikel ini a...
The Threat of Integration
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I have lived in the same house in the Miracle Mile section of Los Angeles
for over 30 years, where up until now I have had little or no interaction
with th...
We fight for a democracy worthy of us all!
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The nation stands at a crossroads, said NEA President Lily Eskelsen García
in her final keynote address to the 2020 NEA Representative Assembly and
it’s up...
The Passing Of Chaz 1951-2020 Age 69
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I am the son of Chaz and like to inform you that he passed away this
afternoon from the COVID virus. My father passed in peace beside his loved
ones. We ar...
The Fight For Our Children
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*The number of suicides among people ages 10 to 24 nationally increased by
56 percent between 2007 and 2017, according to a new federal report showing
the ...
Read to Self: Just a Kid and a Book.
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Date: Monday, January 5, 2020 Place: My classroom Student: Mrs.Mims, could
we start doing Read to Self again because I got this great book for
Christmas an...
Keeping Progressive Schools Alive
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Dear Friends and Colleagues, Happy New Year and a special thanks to those
who respond to past blogs about choice, et al. I always mean to respond to
each c...
Reminiscences
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I just finished dumping the rest of my lesson plans. I guess I held on to
the calculus ones for so long because I spent so much time working on them
an...
Just Asking for some Teachers I know.
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Recently Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers stated, We must … recognize that
part of supporting our kids in the classroom means supporting the educators
who t...
Cara Menang Bermain Judi Bola Online
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Bermain judi bola online tentu saja memiliki kesenangannya tersendiri baik
itu mendapatkan keuntungan maupun ketika menantikan hasil skor pada sebuah
perta...
A Critique of Standards-Based Grading
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It first happened to me about ten years ago. I was beginning my third year
of teaching in a new school in Washington, DC. Social studies teachers were
si...
My First and Last Visit to Hudson Yards
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Figuring I did not need to invite any more darkness and vulgarity into my
head than that provided on a daily basis from Trump’s White House, and
after read...
The World According to Michelle Rhee
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The men behind the curtain fashioning the brave new world of corporate run
education in America! Michelle Rhee is the founder of StudentsFirst, The
New T...
Whose Opinions Matter in Education World?
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It's hard to identify education heroes and sheroes. And perhaps even harder
to pinpoint just whose work is slanted, paid-for and dishonest.
Blockchain: Life on the Ledger
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Originally posted on Wrench in the Gears:
I created this video as a follow up to the one I prepared last year on
Social Impact Bonds. It is time to examine...
New Local Businesses in Sacramento
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Starting a new local business in Sacramento is a monumental task, but can
be accomplished with footwork, perseverance and knowledge. One must learn
the loc...
Lesson Plan: Rhyme and Rhythm in Poetry
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I’ve started a recent unit on poetry with my class. I’m not a poet, and I’m
not a poetry fan (I don’t hate it, but I’m a prose gal), so this makes it
harde...
The Apotheosis of Betsy DeVos
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Betsy Devos has drawn few headlines in recent months, and that is a good
thing for the Secretary of Education. Her tenure began with Vice President
Mike P...
Education Is a Civic Question
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In their final post to end Bridging Differences' decade-long run, Deborah
Meier and Harry Boyte urge readers to put the energy, talents, wisdom, and
hard w...
Site News: New Home for Education News & Commentary
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Quick! Get over there! The daily education news roundup and education
commentaries that you're probably looking for are now being published over
at The Gra...
Should We Be Grateful?
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In an odd turn of events, and with little explanation, Michigan Governor
Rick Snyder has decided to return the state’s School Reform Office back to
the Dep...
An Open Letter to NC Lawmakers
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An Open Letter to NC State Lawmakers and NC State Superintendent Mark
Johnson: I am a NC native, voter, and public school teacher. I am
addressing you all ...
The Secret to Fixing Schools (My Next Bestseller)
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The Secret to Fixing Schools (My next bestseller) Prologue I just finished
watching a fascinating documentary on Netflix entitled, “The Secret”. The
film p...
Farewell, Sleep
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Today is the official last day of my spring break. I've done a scientific
survey: My natural bedtime is 2 AM, and my natural wake up time is 9:41
AM. Tom...
REPORT: States With the Best and Worst Schools
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States With the Best (and Worst)Schools
By *Evan Comen, Michael B. Sauter, Samuel Stebbins and Thomas C. Frohlich*
January 20, 2017- http://247wallst.com
...
Test Refusal = People Power
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In recent months, social media has been ablaze with talk of regular folk
taking action to resist the Trump agenda. Protests are a daily occurrence,
and ev...
Random Musings and Observations. . . .
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I’ve been gone a while from the blogging scene. Some of my more regular
readers no doubt noticed but did not hassle me about it. Thank you for
that. Sinc...
AB 934: A LEGISLATIVE FIX FOR VERGARA?
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By Michael Stratford | in the Politco Morning Education Report | via email
05/24/2016 10:00 AM EDT :: Two national education groups are backing a
Califor...
MY NEW BLOG
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My new blog will consist of fictitious headlines, meant to be a blend of
humor and satire. I apologize ahead of time if any other satirical site has
simila...
