Wondering Wednesday Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all

Diane Ravitch's blog | A site to discuss better education for all:

Wondering Wednesday Diane Ravitch's blog 

A site to discuss better education for all

NEWS: Working Families Party Sweeps Milwaukee School Board Elections!

5by dianeravitch / 37min

This is one of the very first reactions to the Trump-DeVos (and Scott Walker) agenda to destroy public education. RESISTANCE! It works, especially at the ballot box. ​ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 4, 2017 CONTACT: Marina 

Rahm Proposes New Requirements for High School Graduation

by dianeravitch / 1h

Mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago has proposed that students will not be allowed to graduate from high school unless they can demonstrate their post-high school career plans, including college acceptance, a job or the military. Since he has 

Michael Petrilli: The Three “Miracles” Trump Needs to Make a Federal School Choice Program

by dianeravitch / 11min

Mike Petrilli wrote an enlightening post about the hurdles that the Trump administration faces in trying to enact a $20 billion school choice program. He says that the Trump administration will need three “miracles” to make good on 

Los Angeles Times on Trump’s Authoritarian Vision: Part 3

by dianeravitch / 3min

This editorial in the Los Angeles Times is part 3 of a four-part series about the new president. Standing before the cheering throngs at the Republican National Convention last summer, Donald Trump bemoaned how special interests had 

Georg Lind: Our Stupid Standardized Tests

by dianeravitch / 31min

Georg Lind is a retired psychologist. “As a psychologist I recommend to abandon all tests based on Classical and Modern “test theories.” But I am not sure whether my colleagues at APA and AERA will agree with me. They make a living on applying traditional tests. Even those who critically examine test usage do not question their validity and their use in principle. They have not only vested intere

D.C.: New Millions Added to Increase “High-Quality Seats” in Charters

4by dianeravitch / 1h

One of the strange ideas in the privatization movement is that only charters are able to provide “high-quality seats.” There seems to be a magical place where charter operators go to buy chairs that are unavailable to public schools. Only charter operators can buy those chairs. Those chairs are “high-quality seats.” The Citybridge Education Foundation in D.C., financed by billionaires Katherine a

Jeremiah Prophet Thanks Trump for Changing His Life, But Not in the Way You Think

5by dianeravitch / 2h

Jeremiah Prophet was born with severe cerebral palsy. He yearned to be a journalist. He struggled to make his way through high school and college. He never forgot the help that his teachers gave him in his public schools. Many people thought his dream was absurd because he can’t talk like other people, he spends most of his time in a wheelchair, and he communicates by typing on a special device,

YESTERDAY

Mike Klonsky: Betsy DeVos’s Resume

8by dianeravitch / 13h

After watching Betsy DeVos’s Senate confirmation hearings, most of us wondered about her qualifications to be Secretary of Education. She didn’t know much about federal law or policy or programs. Michael Klonsky sums up her resume here. http://michaelklonsky.blogspot.com/2017/04/devos-resume.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+mikeklonsky+(SmallTalk)&m=1 Simply put, she

John Merrow’s Post Was FAKE NEWS!

3by dianeravitch / 17h

Since I have received several offers of legal help, I want you to know that the previous post by John Merrow was FAKE NEWS! These days, it is hard to tell the difference between satire and reality. (Here is Andy Borowitz today , real or fake?) Borowitz is always humor, as is the Onion, but you would be surprised at the number of people who don’t recognize satire, parody, humor. On April Fool’s Da

BREAKING NEWS! (or Not!): John Merrow Reports that DeVos Contacts Justice Department about Suppressing Ravitch

32by dianeravitch / 18h

John Merrow posted this strange and disturbing letter today. Several friends contacted me about it to ask if it was true. It begins like this: Friends Although I have now been retired from journalism for 18 months, I haven’t lost touch completely. Happily, some of my former contacts continue to reach out. Yesterday I received this alarming memo in the mail in a plain white envelope. While I have

Pro Publica: Trump Can Draw Money from His Trust Whenever He Wants, Without Disclosing It

6by dianeravitch / 21h

Usually, when a president is elected to office, he either sells his assets or creates a “blind trust” run by independent trustees so there can be no conflicts of interest, or even the appearance of conflict. Trump has done neither. He declared that his sons would run his business, which is not a blind trust. Now Pro Publica, a nonpartisan organization, reports that Trump has an agreement with his

Research Report: New Orleans Schools Remain as Segregated as Before Hurricane Katrina

