“A deepened consciousness of their situation leads people to apprehend that situation as an historical reality susceptible to transformation.” — Paulo Freire The Progressive has been compiling the responses of authors whose books were banned by Arizona bigots and arch-reactionaries Tom Horne and John Huppenthal’s racist HB 2281, which, among other things, banned Ethnic Studies […]
Sherman Alexie "Arizona has made our books sacred documents now."
January 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment
New York Principal’s Heroic Stand
January 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Zeppie said Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s recent implementation of standardized testing reviews is unhealthy and wrong. “I don’t believe in stressing kids out so that they have no childhood,” Zeppie said. “Sooner or later it will trickle down and lead to more suicides in children.” RYE, N.Y. – Osborn School Principal Clarita Zeppie announced in a […]
@dianeravitch also critical of the #POTUS plan for higher education, via @insidehighered
January 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment
As a faculty member in education, I worry about this juggernaut of accountability reaching us, which it surely will, where my students’ students’ test scores will be used to evaluate our program and perhaps myself included. You wonder how that could even be remotely possible. But a little delusional thinking, sprinkled with statistical pixie dust, […]
#Standardized #testing #iphone inspired graphic, share widely if you like.
January 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment
A link to my appearance on the Total Education Hour, thanks @totaltutor
January 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment
#DCPS and their highly “rigorous” #IMPACT #teacher #evaluation, and perhaps #Rhee’s most fantastic legacy
January 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Inasmuch as we should be suspicious and skeptical of the current spate of teacher evaluations, there’s really not that much to fear because they’re really not all that good. Now, I wholeheartedly disagree basing evaluations on test scores, which is really what’s happening, we shouldn’t kid ourselves. Even if you had a 50/50 evaluation, the […]
Further Confessions of an Outlier
January 30, 2012 By 3 Comments
Further Confessions of an Outlier About five or so weeks ago, I made this confession: “I graduated high school eighth in my class, and then proceeded through undergraduate and graduate school to achieve a doctorate, almost exclusively making As along the way and being regularly praised for my academic ability. But let me pause for […]
Robert D. Skeels: How Administration Tries to Cow Teachers Into Submission
January 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The #optout message is spreading in a big way, this time in the Colorado legislature
January 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment
From the Denver Post: House Bill 1049 would change current laws that penalize schools or districts that aren’t able to get 95 percent of their students to take state tests. Not hitting the 95 percent mark can keep schools from meeting Adequate Yearly Progress levels, which potentially puts them on track to lose state accreditation […]
21st Century Teachers: Easy to Hire, Easy to Fire
January 29, 2012 By 3 Comments
21st Century Teachers: Easy to Hire, Easy to Fire Detroit rises to the status of a major character in Jeffrey Eugenides’s Middlesex. About a fifth of the way into the novel, the narrator, Calliope/Cal Stephanides makes this observation about the arrival of the automotive industry in the Motor City: “Historical fact: people stopped being human […]
Teachers Tired of Being Bullied to Death
January 28, 2012 By 7 Comments
We’re not going to take it! The CPS Grind on Teachers by Katie Osgood Recently, in Chicagoland, a story hit the papers about a teacher committing suicide. She wrote in her suicide note that the major reason for this drastic act was work-related. According to her colleagues, this woman took her own life because of […]
Gray Continues in Fenty’s Corrupt Tradition by Hiring Charter Loan Company to Research School Closures
Last summer DC’s Mayor Gray selected a real estate consulting and loan outfit from Illinois to “study” the public schools of DC to determine which will live and which will die. Yep, the pick to do the “research” was the non-profit Illinois Facilities Fund that funnels tax credited corporate cash to favorite charity ventures by […]