Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all:
Governor Corbett Runs Away from Visit to Philly High School
There was much buzz on the Internet yesterday because Governor Tom Corbett announced his intention to visit a public school in Philadelphia! Imagine that! But today, after hearing that protestors might show up, he canceled the visit and retreated to the local Chamber of Commerce. He boldly announced that he ever runs away from anything as he ran away. Jake Blumgart reports: ““I don’t run from
6 by dianeravitch / 1h
Mercedes Schneider on Duncan: Why Does He Blame Everyone But the DOE?
Mercedes Schneider has a terrific post in which she reviews Arne Duncan’s interview with U.S. News, in which he claims that American teachers “often come from the bottom of the academic barrel.” His ideal of academic excellence? Examination hell in South Korea. Schneider explains what Duncan finds so admirable. For one hing, his only way to think of education is test scores. Nothing else matters
12 by dianeravitch / 1h hide // save
Who Funded Campbell Brown’s Campaign Against Pervy Teachers?
During the mayoral campaign in New York City, former CNN anchor Campbell Brown led a campaign against what she portrayed as a serious number of sexual perverts and deviants among the city’s teaching force. Mother Jones decided to investigate what was happening, who was behind the campaign, and here are its findings. “Shortly after it was launched in June, PTP [Parent Transparency Project] trained
5 by dianeravitch / 2h
Los Angeles: Deasy Refuses to Restore Arts Funding
Despite a board resolution in 2012 calling for a restoration of arts funding in Los Angeles, Superintendent John Deasy has refused to prepare a budget complying with the resolution. “In 2012, the Los Angeles Unified School District board voted to make arts education a core subject in its curriculum. “Four months ago, the board gave district officials a Dec. 3 deadline to produce a budget for the s
by dianeravitch / 3min
TFA’s Mighty Ambitions
Teach for America has created a spin-off called Leaders for Educational Excellence that quietly trains and supports the ambitions of former TFA and their ascent to positions of power. Teach for America, through LEE, hopes to take charge of the reins of power in many districts, states, and the halls of Congress. TFA, of course, is a mainstay of the corporate reform movement, supplying the ill-train
6 by dianeravitch / 1h
EduShyster: Broken Windows, No Excuses!
EduShyster commends President Obama and Secretary Duncan for their new initiative to lower the practice of suspending students, especially minority students, from school. But she wonders about the double standard in which “no excuses” charter schools have sky-high suspension rates and win commendations from the Obama administration for having high expectations. In New Orleans, two celebrated char
by dianeravitch / 25min
Texas Charter Chain Teaches Creationism
Zack Koppelin is a college student in Texas who grew up in Louisiana. He is determined to expose the publicly-funded schools that teach creationism. As a high school student, he drew attention to voucher schools teaching religious dogma as science. Now in Texas, he finds creationism taught in the state’s biggest charter chain: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 16, 2014 Contact: Zack Kopplin (225)-715-
by dianeravitch / 0min
Why Outsourcing to For-Profit Enterprises is Bad Public Policy
An organization called “In the Public Interest” keeps tabs on the scams that private entrepreneurs foist on the public sector, often in collusion with public officials who contract out important public services. This report documents the coast-to-coast failure of handing public sector activities over to for-profit enterprises. Outsourcing promises savings that never materialize. Instead, “too ofte
4 by dianeravitch / 36min
Peter Greene: Why I Agree with Arne Duncan
Peter Greene, who teaches in Pennsylvania, read an interview in “US News” in which Arne Duncan claimed that our students fall behind those in other nations because we are “not serious” about education. Greene agrees with Arne that our country is not serious about education. If we took education seriously, he writes, teachers would be highly respected and well paid. “If we were serious about educ
18 by dianeravitch / 1h
Steve Nelson Predicts What 2014 Holds for Education Reformers
EduShyster, move over! Here comes someone writing in the same vein, though to be accurate, nobody tops EduShyster. Here is Steve Nelson with a hilarious account of the events that are in store for corporate reform. No one is spared! It is a month-by-month account. Here is his prediction for July: “In an otherwise slow month for school-related news, Pearson Education announces the acquisition of th
3 by dianeravitch / 2h
NC: Here Come the Corporate Charter Carpetbaggers!
Jessica B. Swencki of the Brunswick County schools in North Carolina knows a scam when she sees one. With the near total deregulation of charter schools in that state, the corporate charter chains are moving in to where it’s easy to run a school and skim huge profits. Here’s the deal. A big for-profit operation finds a local board to act as its front during the application process. One doesn’t hav
11 by dianeravitch / 3h
LISTEN TO DIANE RAVITCH 1-16-14 Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all
Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all: Jeff Bryant on “The Truth About Charter Schools”Jeff Bryant, director of the Education Opportunity Network, here catalogues the abuses that have become all too common in the world of charter schools. Although there are responsible and caring charter schools, there is a growing number who take advantage of their freedom from supervi
by mike simpson / 7h
One of the critical keys to their success that made such a difference to setting up a powerful learning environment for their students was that the two teachers, both of them relatively recent graduates, were the habitual practices they had unconsciously embedded at the start of the year. Over the previous 2–3 years that these two teachers had worked together—occasionally team teaching, but mostly teaching independently—they had tried and tested a range of structures, routines, and procedures that they found made a difference for their students to become independent learners. A learning coach had suggested some additional new structures and these built upon the foundation that these two had laid earlier in the year. What the two teachers discovered was that by the middle of the year (Term 3) the students started to take learning into their own hands and be much more self-sufficient and self-guided. This allowed the teachers to then focus on being learning partners to the students rather than always driving the learning.