11by dianeravitch / 22h

The Education Research Alliance for New Orleans issued a report today: Study: New Orleans schools remain as segregated as before Katrina New Orleans – A new study from the Education Research Alliance for New Orleans at Tulane University examines how the post-Katrina school reforms affected segregation in New Orleans publicly funded schools. Researchers analyzed changes in segregation across a num

Missouri: League of Women Voters Opposes Charter Expansion

31by dianeravitch / 22h

The League of Women Voters in Missouri released a strong condemnation of rightwing legislators’ effort to expand charter schools. “The League of Women Voters of Missouri opposes charter school expansion because: • Charter schools are not held to the same standards as traditional public schools. They are “freed” from having to comply with most state regulations that are designed to ensure a minimu

New York: 51% of Students on Long Island Opt Out of State Tests

100+by dianeravitch / 23h

The full state count of opt outs has not been released but Newsday , the Long Island newspaper, surveyed the 124 school districts in Nassau and Suffolk counties and concluded that 51.2% of the eligible students did not take the state tests this past week. The story is behind a paywall. “Last week, the number of students on Long Island in grades three through eight who refused to take the state’s

Not the Onion: Campbell Brown Involved in Project to Protect Journalistic Integrity

12by dianeravitch / 1d

Campbell Brown made her reputation calling public school teachers “perverts” and attacking teachers’ unions for “protecting” any member accused of a crime (even if the accusation was false). She then went on to attack teachers’ rights to due process in the courts of two states. She is a close friend of Betsy DeVos, who funds Campbell Brown’s “The 74.” Brown is contemptuous of public schools and a

Jeannie Kaplan: The Phony Narrative about “Success” in Denver

40by dianeravitch / 1d

Jeannie Kaplan was an elected school board member in Denver for two terms. She has watched the complete takeover of the corporate reform movement with a sense of shock, dismay, alarm. Vast sums of money are expended at each local school board election to keep the privatizers in control. For the moment, Denver is the darling of the corporate reformers. It has choice. Charter schools. Teach for Ame

Nashville School Board Member Amy Frogge: Why I Love Public Schools

14by dianeravitch / 1d

Amy Frogge is an elected member of the Metro Nashville school board. She is a lawyer and a parent. In her first election, she was outspent overwhelmingly by corporate reform forces, although she was unaware of their push for privatization. In her second election, Stand for Children poured huge sums into the effort to defeat her, but once again she won handily. In this post, which appeared on her

Los Angeles Times, Part 2: Why Trump Lies

28by dianeravitch / 1d

This is the second in a series of four editorials by the editorial board of the Los Angeles Times. It was published yesterday. Donald Trump did not invent the lie and is not even its master. Lies have oozed out of the White House for more than 

2 Education Dept. Picks Raise Fears on Civil Rights Enforcement - The New York Times

2 Education Dept. Picks Raise Fears on Civil Rights Enforcement - The New York Times:

2 Education Dept. Picks Raise Fears on Civil Rights Enforcement

WASHINGTON — A lawyer who represented Florida State University in an explosive sexual assault case and another lawyer who during the 2016 presidential campaign accused Hillary Clinton of enabling sexual predators have been chosen for key roles in the Department of Education, raising fears that the agency could pull back from enforcing civil rights in schools and on college campuses.

President Trump will nominate Carlos G. Muñiz, a politically connected Florida lawyer who served as deputy general counsel to former Gov. Jeb Bush, to be general counsel to the Education Department. Mr. Muñiz, a lawyer and consultant based in the Jacksonville office of McGuireWoods, is perhaps best known for representing Florida State University in a lawsuit brought by a student who accused the former star quarterback Jameis Winston of raping her in 2012.

Candice E. Jackson, who represented one of the women who attended a news conference before a presidential debate in October to impugn Mrs. Clinton’s treatment of sexual assault victims, announced that she will be the acting assistant secretary for civil rights.

The posts are among the most high profile in the department. Staffing in the Office for Civil Rights has been a source of concern for civil rights advocates ever since the Trump administration rescinded protections for transgender students as one of its first education policy moves.2 Education Dept. Picks Raise Fears on Civil Rights Enforcement - The New York Times:

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Option Schools and Larger Class Sizes

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Option Schools and Larger Class Sizes:

Option Schools and Larger Class Sizes

Class Size Matters | A clearinghouse for information on class size & the proven benefits of smaller classes - https://www.classsizematters.org/

I hadn't intended to write about this yet as I am still waiting for some answers from the district but here's what is being said at the Soup for Teachers Facebook page:

If you are at one of the option schools listed below -- you will have LARGER class room sizes in 2017/2018.


