CURMUDGUCATION: School Choice: Branding for an Open Market

CURMUDGUCATION: School Choice: Branding for an Open Market

School Choice: Branding for an Open Market

Coming up with the right name for a policy initiative is a critical step in framing a conversation and controlling the narrative. The classic example is the abortion debate, in which one side is "pro-choice" and the other is "pro-life," carefully selected terms that frame each side as champions of an undeniable good. Just watch supporters of "defund the police" get caught in an endless loop of "no, no, what we really mean is..." to understand how important this branding can be.

"School choice" is branding, and relatively new branding at that. You can watch it take off on the Google Ngram viewer to see how often the phrase has been used:

It starts its steep rise in the mnid-80s (Reagan, Nation at Risk), peaks in 2001, hits a trough again in 2013, and has been bouncing back since. 

But what is "school choice" the brand name for? I mean, if we were serious--really serious--about school choice, we would come up with a system that allowed families to choose any school in the state, and we would take the regulatory steps to make sure that every one of those schools met the requirements of a quality school that was part of the public good of public education. We would CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: School Choice: Branding for an Open Market

NANCY BAILEY: Learning Management Software: Necessary Tool, or Wasteful Cash Cow in the Time of Covid-19?

Learning Management Software: Necessary Tool, or Wasteful Cash Cow in the Time of Covid-19?

Learning Management Software: Necessary Tool, or Wasteful Cash Cow in the Time of Covid-19?

By Darren Victory

One thing is clear: Teaching in the age of COVID is no picnic. Teachers, students, and caregivers are struggling to navigate the ongoing crisis in ways that preserve their emotional and physical health. It all feels so chaotic, so disorganized, and at times so… impossible. No wonder wine sales have shot through the roof!

Organization and consistency are difficult to come by when you’re suddenly thrust into the unknown. When I hear from frustrated teachers and caregivers, I often picture a fish (I know, I know… stay with me), swimming upstream against the rapids, racing alongside millions of other fish in a frenetic fight to somehow forget everything it knows about the river in order to build a new home on the shore. Confusing. Terrifying. Overwhelming. But certainly not organized and consistent.

The answer? We need tools to keep us organized, right? We need tools to track student progress, communicate with caregivers, collect student work, etc. Wouldn’t it be nice if a company could offer a solution?

*cue trumpets* Enter the mighty Learning Management System (LMS for short, because education desperately needs more acronyms, initialisms, and other such CONTINUE READING: Learning Management Software: Necessary Tool, or Wasteful Cash Cow in the Time of Covid-19?