Don’t confuse jargon with rigor
At Inside Schools, a website for parents covering New York City schools, reporter
At Inside Schools, a website for parents covering New York City schools, reporter
Editor's note: This post originally appeared in a slightly different form in the Daily News and City Journal.
Editor's note: This post originally appeared in a slightly different form at RegBlog.
Editor's note: This post originally appeared in a slightly different form on the Tools for the Common Core Standards blog.
Some of ed reform’s leading lights finally see that what kids learn makes a difference. Robert Pondiscio
Crying “Dump it!” might be good politics. But any high standards will look a lot like Common Core. Michael J. Petrilli and Michael Brickman
Previously, I posted about the perils of applying standards-driven instruction to reading classrooms.
Just in time for Christmas, my Fordham colleague Mike Petrilli has left a present under the tree for inquisitive children and busy parents who don’t think the sky will fall if the kids get a little screen time now and again (it won’t).
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Michelle Lerner, Robert Pondiscio, and Alyssa Schwenk
Editor's note: This post originally appeared in slightly different form on the Commentary website.
College isn’t the only springboard to the middle class. Michael J. Petrilli
Good morning. It’s wonderful to see so many friends and colleagues here today. My name is Michael Petrilli, and in August I took over as the president of the Thomas B.
You can’t teach reading the way you teach other subjects. Kathleen Porter-Magee
A college-track student looks back with envy at career-track schooling. Emily Hanford
President Obama’s contempt for the Constitution, and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s unfortunate disregard of that document, have been loudly and justly decried by critics of executive overreach. Less heralded, but equally troubling, is the mission creep of the Office for Civil Rights as it works to reshape the education world and to right whatever alleged wrongs it thinks it sees.
[Editor's note: This is part two of a multi-part series on the use of prior knowledge in literacy. It originally appeared in a slightly different form at Tim Shanahan's blog, Shanahan on Reading.
[Editor's note: This is part one of a multi-part series on the use of prior knowledge in literacy. It originally appeared in a slightly different form at Tim Shanahan's blog, Shanahan on Reading.]
Opportunities abound if only Catholic schools will seize them. by Chester E. Finn, Jr.
Give ‘em great books and get out of the way. Peter Sipe
Their criticisms don’t add up. Robert Pondicio and Kevin Mahnken
There’s a wonderfully apt saying about why debates in the U.S.
Get ready for another “Year of School Choice.” Michael J. Petrilli
Joe Sixpack: You’re not paying attention. And much of what you think you know is wrong. Morgan Polikoff
Accountability works. But not in reading, which isn’t a subject or a skill. Robert Pondiscio
I confess I’m somewhat bewildered by the passionate arguments over the Common Core State Standards. Getting in high dudgeon about K–12 learning standards, which say almost nothing about what kids do in school all day, makes no more sense to me than getting apoplectic about food-handling procedures, which I seldom think about when pushing my cart through the grocery store.
Ed reform is dead. Long live ed reform. Chester E. Finn, Jr.
There’s more to Common Core than “close reading.” Robert Pondiscio
We need two kinds of high school diplomas. Chester E. Finn, Jr.
Among opponents of the Common Core, one of the more popular targets of vitriol is the standards’ focus on improving literacy by introducing higher levels of textual complexity into the instructional mix.
Every child should be in a school where he or she can learn effectively. That’s not a controversial goal in itself, but the methods meant to accomplish it can become hot buttons.