"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
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]
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?
This is a guest post by Diane Ravitch, in response to "A Pedagogy of Practice" by Kathleen Porter-Magee.
I've already weighed in on Alfie Kohn's ?pedagogy of poverty? article that appeared in Ed Week last week.
Though I thought the recent Fordham discussion about whether school boards were a ?vital?
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):
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.
?Today's NAEP results confirm that we have a crisis on our hands when it comes to civics education,?
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.
Although some adults do a disservice to students on Facebook, college applications, and
?We tend to provide less funding, have fewer outstanding teachers and principals, and require less rigorous coursework in schools that serve lower-income students.
Yes, things are changing. Wiki's are certainly making the grade?even 5-year olds get i-Pads to ensure success.
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,?
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:
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.
?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
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.
?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...
According to today's New York Times Chris Christie went to ?the heart of liberal darkness? yesterday ? and kept his cool.?
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 ?
There will be no more crying over spilled strawberry and chocolate milk in some schools, but at least you can get
Mopati Morake will graduate shortly from Williams College. He was born in Botswana but finished high school in Hong Kong.
Education ?reforms? abound today, yet the sluggish pace of actual changes wrought by those new policies, programs, and practices demands a fresh look at public education's basic structures and operating arrangements. What America needs in the twenty-first century is a far more fundamental approach to ?re-forming? K-12 education. Our ?marble cake?
?It's not about giving up on public schools but it is about acknowledging that right now, when you step back, [only] 8 percent of low-income kids can expect to get a bachelor's degree by the time they're 24. ...
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="250" caption="Click to watch a video of this commentary, as part of Fordham's recent event Are School Boards Vital in the 21st Century?"]
Great news! There is a new honorable title for schools?a ?Green Ribbon' school.
Mike and Janie look into the crystal ball of edu-policy, making predictions on the sustainability of the local school board, potential backlash to reform, and the market's role in education. Amber blows holes in the teacher-quality-gap line of reasoning and Chris gets salty about pepper spray. [powerpress]
In a generally positive profile of Jean-Claude Brizard, Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel's pick for new Chicago school system chief, the Sun-Times applauds the nominee for ?the charismatic way?
