DIFFERENTIATED STROKES FOR HETEROGENEOUSLY GROUPED FOLKS
In a must-read piece in Education Week, James R. Delisle takes aim at one of the biggest trends in education: differentiated instruction. The method is meant to reach students learning at drastically different levels, but Delisle charges that it complicates the work of teachers by forcing them to prepare separate materials and is almost impossible to put into practice. Fordham President Emeritus Chester Finn once asked if differentiated instruction was a hollow promise. Delisle and the Gadfly give a resounding yes.
BUT WHEN WILL WE GET A PLAYOFF SYSTEM?
You know it’s January when Rick Hess reveals his annual RHSU Edu-Scholar Rankings, a rock-’em, sock-’em power poll of the biggest, baddest wonks in academia. Check out the post to discover the biggest risers and hottest newcomers, along with the perennial champions making up the top ten. (And note the presence of peeps who were EEPS.) Of course, any list of influential education voices that doesn’t include a certain winged, anthropomorphized insect is notably incomplete.
GRADE-LEVEL TEXTS
In a dramatic victory for both restive pupils and the Apple Store, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has lifted the citywide prohibition on cell phones in public schools. The oft-defied ban was increasingly seen as unenforceable, with critics arguing that it prevented parents from keeping in touch with their kids and some teachers fretting that mobile devices were already being used to cheat on assignments. Schools will now be allowed to set their own policies; there is no word yet on whether third-floor bathroom stalls will be reserved for Candy Crush.
THE EARLY BIRD GETS THE SKILLS TO COMPETE IN A GLOBAL JOB MARKET
Over at Homeroom, Monica Bates put together a list of great reasons to enroll your lil’ ed reformer in early-learning programs before preschool. Among them: 90 percent of the human brain is already developed by age three.
