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Eric Holder to graduates on race: ‘This struggle is far from over’
On the 60th anniversary of the historic Brown v. Board of Education decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which declared the “separate but equal doctrine” in public education to be unconstitutional, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, the first African-American to hold that position, delivered the following speech at commencement on the campus of Morgan […]
The greatest commencement speech ever
I know that the headline of this post is open to debate. What I like in a commencement speech may not be what you like in a commencement speech. But for the sake of non-school reform argument, I’m going to declare for the moment that the greatest commencement speech ever was not the famous Steve […]
How to help students of color, 60 years after historic Brown v. Board ruling
On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that state laws establishing separate schools for black and white students were unconstitutional in the historic case Brown vs. Board of Education. I’ve published a few pieces on the legacy of the decision, here and here. Following is a new piece on where the United States […]
Protest at Harvard over commencement speaker at education school
Dozens of student and alumni at the Harvard Graduate School of Education issued a statement (see below) protesting the selection of Colorado state Sen. Michael Johnston (D) as the school’s 2014 commencement speaker because, they say, he “embraces a vision of education reform that relies heavily on test-based accountability while weakening the due process protections […]
YESTERDAY
Are we abandoning public education 60 years after historic Brown ruling?
May 17 is the 60th anniversary of the famous U.S. Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education ruling, the 1954 decision that banned the “separate but equal” doctrine that allowed states and school districts to designate some schools “whites-only” and others “Negroes-only” and helped launch an era of civil rights activism. I recently published a report by […]
Where Gates money is going in education world this year
Where in the education world has Bill Gates been putting his foundation’s money this year? A look at some of the biggest grants awarded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — by far the largest philanthropy in the world — shows millions of dollars being spent to foster “cooperation” between traditional public schools and […]
MAY 15
In Newark, a shot across the school reform bow
Ras Baraka, a former high school principal, current councilman and son of the late poet Amiri Baraka, is the new mayor-elect of Newark and, much to the chagrin of school reformers, he can thank them for his victory. No, they didn’t support him. And they spent gobs of money to defeat him, especially in the […]
Charter schools ‘must’ comply with U.S. civil rights laws, Education Dept. says (finally)
The Obama administration has just released through the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights what it says is “new guidance confirming that the same federal civil rights laws that apply to other public schools apply equally to public charter schools.” For years, the administration has pushed states to allow the growth of charter schools through […]
Pushback on standardized testing around the country getting stronger
To get an idea of what is going on around the country in regards to the growing anti-standardized testing movement, look at the following collection of stories that have come out in the last week or about the growing resistance around the country to high-stakes standardized testing. This list was issued by the National Center for […]
MAY 14
Is Common Core facing death by a thousand cuts?
Criticism of the Common Core State Standards and the implementation of the initiative in most states around the country (which are two different issues, actually) just keeps on coming. Though far-right critics get a great deal of the attention, people on all ends of the political spectrum are thinking through the Core. Here’s a new […]
Is Georgetown University ‘Catholic enough’?
William Peter Blatty, the famous author of “The Exorcist,” a graduate of Georgetown University, and a doctrinaire Catholic, submitted a petition to the Vatican last year asking church officials to strip his alma mater of the labels Catholic and Jesuit because, it says, neither the faculty nor the student body are, in fact, Catholic enough. My colleague […]
Holder, Duncan asked to investigate ‘racially discriminatory’ school closings in New Orleans
This week marks the 60th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the 1954 Supreme Court ruling that was intended to strike down the “separate but equal” doctrine that codified racism in America’s public schools. You can read a report here about what it has and has not accomplished. Following is an open letter (see […]
Why D.C. should take Youth Court program off life support
The Youth Court of the District of Columbia, one of the only organizations dealing with juvenile delinquency in Washington, is currently on life support, writes Michael Shank, associate director of legislative affairs for the Friends Committee on National Legislation. Here’s his post about why the D.C. mayor should keep it. By Michael Shank Keeping our kids […]
MAY 13
Join me for live online chat at 1 p.m. Wednesday
I’ll be doing a live education chat on washingtonpost.com at 1 p.m. Wednesday. You can submit questions, comments, suggestions, jokes or whatever here, and tune in then or read the transcript later. Here transcripts of some of my previous online chats: here, here, here, and here.
The irony in new study that bashes popular teacher evaluation method
They just keep on coming. Last month, a report was released by the American Statistical Association, the largest organization in the United States representing statisticians and related professionals, that smacked the “value-added method” (VAM) of evaluating teachers that has been embraced by school “reformers” in most states. And now, there’s new research that does […]
Is there anything all educated people should know anymore?
What should all educated people know and be able to do (if anything)? Is there an immutable list? Veteran teacher Peter Greene ponders this in the following post, a version of which appeared on his Curmudgucation blog, By Peter Greene “Don’t you think there are things that every educated person should know?” I am asked […]
Academics call for pause in PISA tests
Here’s an open letter written by academics and school activists from around the world to Andreas Schleicher, director of the Program of International Student Assessment, known as PISA, which tests 15-year-olds in dozens of countries and individual education systems in math, reading and science every three years. The letter expresses concerns about the impact PISA is […]
MAY 12
7 charts: Why you shouldn’t confuse correlation with causation
One of the problems with research of any kind, including and especially in education, is the problem of confusing correlation with causation. This sounds technical, but it really goes to the heart of the problem with research that confuses the first for the second. For example, a study may report that test scores rose after […]
5 things you (probably) don’t know about the Washington Monument
The Washington Monument is reopening Monday for the first time in nearly three years, during which more than 150 cracks were fixed after being sustained during a rare earthquake. Everybody knows that the monument was built to honor George Washington, but probably not a lot more about the history of the obelisk. Here are five […]
There’s no such thing as the ‘best’ teacher
How often do you hear people talk about wanting or having the “best” this or the “best” that and you have to try to stop yourself from rolling your eyes? Here’s a look at why the notion of “best” doesn’t make sense when it comes to teachers. This was written by Sarah Blaine, who wrote […]
4 high school senior pranks that went wild
You’d think that after more than a dozen years in school, high school seniors would know what will get them into trouble and what won’t, but apparently some don’t. It’s senior prank season, and while some have been innocuous, others have led to arrests and suspensions, with one school seeing nearly 20 percent of the […]
MAY 10
Sidwell Friends School (where Obama girls attend) is getting new head
Who runs any particular private school isn’t exactly news outside the school community, but the elite Sidwell Friends School in Northwest Washington draws attention because of its famous students, especially Sasha and Malia Obama ( as well as a few of Vice President Joe Biden’s grandchildren). So the news at Sidwell is that a new […]