Option schools are being enrolled at 26 students for kindergarten - 3rd grade while attendance area schools are being enrolled at LOWER class sizes (22). (HCC is a “pathway” school, and while erroneously listed on the option school website, it will have the lower class ratio.)

The district is doing this because:

--two option schools (Pathfinder and language immersion) asked for larger K cohorts to mitigate attrition at the upper grades;

--More parents are asking for option school placements than there are spots;

While some option schools have asked for flexibility, the MAJORITY of option schools do not want increased class room size. 
Increasing classrooms at K is a 6-year commitment.

To mitigate the increase in size the district is offering additional funds for 2017/2018 and “funding” option schools at the 22:1 ratio.

For Thornton Creek this means we’d get an additional 1.0 FTE, .5 PCP and a .5 certificated staff. There is no guarantee that this funding will continue in future years.
And more importantly, while we appreciate that the district is Seattle Schools Community Forum: Option Schools and Larger Class Sizes:

New State Accountability Systems Reveal the Federal Role in Education Has Faded - Education Law Prof Blog

Education Law Prof Blog:

New State Accountability Systems Reveal the Federal Role in Education Has Faded

Last year, I wrote that the Every Student Succeeds Act “ESSA reverses the federal role in education and returns nearly full discretion to the states.”  I predicted that the flexibility afforded to states in devising their new ESSA accountable schemes would make “educational opportunity a random occurrence rather than a legal guarantee.”  States would manipulate their accountability schemes and rely on a convoluted set of factors that effectively make it impossible to get a sense of school performance. Early looks at these accountability systems suggest my prediction was correct.  A recent analysis of California’s new ESSA system found,

Nearly 80% of schools serving grades three through eight are ranked as medium- to high-performing in the new ratings, earning them positive colors on report cards sent to parents. Last year in state testing at those same schools, the majority of students failed to reach English and math standards. More than 50 of those schools whose average math scores fell below proficiency receive the dashboard’s highest rating for math.

At the same time, Maryland is also considering legislation that would severely restrict the weight the state board of education could place on student achievement.  The Washington Post reports, “Among the restrictions being advanced by lawmakers: limiting measures of actual school effectiveness (student achievement, student growth and graduation) to 55 percent of a school’s accountability rating, in favor of factors such as teacher satisfaction; . . . and barring the state from taking significant actions to reform the worst-performing schools, even after districts have had years to set them straight.”  

State flexibility is not, as Betsy DeVos claims, being use to unleash the creativity and good faith efforts.  It is being used to hide the fact that states are and have been doing a poor job providing equal and quality educational opportunities.  To be clear, this does not mean that the No Child Left Behind took the correct approach or that standardized tests should drive school quality. But a common and transparent yardstick for school accountability is important.  ESSA is allowing states to devolve into a system of apples, oranges, pears, watermelons, and lemons.  By doing so, it deprives us of the ability to compare schools in any meaningful respect.  For that reason, the new accountability systems are not simply hard to interpret, they are a complete waste of time.

Rather than devise a convoluted accountability system, Congress should have just fessed up to the fact that it was abandoning the federal role in education.  Instead, it sought to keep up the ruse by requiring states to waste a lot of time and effort on these new systems.

For my full analysis of how the Every Student Succeeds Act abandons the federal role in education and what else is likely to come, see here.

Education Law Prof Blog:

False Claims and Fraud Keep on Surfacing in the Charter School Sector | janresseger

False Claims and Fraud Keep on Surfacing in the Charter School Sector | janresseger:

False Claims and Fraud Keep on Surfacing in the Charter School Sector

The Trump administration and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos are fans of the marketplace. Privatizing education is their thing.  That is why it is so useful to consult some experts—in this case Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson, political scientists who, in their newest book American Amnesia, warn about problems with marketplace thinking:

“That markets fall short under certain conditions has been known for at least two centuries. The eighteenth-century Scottish economist Adam Smith wrote enthusiastically about the ‘invisible hand’ of market allocation. Yet he also identified many cases where rational actors pursuing their own self-interest produced bad outcomes…. Economists have been building on these insights ever since to explain when and why markets stumble and how the visible hand of government can make the invisible hand more effective. The visible hand is needed, for example, to provide key collective goods that markets won’t (education, infrastructure, courts, basic scientific research); reduce negative spillover costs that parties to market exchanges don’t bear fully…. encourage positive spillover benefits that such parties don’t take fully into account such as shared knowledge; (and) regulate the market to protect consumers and investors….”  (American Amnesia, pp. 4-5)

