If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
Continuously requiring children to prep and sit for standardized tests is not the same at teaching them. What's more, the scores derived from all those tests do not give the school board an adequate picture of any child, struggling or exceeding.
Po Bronson's and Ashley Merryman's article "Why Some Kids Handle Pressure while Others Fall Apart?" captures the essence of contemporary test-driven school reform. Their science (probably) is solid. Their education policy dictates, however, are based on no more than their personal preferences.
McDonnell Gets By With A Little Help From His Friend As Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) continued his push for education reforms in Virginia, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) stopped by for a little nudge in the right direction, reports the Associated Press. "Jindal was in Richmond for U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's fundraiser, so Gov. Bob McDonnell took the opportunity to have his fellow Republican talk about grading schools on an A-to-F scale and allowing the state to take over chronically failing schools," AP writes.
Arne Takes The Stand As we reported yesterday, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan faced both praise and skepticism yesterday as he testified befo...
In Seattle, a small but passionate group of educators is using the art of disruption 2.0 to express their dissatisfaction with the status quo. Teachers at Garfield High School took a courageous step to stand up for their students by refusing to administer the flawed and irrelevant MAP test.
Certainly, grades were important, but, at least the way I teach my class, my students judged how they learned as more important than measuring what they learned.
Last night, former Washington, D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhee stopped by The Daily Show to promote her memoir, "Radical." Host Jon Stewart's mother is a teacher, so he pressed Rhee on many of these policies, especially his (and teachers') dissatisfaction with the heavy emphasis on standardized tests.
How about a little honesty and perspective, people? To compare this episode to Martin Luther King Jr.'s efforts, as the Seattle teachers union president did the other day, is to cheapen the historic battle for true civil rights.
What if this 21st century replacement for the SAT was able to measure high school students' critical thinking, analytical reasoning, problem solving, and written communication; in other words, all the essential skills that both educators and employers have said students need to succeed in college and the workplace?
Rhee-grets, She Has A Few? Former Washington, D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhee is out with a new memoir this week (called "Radical"), and she's making the talk show rounds to promote it. Yesterday, she told George Stephanopolous on "This Week" that maybe she shouldn't have fired that principal on TV. "My style is very deliberative and very focused on doing what's right for kids. And so I wouldn't change that so much," Rhee said. "Should I have fired ineffective principals? Absolutely. Should I have done so on national TV? Probably not." Here's a Times interview, in which she says she regrets initially not taking test security questions seriously. Also, Rhee is scheduled to be on The Daily Show tonight, so that should be fun!
A new way to prepare for standardized tests has arrived, but it won't be found in the classroom or even in the homes of America's tutors -- unless you count what's in our pockets.
Mayor Of New York State? New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has had it. Speaking to a joint legislative panel in Albany, Bloomberg said the school districts that submitted teacher evaluation plans that expire in a year have committed "fraud," reports the Buffalo News. Bloomberg also said that the holdup over NYC's evaluations -- the so-called "sunset" provisions -- surprised him. Ernest Logan, who heads the Council of School Supervisors & Administrators, is miffed, to say the least. "The mayor turned the truth upside-down," he wrote in a Monday letter to his membership that was forwarded to HuffPost. "We can't comprehend how he can claim surprise when the issue was on the table throughout both unions' negotiations and was approved ... for virtually every other district statewide."
The time has come to deliberately begin replacing the present high-stakes, big bucks standardized assessment landscape with a more organic cottage industry of wonderfully diverse, qualitative, and subjective approaches tailored to the specific institutions and situations they will serve.
Even after one has identified that the old ways of doing things are no longer working, coming up with system-wide comprehensive solutions as to how to develop better schools and school systems is challenging.
Did Jerry Brown Just Ding Arne Duncan? In his State of the State address yesterday, Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown (D) talked a bit about federalism and educ...
Despite promises, a growing number of parents and teachers are unhappy with Obama's showcase program, Race to the Top. They argue it is the antithesis of the education, justice, and equality he claims is central to his ideas and American values.
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The leaders of tomorrow need to be "architects of collaboration" and orchestrate conversations--both virtually and in person--to move things forward.
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