Bill and Melinda Gates Money at Work
by Susan OhanianHe's back! Who knew that Jonah Edelman is alive and well--and pumping the Common Core! I stumbled on this information by way of a Tweet by Vicki Phillips, Director of Education - College Ready at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, who issued two shout outs in praise of Edelman's work--a Huffington Post piece One Thing All Parents Should Know about the CommonCore, in which Ed
Cash Cow $tate $tandards
With all due respect to Joanne Yatvin, who has made important contributions to NCTE and to literacy (notably her work confronting the flawed National Reading Panel), this is why we cannot be fatalistic about Cash Cow $tate $tandards:CC$ advocacy is being driven by corporate interests, the allure of money to be made.If no one could profit from CC$ or the tests, if no one could build political capit
United Opt Out Helps Get Folks United Against Common Core
From Wisconsin Reporter:By Ryan Ekvall | Wisconsin ReporterMADISON — An unlikely alliance of progressives and tea party activists have found common ground in opposing Common Core State Standards in Wisconsin — even as the political elite on both sides support the new standards that are quickly spreading through schools.Standing in the hallway that separates Assembly Majority Leader Robin Vos, R-Ro
Turning Schools into a "Cheaters' Paradise"
James Owens’ Confessions of a Bad Teacher is full of the big lies of urban education that are the essence of school “reform.” The single most destructive deceit in inner city schools is the claim that individual teachers with “expectations” do not need disciplinary backing by administrators. Since long before I entered teaching, every system I heard of had its equivalent of “the most important and
"A Time Comes When Silence Is Betrayal"
Michelle Newsum, Oregon Reading AssociationVoices“A time comes when silence is betrayal.” ~Martin Luther King Junior April 4, 1967I was silent when NCLB was enacted. I knew full well the mandates were ludicrous. As a result of this legislation, many good schools, especially schools that housed poor kids, suffered unnecessary pain, shame and absurd sanctions when their special education po
9-24-13 Schools Matter
Schools Matter: If You Ask, They Will AnswerI have recently asked, Whatever Happened to Scientifically Based Research in Education Policy?And it appears that the USDOE has come forward with an answer, as reported by Valerie Strauss:The U.S. Education Department routinely awards millions of dollars in grants to states and organizations, but it seems that it doesn’t have enough money to maintain its