Trump and DeVos extol the free hand of the market despite what we learn week after week about negative spillover costs and self-dealing when charter operators are tempted by pots of government money and inadequate oversight. The Washington Post‘s Valerie Strauss introduces a new report from Carol Burris, of the Network for Public Education, with this bit of background: “President Trump’s first federal budget proposal seeks a $168 million increase for charter schools, which is a 50 percent funding increase from the current level set by the previous Obama administration… A 2016 audit by the Education Department’s Inspector General’s Office found that the department—which awards multi-million-dollar grants to states for the creation and expansion of charters—had failed to provide adequate oversight of some of its relationships with charter management organizations.”

Burris’s report, which Strauss then reprints in full, examines a chain of charter schools well-False Claims and Fraud Keep on Surfacing in the Charter School Sector | janresseger:

Friday on Hitting Left with the Klonsky Brothers. | Fred Klonsky

Friday on Hitting Left with the Klonsky Brothers. | Fred Klonsky:

Friday on Hitting Left with the Klonsky Brothers.

Friday, April 7th, Hitting Left with the Klonsky Brothers will host in-studio guests, Jose Rico, former director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, Matt Blizek, Executive Field Director for MoveOn.Org, & Rudy Garrett, Interim Executive Director at Chicago Votes.

You can listen live at 105.5FM in Chicago, live streaming around the planet on http://www.lumpenradio.com and posted later on MixCloud and as a podcast on Liberated Syndication and iTunes.

Visit our Facebook Page and leave us a comment or a suggestion.

 Friday on Hitting Left with the Klonsky Brothers. | Fred Klonsky:

Veteran teacher: The fear that is finally driving me from the classroom - The Washington Post

Veteran teacher: The fear that is finally driving me from the classroom - The Washington Post:

Veteran teacher: The fear that is finally driving me from the classroom

Elizabeth Janeczko is a history educator who has been teaching for 10 years in Washington D.C.  (except for one year that she spent in Rwanda). Starting in the same year that school reformer Michelle Rhee became chancellor of D.C. schools, Janeczko has taught at a variety of schools that represent the city’s assortment of school options.

She started teaching at a D.C. special education school, which has since been closed; then went to a traditional public high school; then a private Catholic school, which accepts vouchers from the only federally funded voucher program. Now she is teaching at a charter school, which is publicly funded but operated independently of the D.C. school system — but this will be Janeczko’s last year of teaching.

She has decided to leave the classroom, and in this piece she explains why. She said that the issues she confronted that ultimately led to her decision to stop teaching are not limited to one kind of school but, rather, “plagued each of the schools” in which she taught. The model of school didn’t matter.

Janeczko is part of a wave of teachers who have been leaving the profession in recent years, leading to teaching shortages in a number of states and even a reduction in applications to many education schools. The reasons are many, including pay, lack of administrative support, school reforms that restrict their autonomy and emphasis standardized testing.  Janeczko, below, explains her own thought process.

This piece was first published in Greater Greater Washington, a nonprofit that publishes an opinion website and hosts various events aimed at drawing together people who are interested in improving life in the region through dialogue and action. GGWash and Janeczko gave me permission to publish it.

When it was first published, the GGWash Editorial Board added a comment noting that this is “not meant to describe the experience of every teacher in the District, nor every school or student. But it is powerful and honest, and it evokes questions of how, exactly, a person can lend a helping hand to a struggling system.” That explains it well.

By Elizabeth Janeczko

“What’s a white b—– like you doing in a school like this?”

That was the first interview question I remember being asked for the first job I would accept as a high school teacher. I coolly responded to the question, unflinching, aware that it was a tactical maneuver by the vice principal, a test of my resolve and a test of my decorum.

I am white, female, and barely reach five feet without heels. Today, 10 years after the question, I look as though I’m in my early 20s. Ten years ago I must have looked barely old enough for high school myself, and yet I was applying to teach in a run-down, all special education high school in Southeast D.C., just a short bus ride away from the Anacostia Metro station. It was 2007 and I had no experience as a teacher.

