Quotable & notable
?When school children start paying union dues, that's when I'll start representing the interests of school children.'' ?Albert Shanker, Former Teachers Union Leader
?When school children start paying union dues, that's when I'll start representing the interests of school children.'' ?Albert Shanker, Former Teachers Union Leader
The new report from the National Research Council (with its come-hither title, Incentives and Test-Based Accountability in Education) is sure to add fuel to the anti-accountability fires. It concludes, pretty shockingly, that all these tests haven't made kids any smarter.?
It goes without saying that school officials are doing everything in their power to cope with the quickly dwindling budgets of their districts. But a certain policy enacted by the New York City DOE leaves me scratching my head.
Diane Ravitch's New York Times op-ed seems to have stuck in the craw of many a reformer, including Arne Duncan himself.
?It used to be the idea that if everybody completed preschool, they were going to be fine. But that may not cut it. It's like a 30-cylinder engine. All the parts have to work.'' ?Paul Cordero, Carpenteria, CA superintendent
The Harmony Charter school opus in today's Times is a great read.? It's very long, over 4,000 words, starting on the front page and covering two full pages on the inside of the paper.
Though American education has taken few actual steps to pattern itself on other countries, in recent years we've displayed a near-obsessive interest in how we're doing in relation to them (e.g. on TIMSS and PISA results), and in what they're doing and how they do it.
The following blog post was written by Penelope Placide, a ninth grader who works for Fordham one day a week through her school's Corporate Work Study Program. Not only is Penelope a wonderful asset on a daily basis, she possesses invaluable insider knowledge as a current student immersed in the everyday realities of American schooling.
?I can honestly say my high school didn't prepare me for college. I was getting my butt kicked in college. I didn't have a proper background.'' ?Richard Mohammed, Recent Graduate of Bucks County Community College
The New York Times' education columnist Michael Winerip spoils another good story today.?
As the summer (and Facebook) heats up, don't let your hair get cymotrichous. Follow
Though I am not inclined to give teachers too much autonomy until they start showing signs of it working to improve our schools, Jonathan Zimmerman raises some interesting issues in his When Teachers Talk out of School essay in this morning's Times.
Scared of getting blackmailed by your students? Relax and get started on your summer reading - and remember, things could be worse!
??overweight women were less likely to earn college degrees ? regardless of their ability, professional goals or socioeconomic status. In other words, it didn't matter how talented or ambitious they were, or how well they had done in high school.''
The other night, during one of our marathon budget workshops, we heard from a woman who had started a ?walking school bus? pilot program in one of our schools.? It's part of an anti-obesity grant and she had a wealth of information about the benefits of walking to school. She warned, ?We are raising a generation of kids who are afraid to walk.??
There has been the ?silver bullet? debate, the ?secret sauce? battle, the ?demonize teacher? tirades, and the ?cracking the code? kerfuffle over Waiting for Superman. Now, according to Diane Ravitch, it's the miracle workers perfidy. Sinners, get ye to your rosary beads ? and fast!
Louis Menand offers opposing views of college in the latest New Yorker. On the one hand, he writes, college is basically ?a four-year intelligence test. Students have to demonstrate intellectual ability over time and across a range of subjects.
Diane Ravitch's latest piece in the New York Times contains some fine, necessary instruction to which many in the education-policy world might listen: stop creating education miracles.
Jonathan Franzen gave a commencement address at Kenyon College a few days ago and the New York Times published part of it in the newspaper. Many of us operate in a constant whirl of cheap information and to read Franzen's words is to be smacked in the face, reminded of it.
School really can be fun! The spelling bee season has kicked off in full force.
Mike and Rick talk substantively (for a change) about: Clark County's education blueprint, private special-education service providers, and utopian hopes for turnarounds. Amber geeks out with stats from the latest Condition of Education and Chris audibles for a Texas high school football stadium. [powerpress]
?If school districts are not willing to work collaboratively to eradicate the vestiges of de jure segregated schools, we will ask the courts to take the steps necessary to ensure that students of all racial backgrounds have the opportunity to attend diverse, inclusive schools.?
?My students have just as much potential as every other student in the country, regardless of what ZIP code they were born into, regardless of what social-economic level they were born into'' *
A friend emailed this morning:? ?Breathtaking."? It was the first of many such emails and phone calls.
The Times' Room for Debate blog tackles teacher evaluations today, in particular the news that New York City plans to introduce a dozen new tests in order to gather data for said evaluations.
?For me, it's personal. I see my parents in those Compton parents. Now I can do something about the injustice, the denial of opportunity, the idea that it's OK for some kids not to read.'' *
Our recent study on trends in the special education population was only able to get at the costs of special ed obliquely.