Thank you
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Dear Readers,
Thank you for visiting *The Perimeter Primate*. This blog is being retired
for the time being. Although I no longer post here, I do still s...
I am Retiring
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I have some news: I am retiring from the PBS NewsHour and Learning Matters.
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other
conte...
New Beginnings: Kickstarter and EdWeek Teacher
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Greetings to InterACT readers one and all! If you’ve been following posts
here recently you might recall that I’m moving my blogging activity to
other loca...
Adelaide L. Sanford Charter School
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*“With Adelaide L. Sanford Charter School closing, Newark families must
move on.”* The Star-Ledger (NJ), 6/25/2013
NEWARK — Bobby and Troy Shanks saw the...
NAACP ratifies controversial resolution for a moratorium on charter schools - The Washington Post : NAACP ratifies controversial resolution for a moratorium on charter schools The North Carolina NAACP’s president, Rev. William Barber, gestures during a news conference in Richmond in June. On Saturday, national NAACP leaders backed a moratorium on the expansion of charter schools. (Steve Helber/AP
CURMUDGUCATION : Catch up with CURMUDGUCATION There Are More Important Things 17 by Peter Greene / 2h This is Homecoming week at my high school; Thursday parade, Friday game, and tonight, the Big Dance. It's a big deal. I've been the Student Council adviser in charge of all this stuff for years and years now, and I never cease to be amazed at how worked up some students get about it. After all, i
Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Rehabilitating Rahm Emanuel : Rehabilitating Rahm Emanuel After spending much of the past year in the Democrats' dog house, it appears Rahm is being rehabilitated. Now that Clinton feels that IL in the bag, it's becoming safe for party regulars, including POTUS himself, to be seen and even have their pictures taken with the mayor. On Tuesday, Emanuel felt confident
Breaking News: Charter Resolution Ratified by @NAACP National Board – Cloaking Inequity : Breaking News: Charter Resolution Ratified by @NAACP National Board Statement Regarding the NAACP’s Resolution on a Moratorium on Charter Schools CINCINNATI – Members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Board of Directors ratified a resolution Saturday adopted by delegat
gbrown: "Democracy Now" Award-Winning Journalist Amy Goodman to Turn Herself in to North Dakota Authorities on Monday Oct. 17 : "Democracy Now" Award-Winning Journalist Amy Goodman to Turn Herself in to North Dakota Authorities on Monday Oct. 17 "'I will go back to North Dakota to fight this charge. It is a clear violation of the First Amendment,' said Goodman. 'I was doing my job as a journalist
LAUSD’s Huntington Park Considers Charter School Moratorium | deutsch29 : LAUSD’s Huntington Park Considers Charter School Moratorium Los Angeles is the center of a major push by billionaires Eli Broad and the Waltons to expand the charter school sector. However, a new, potential complication to the billionaire will for charter schools for non-billionaire children is the sensible idea that public
October 2016 Information Memoranda - State Board of Education (CA Dept of Education) : October 2016 Information Memoranda Background information and updates on issues of interest to the State Board Members. Periodically, the State Board Members may receive information memoranda from State Board staff and the California Department of Education. The information memoranda may include background info
DoED settlement: For-profit school must scale back student success claims - CSMonitor.com : DoED settlement: For-profit school must scale back student success claims Advertisements for DeVry, a for-profit university, claimed that since 1975, 90 percent of graduates find a job within six months of graduation. The government says that those claims are unsubstantiated. The US Department of Education
Minority students are underrepresented at the nation’s top public schools - MarketWatch : Minority students are underrepresented at the nation’s top public schools More evidence our nation’s top public schools are turning into bastions of wealthy, white students Our public higher education system, typically thought of as a great equalizer, isn’t as great an engine of social mobility as we imagine
Mayor Kenney Blasts School Reform Commissioner’s Approach To Languishing Teacher Contract Talks « CBS Philly : Mayor Kenney Blasts School Reform Commissioner’s Approach To Languishing Teacher Contract Talks CITY HALL (CBS) — The four-year-old stalemate between the Philadelphia School District and its teachers appears to be fraying nerves, and not just between the union and the district. On Friday
Tada! Students Soon to Get Trained Dance and Theatre Teachers : Tada! Students Soon to Get Trained Dance and Theatre Teachers TADA! made it through both houses of the legislature, buoyed by the support of the California Teachers Association, California Federation of Teachers, California Dance Education Association and California Educational Theatre Association. This effort picked up many vocal al
Reinvigorating Our Unions: Organizing Ourselves First, to Meet the Changing Times | Alternet : Reinvigorating Our Unions: Organizing Ourselves First, to Meet the Changing Times A union president explains how labor needs to adjust to be relevant today. This isn’t your father’s labor movement. Back when my dad was a Cleveland bus driver and member of the Amalgamated Transit Union, Americans had a m
Response: There is 'Hope That ESSA Will Bring Positive Change To Classrooms' - Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo - Education Week Teacher : Response: There is 'Hope That ESSA Will Bring Positive Change To Classrooms The new "question-of-the-week" is: What practical impact do you think The Every Student Succeeds Act will really have in the classroom? The Every Student Succeeds Act is the successor
Bill Gates' Billions Blocking Him From Enlightenment - Jeff Reifman : Bill Gates’ Billions Blocking Him From Enlightenment Citizen Microsoft, Seattle Weekly Cover Last week, Bill Gates called on political leaders to accelerate innovation . “But innovation starts with government support for the research labs and universities working on new insights,” he said. “The public sector’s investments unloc
Special Nite Cap: Catch Up on Today's Post 10/14/16 Featured Post The Most Important WikiLeaks Revelation Isn’t About Hillary Clinton | New Republic Huntington Park: Tiny city becomes battleground in larger war over LA charter
NAACP ratifies controversial resolution for a moratorium on charter schools
The North Carolina NAACP’s president, Rev. William Barber, gestures during a news conference in Richmond in June. On Saturday, national NAACP leaders backed a moratorium on the expansion of charter schools. (Steve Helber/AP)
Leaders of the NAACP, the oldest civil rights organization in the United States, bucked intense pressure from supporters of charter schools on Saturday and ratified a resolution calling for a moratorium on the expansion of charters and for stronger oversight of these schools.
