Commentary
Empathy for the illiterate
Yet more proof that to some anti-reformers, adults inside the education system are more important than everyone else ? a guest blogger at Valerie Strauss's place says reformers lack empathy:
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Quotable & notable
?This current effort to portray teachers as fat cats, feeding at the public trough with no concern for their students, has got to stop. So, too, must the effort to spin research on the importance of quality teachers to suggest that quality teachers are the only thing that matters.'' *
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Commentary
About face
Catherine Gewertz reports today that New Hampshire Republicans have introduced a bill that would, it seems, all but undo the State Board of Education's decision to adopt the Common Core last July. She explains:
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Zuckerberg 2.0: Cami Anderson and Newark
Just in the nick of time, another Teach for America / Joel Klein School of Big City Reform alumnus is heading off to take the reins of a troubled city school district.
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Snyder Doing What's Best For Michigan, But Young Teachers Will Suffer
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is a new name in education circles, but not to me. Having lived in the state my whole life, I proudly supported him from the days his popular, ?One Tough Nerd,? ads started popping on TV in early 2010.
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Who's to blame for the pension shortfall?
Unions are not to blame for the severity of public pension shortfalls, but that doesn't mean that taking a hard look at collective bargaining is a bad idea. Matthew Di Carlo at Shanker Blog called yesterday for pols and commentators to stop blaming the nation's public pension issues on collective bargaining.
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Quotable & notable
"I like the fact that [my son] now has kids in his classes from all races, all ethnicities. Potomac was very homogeneous. I think he had maybe one African-American teacher at Hoover.'' * ?Roxana Moayedi, DCPS Parent
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Podcast: Teacher Appreciation Week
Mike and Rick are all sorts of punchy this week, talking civics lessons, philanthropic giving, and Arne Duncan's teacher pandering. Amber breaks the piggy bank with a look at teacher-pension plans while Chris gets meta in the Big Apple. [powerpress]
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Requirements for school board members?
As you may know, last week we hosted a terrific event here at the Fordham Institute, Are Local School Boards Vital in 21st Century America?
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Curriculum & Instruction
Re: A Pegagogy of Practice
This is a guest post by Diane Ravitch, in response to "A Pedagogy of Practice" by Kathleen Porter-Magee.
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Education news nuggets
While there is certainly a debate for the best ways of teaching this particular lesson, a few things are for sure: There should be
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Curriculum & Instruction
Alfie Kohn: Read your Lisa Delpit
Alfie Kohn's Education Week commentary about the "pedagogy of poverty" has sparked a renewed debate about which kind of education is "best" for poor kids?and whether it's the same as what affluent children get.
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Save the interns: Part 2
Yesterday's post, ?Save the interns: Part 1,? noted that higher education is frequently complicit in, and occasionally precipitates, the misrepresentation as ?internships? of mundane, tedious jobs to be staffed by unpaid workers.
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Crisis update
?Today's NAEP results confirm that we have a crisis on our hands when it comes to civics education,?
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Charter Schools
A pedagogy of practice
I've already weighed in on Alfie Kohn's ?pedagogy of poverty? article that appeared in Ed Week last week.
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Safeguard democracy first: School boards will fix themselves
Though I thought the recent Fordham discussion about whether school boards were a ?vital?
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Charter Schools
What are markets for?
Markets are a tool with many uses, and we employ them broadly in our society because on balance they create a lot of good. Kevin Welner doesn't see it that way, however, especially in education (PDF):
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Quotable & notable
?We tend to provide less funding, have fewer outstanding teachers and principals, and require less rigorous coursework in schools that serve lower-income students.
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Education news nuggets
Although some adults do a disservice to students on Facebook, college applications, and
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Curriculum & Instruction
Save the interns: Part 1
Ross Perlin's new book Intern Nation: How to Earn Nothing and Learn Little in the Brave New Economy?removes the comedy from the tableau of the keen,?fresh-faced intern, set on changing the world yet?so far struggling to change even the toner in the office copy machine.
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Squaring the Teacher Salary Circle: It Can be Done
A few days ago Dave Eggers and Ninive Clements Calegari, founders, according to their official ID, of the 826 National tutoring centers and producers of the documentary ?American Teacher,?
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Maintenance of effort requirement too expensive for Montgomery County
Montgomery County, Maryland, one of the wealthiest and highest-performing large school districts in the country, is likely to reduce its level of per-pupil spending, in violation of a state maintenance of effort requirement. This means giving up an estimated $29 million in state aid in 2013:
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Quotable & notable
?Teachers want to be evaluated fairly and we want to be evaluated on the things that really matter.'' * ?Michelle Shearer, 2011 Teacher of the Year
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Education news nuggets
Yes, things are changing. Wiki's are certainly making the grade?even 5-year olds get i-Pads to ensure success.
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Quotable & notable
?Working together, we can transform teaching from the factory model designed over a century ago to one built for the information age. We can build an accountability system based on data we trust and a standard that is honest...
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Curriculum & Instruction
Osama bin Laden: What our children need to know
The U.S. didn't triumph over terrorism today but its brave fighting men won a crucial battle when they rid the world of Osama bin Laden. Bravo for them?and may his soul suffer eternal damnation.
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New Jersey governor visits Harvard School of Education: Sparks don't fly
According to today's New York Times Chris Christie went to ?the heart of liberal darkness? yesterday ? and kept his cool.?
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Curriculum & Instruction
Pedagogy of the lost: Alfie Kohn strikes again
Alfie Kohn is the latest to weigh in on ?the pedagogy of poverty,? as he calls it, with his ?How Education Reform Traps Poor Children? commentary in Education Week ?
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