CATCH UP WITH CURMUDGUCATION + ICYMI: Making Up My Mind Edition (3/1)

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Making Up My Mind Edition (3/1)

Making Up My Mind Edition

I've held onto the privilege of not having to make up my mind about the Dem race, but more and more I find myself gravitating to Elizabeth Warren. Not perfect, but none of them are. I like her combination of policy, plan and temperament. And the whole smartness thing. Anyway. I figured you were just dying to know. Here's some reading from the week.

The Myths of Learning Styles  
From the Atlantic, a reminder that learning styles are bunk.

Budget Turmoil at Philly's Second Largest Charter School   
One more example of how charters manage to go off the rails, and avoid transparency while they're doing it.

Who's Behind America's Superintendents and School Transformation
Nancy Bailey takes a look at what's going on when the nation's school administrators get together. It is not encouraging.

We Need To Change the Law on Cyber Charter Schools
At PennLive, an op-ed arguing for PA's cyber charter policy makeover.

Michael Bloomberg's Disastrous Public Education Legacy
Plenty of New Yorkers have stepped forward to talk about what a disaster Mayor Bloomberg was. Leonie Haimson takes a particularly thorough look at how he trashed public education.

Democrats Are Asking the Wrong Questions To Protect Charter School Students
Adam Laats in the Washington Post providing another useful history lesson about clever education ideas.

Public oversight of Michigan charter school inadequate, report says
A Michigan-based research group has  issued a "scathing" report showing that Michigan's charters are seriously unmoored from necessary oversight and accountability.

Kids Don't Need To Stay 'On Track' To Succeed 
Madeline Levine in the Atlantic reminding us that success is not a straight line from A to B.

A Primer on Voucher Misinformation  
A look at the talking points for voucher fans in Ohio (and elsewhere), with a calm clear explanation of why these points don't hold water.

Public Education: A Love Story    
Finally, Nancy Flanagan with a personal reflection for Public Schools Week. Your must-read of the week.

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Making Up My Mind Edition (3/1)

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What Ever Happened To AltSchool?

27by Peter Greene / 1d

You remember AltSchool, the miraculous Silicon Valley technoschool that was going to Change the Game. We've checked in on them from time to time, and it's time to see what has happened since the Altschool ship ran aground on the shores of reality a while ago. After two years of tinkering and tweaking, AltSchool burst on the scene with a flurry of PR in 2015 . Founded by Max Ventilla, formerly of G

FEB 27

How Do High Expectations Change A Classroom

by Peter Greene / 2d

Teachers know that expectations matter. They know that having high expectations in a classroom can both support (“I know you can do this”) and spur (“I’m not going to accept your bare minimum effort”) students. The power of teacher expectations is part of every college’s Teacher 101. But modern education reform has weaponized the term. “The soft bigotry of low expectations,” coined by Michael Ger

6 Things To Know About The Trump-DeVos Education Freedom Plan

500+by Peter Greene / 2d

As expected, Trump used a chunk of his State of the Union Address to plug a voucher-style program that Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has been pushing for months under the name “Education Freedom.” The Houston Chronicle reports that Ted Cruz pitched the plan to Trump ; Cruz has taken the lead on trying to turn DeVos’s dream into actual legislation . In fact, the Trump budget proposal favors t

Schools And Other Shared Public Spaces

31by Peter Greene / 2d

One of my first jobs in education was minding the cassette player. The actual job was assistant marching band director, and my duties included chaperoning the freshman/sophomore bus to away games. It was the mid-80s, and the "good" schoolbuses in our district had built-in cassette players, and the students brought their favorite music, vying for control of the stereo that everyone had to listen to

FEB 25

Call for Federal Charter Transparency Law

42by Peter Greene / 5d

We've been here before. For instance, in 2015 while Congress was wrestling with what would eventually become ESSA, Sherrod Brown introduced the Charter School Accountability Act , which had some modest goals-- require greater charter transparency, mandate some reporting from charter authorizers, and compel charter operators to talk to the community before opening up. The bill was promptly sent to

FEB 24

Montana and the Wall Between Church and State

46by Peter Greene / 5d

Sarah Vowell is a fave of mine, with a fabulous grasp of US history and that special gift of being able to illuminate big ideas with the perfect specific detail, plus she has the gift of balance, of being able to recognize the god and the not-so-good, and most of, the gift of recognizing the humanity of the people she writes about. Her writing about colonial US history is excellent-- if you need

FEB 23

ICYMI: So Long, February Edition (2/22)

by Peter Greene / 7d

A reminder that you can help amplify the voices that you think need to be heard. Go to the original post and share with your network. Do your part to make sure folks are heard whose message speaks to you. Now for this week's list. Borrowing a Literacy Strategy from Band An interesting notion from Edutopia. After all, reading music is readin. "Reading in band has an additional hitch: Students have

FEB 22

Social and Emotional Learning Is Drawing Fire

21by Peter Greene / 8d

I told you so. If you are of a Certain Age, you remember Outcome Based Education, the Next Big Education Thing of the 1990s . Its basic idea was to reduce education to observable behaviors-- all those lesson plans with "The Student Will Be Able To...," are artifacts of OBE. The architects were intent on reducing all learning to something cold, hard and observable instead of fuzzy objectives like "

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