I know now that I would never accept a job from a man who asked me this kind of question. I’ve learned that such inquiries are a harbinger of disorganization, and they smack of defeatism and resignation. Ten years after that interview, my willingness to put up with the indignities of Veteran teacher: The fear that is finally driving me from the classroom - The Washington Post:

The Innovation Infatuation (Chester Finn) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

The Innovation Infatuation (Chester Finn) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

The Innovation Infatuation (Chester Finn)

Over the past three decades I have admired the clarity of Checker Finn’s writing, the wry sense of humor he injects into his prose, and the willingness to challenge whatever is the mainstream wisdom of the moment. Although I have differed with Finn on key education policies (e.g., vouchers, standards and testing), he is a thoughtful, reflective writer who knows well the history of school reform. And that in of itself is a boon. Although I do not agree with all that he says here, it is, in my opinion, worth reading.

Chester Finn is a Distinguished Senior Fellow and President Emeritus of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

This commentary appeared December 16, 2016 on Flypaper .

Every once in a while, American K–12 education is overwhelmed by the conviction that its basic design is obsolete and that it needs somehow to reinvent schooling. One hears statements such as “If Rip Van Winkle were to awaken today from a century-long slumber, the only institutions he’d recognize would be schools and cemeteries.” We hear of education being stuck in an “industrial model.” And we observe educators, policymakers, and philanthropists scurrying to replace the schools of their childhoods with something different for their children and grandchildren to attend. We always seem to be, in the memorable phrase of Larry Cuban and the late David Tyack, “Tinkering Toward Utopia”—although those engaged in what generally ends up resembling tinkering actually fancy themselves to be bold revolutionaries.

We went through a phase of this a century ago when educators and policymakers sought to apply Frederick Taylor’s principles of “scientific management” to our disorderly collection of locally devised schools.

We went through a further round in the 1920s and ‘30s as notions of child-centered education and “social efficiency” permeated the schools.

We went through another round in the 1960s and 70s as “open classrooms” proliferated, schools were desegregated and detracked, and sundry curricular innovations (e.g., “whole language” reading and “new” math) kicked in.

We went through another round in the early 90s with “New American Schools”—a purposeful effort by Bush 41, Secretary Lamar Alexander, and former Xerox head David Kearns to “reinvent” the school—and a parallel effort led by Chris Whittle in the private sector (the “Edison Project”).

And we’re going through another round today, with initiatives such as The Innovation Infatuation (Chester Finn) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Work Session on the 2017-2018 Budget

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Work Session on the 2017-2018 Budget:

Work Session on the 2017-2018 Budget

For this Work Session, all of the directors were present in person except for Director Blanford who was there via phone.  The Superintendent was there as were several senior staff members.

President Peters did seem to set a good tone for action when she stated, "We are going to have to make decisions tonight."

I actually don't want to do a complete detailing of the work session but I'll just summarize and give some highlights.  Also, some of the nitty-gritty of the details of what pots of reserves that are actually going to be used went over my head.  I felt like I must have miss that discussion somewhere.

Agenda

Summary
1) There actually was only one decision made and that was whether to go with all the staff's recommendations as a package or not.  At the beginning, I absolutely did not think that this was how the Board would do it.  I thought they might eliminate or substitute items but as the session dragged on, it became clear it would be all or nothing.

Naturally, nothing really wasn't an option so the majority of the Board (except for President Peters and Vice-President Patu) said yes (to varying degrees but frankly, once you say "yes," it's yes.

2) Keep in mind that because of how senior management works - mostly in secret and with less-than-optimum transparency in their decision-making - PLUS the factor that we really don't know what the final outcome will be from the Legislature (nor when), there truly are a lot of holes out there.

Hence, during the meeting, the Board and the staff regularly referred to "Restoration 2.0" and "Restoration 3.0."  So there will be on-going changes.  

I'll note that Director Harris did talk about the lack of ability for community to give feedback and the belief that Central Office may be bloated and it feels all very vague "and I understand why."   

For example, as you may know, the levy cliff bill was passed.  However, right now, it will only fill a $25M gap and not $30M because of the per pupil inflator (PPI).  The district may, in the end, get the entire $30M but it just not clear now.

3) I must praise (with some of it damning) the efforts of JoLynn Berge who performed quite well in her role as the main speaker for the district.  She was measured and careful in her wording but really didn't budge an inch.  But that was to her credit and there was not much pushback from the Board. 

4) What put the Board in something of a hemmed in feeling was that staff would not say where Central staff cuts might happen because they hadn't told those people.  Well, it is possible to generally state - as they seem to have done quite easily for school staff - where departments cuts might come from for Central.  It was mentioned that there was an April 7th deadline for notifications.