Members of the NAACP’s board of directors, meeting in Cincinnati, ratified a resolution adopted in July by delegates to the organization’s 2016 convention that called for a moratorium on more charter schools until:
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1. Charter schools are subject to the same transparency and accountability standards as public schools 2. Public funds are not diverted to charter schools at the expense of the public school system 3. Charter schools cease expelling students that public schools have a duty to educate 4. Cease to perpetuate de facto segregation of the highest-performing children from those whose aspirations may be high but whose talents are not yet as obvious.
This was not the first time the NAACP has expressed concern about charter schools, but this resolution goes further than others approved in recent years and had generated an intense campaign by supporters of charters to try to persuade the group’s board not to ratify it.
This is Homecoming week at my high school; Thursday parade, Friday game, and tonight, the Big Dance. It's a big deal. I've been the Student Council adviser in charge of all this stuff for years and years now, and I never cease to be amazed at how worked up some students get about it. After all, it is the first Big Dance of the year, and for our freshpersons, the first Big dance of their entire hig
StudentsFirstNY launched back in 2012, an Empire State spin-off of the StudentsFirst orgnization launched by former DC chancellor, She Who Will Not Be Named. She was always nominally a Democrat (check out this awesomely non-prescient article from 2012 that says she's taking over the Democratic Party), but the NY branch of StudentsFirst was formed by Jenny Sedlis , who worked with Eva Moskowitz (th
Rick Hess recently posted a piece that makes a couple of discussion-worthy points while neatly sliding right past a couple of other ones. In " Why You Should Learn to Love Educational Productivity ," Hess argues for an embrace of "productivity," but I'm not sure that word means exactly what he thinks it means. We get to the "productivity" issue by sliding past a different one. Hess opens by noting
The feds have released their rules governing teacher preparation programs, and they are just as stupid as they have promised to be all along. How stupid? Kate Walsh of the impossible-to-take-seriously National Council on Teacher Quality saw the rules and pronounced them even "better" than she had expected , with extra-super-accountability. The genius portion is the part that links college teacher
There are some educational issues that have become so covered with layers and layers of detail and nuance and policy and jargon and baloney and nature's own fertilizer that it can become difficult to see the relatively simple problem that lies beneath the giant mounds of stuff. Closing the achievement gap is one such issue. It's the subject of considerable discussion and policy wrangling, and is t
I don't even want to be still writing about this story, but apparently Florida's flock of school administrators include some of the most terrible people ever. So here we are. You will recall that several Florida parents sued their district, the state, and anyone else connected to the baloney-faced rule about refusing to pass third graders who hadn't scored on the third grade reading Big Standardiz
I am just emerging from the final sprint of my seasonal fall marathon. I've been directing a community theater production of Disney's Little Mermaid, a show which may not have a great deal of intellectual heft, but which does include a great number of moving parts. The show ran for two weekends in our community theater, with the second weekend corresponding with our local festival. As one of the g
Last week at the Atlantic, teacher-author Timothy Walker took a broad look at the reports of teacher stress (a good follow-up to his earlier piece on teacher burnout ). Walker did a good job of gathering up the current data on teacher stress, but he stopped short of one huge question. On twitter he opened the door to that question, so I'm going to go ahead and step through it. Walker's compendium
This morning we had some professional development from our local police department, The training centered around the ALICE method of dealing with an active shooter. What are we supposed to do when there's an active killer in the building? ALICE focuses on three choices-- run, hide or fight. There were some specifics mixed, including some of the specifics of blockading a classroom door and making t
I It's a short list this week, but still worth reading. The Annual Autopsy You know I love a good analogy. Here's one more way to look at the uselessness of "data." Education's Failure To Retain Great Teachers Another look at the sad state of teacher retention in the ed biz. Seven Things I learned from Attending a Charter School Board Meeting Nancy Flanagan went to a charter board meeting and had