Highlights
- The Superintendent spoke of how they were able to restore two-thirds of possible cuts to staff at schools.  However, he spoke of a "small request to give a hint of hope to Central Office staff" that they would not bear the brunt of the cuts. 

- One item that some on the Board particularly did not appreciate was one of the guiding questions from staff for restoration - "Are people more essential than other non-staff items in eliminating opportunity gaps?"  I agree.  I think that is something of emotional bait that is not helpful in making hard, cold Seattle Schools Community Forum: Work Session on the 2017-2018 Budget:

“Failing Schools” as Far Back as 1735? | deutsch29

“Failing Schools” as Far Back as 1735? | deutsch29:

“Failing Schools” as Far Back as 1735?

I have temporary access to the newspaper search engine, Newspaperarchive.com. So, I decided to search the term, “failing schools.”

The earliest usage of this term dates back to March 02, 1735, in the Dublin Evening Post.

The context of the term is financial. The 1735 news excerpt concerns “a Voluntary society in Dublin, who associated in the year 1717, for this very Purpose to promote Charity Schools”:

…[The Voluntary Society] assisted some failing Schools by the help of a Collection about once in two Years made in one of the Churches of Dublin….

The second oldest search result for the term, “failing schools,” is in the June 21, 1885, British publication, the Guardian. In this case, the “failing school” is one that does not make efficient usage of its financing. In this extensive article, the author mainly argues for the consolidation of the financing of individual schools and for the establishment of a “slush fund” to assist schools when extenuating fiscal circumstances arise.

The third oldest search result for “failing schools” is from April 29, 1896, also in the Guardian.

The third article is apparently an editorial, written by a man named Jasper Nunn; it concerns an education bill that apparently had two parts: one was an offering of facilities in order to enable the “federation” of individual schools. The other was the offering of a one-time stipend to schools as a substitute for regular, public funding of the schools by “Church rate-payers in school board districts.”

In the context of Nunn’s commentary, it appears that “failing schools” refers to the financial state of the schools:

SIR — It seems desirable that I should reply to the two questions that you are inclined to put to me. The first is whether I contend “that the voluntary schools will be worse off” with an additional grant of 4s. [shillings] per annum, “even though that grant has to be spent upon the improvement of staff and apparatus.” The second is whether the facilities given in the Bill for federation are of no value to poor schools.

I may say that I have long endeavoured to understand the alleged benefits of federation, and, though my mind is open to conviction, I have never yet been able to comprehend them. A number of failing schools are not, like a bundle of weak though sound sticks, stronger by being tied together. They are rather 

“Failing Schools” as Far Back as 1735? | deutsch29:

Decolonizing Through Dialogue: Authentic Teaching in the Age of Testing and Common Core Badass Teachers Association

Badass Teachers Association: Decolonizing Through Dialogue: Authentic Teaching in the Age of Testing and Common Core by Steven Singer:

Decolonizing Through Dialogue: Authentic Teaching in the Age of Testing and Common Core 

by Steven Singer

Originally posted at: https://gadflyonthewallblog.wordpress.com/2017/04/03/decolonizing-through-dialogue-authentic-teaching-in-the-age-of-testing-and-common-core/

If you’re not careful, being a public school teacher can become an act of colonization.

This is especially true if you’re a white teacher like me with classes of mostly black students. But it’s not the only case. As an educator, no matter who you are or whom you teach, you’re a symbol of authority and you get that power from the dominant structures in our society.

Believe it or not, our schools are social institutions, so one of their chief functions is to help recreate the social order. Students enter as malleable lumps of clay and exit mainly in the shapes we decide upon. Therefore, as an educator, it’s hard not to fall into the habit of molding young minds into the shapes society has decided are appropriate.

In some ways this is inevitable. In others, it’s even desirable. But it also runs against the best potential of education

In short, this isn’t what a teacher should be. My job in front of the classroom isn’t to make my students into anything. It’s to give them the opportunity, to generate the spark that turns them into their best selves. And the people who ultimately should be the most empowered in this process are the students, themselves

But it’s easier said than done

The danger is best expressed in that essential book for any teacher, “Pedagogy of the Oppressed,” where Paulo Freire writes

“Worse yet, it turns them (the students) into ‘containers,’ into ‘receptacles’ to be filed by the teacher. The more completely she fills the receptacles, the better a teacher she is. The more meekly the receptacles permit themselves to be filled, the better students they are.

In most cases this means Eurocentrism – a kind of worship of all Badass Teachers Association: Decolonizing Through Dialogue: Authentic Teaching in the Age of Testing and Common Core by Steven Singer: