The least accountable among us are those at the top making grand statements (unverified, unchallenged) used to call for the accountable of everyone else. I invite you to read carefully Canada’s Legend-ary TED Talk Lie by Gary Rubinstein to understand how corrosive the “miracle” school narrative is when it is combined with the cult of personality (Canada as […]
Michelle Rhee Is … Tiger Woods!
May 18, 2013 By 3 Comments
Who’d a guessed it? Michelle Rhee is not Tiger Mom. She’s TIGER WOODS!: “My answer: I keep my eye on the ball.” —- Handy-dandy take-home quiz to share! High-Stakes, “No Excuses” Quiz of the Day Complete the following: Michelle Rhee is Tiger (a) Mom (b) Milk (c) Lily (d) Woods ANSWER KEY
Schools as Prisons
May 17, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Please read my new piece at Truthout connecting education reform with the New Jim Crow Era: Education Reform in the New Jim Crow Era There are significant parallels between the war on drugs and market-oriented education reform, and both create an underclass – especially among African American males, according to Thomas, who traces the history.
A Little Test for Test Junkies (and Time Traveling with Vonnegut)
May 17, 2013 By Leave a Comment
If you are a proponent of testing, please take the following test: 1) Do you think public education is currently fulfilling its purpose in the U.S.? [If you answer "No," please continue.] 2) Did you know that public schools began to depend heavily on testing in the early 2oth century? [If you answer "Yes," please […]
Lessons from Finland and Wisconsin
May 15, 2013 By 6 Comments
Many of us who are lifelong educators find clinging to our optimism a difficult challenge. But two recent pieces may signal hope, a light at the long and dark tunnel of corporate education reform built on false claims and flawed solutions. While I urge you to read and share widely the two works below, I […]
If Bill Gates had no money, who would listen to him about education reform?
May 11, 2013 By 6 Comments
In 2013, again, U.S. political leaders and the public appear disgusted with a public education system, but this sentiment has been with us since the Committee of Ten declared education inadequate in the 1890s. We must, then, come to terms with two facts: (1) We must drop Utopian claims about education because education is not the sole key to […]
On Irony, Hubris, and Insanity
May 9, 2013 By 4 Comments
IRONY: Advocates promoting Common Core State Standards as a mechanism for teaching critical thinking skills are themselves not using critical thinking to make that claim. HUBRIS: “All the standards and tests that have come before have failed, but I am the person who will make standards and tests work!” [Recommended literary interlude] INSANITY: “All the […]
Sweet 16: What Matters v. What Should Matter in Teacher Qualities
May 8, 2013 By 5 Comments
My colleague and social studies educator, George Lipscomb, is offering a May Experience course addressing “What Makes a Great Teacher.” He started the course today with a Sweet 16 of teacher values so I thought this idea may be a great way to ask people to confront priorities regarding what our current high-stakes test-based accountability […]
An Open Letter to Secretary Duncan: How Not to Get Booed
May 7, 2013 By 1 Comment
Secretary Duncan, How Not to Get Booed: Resign. Refuse appointments for positions for which you have no experience or expertise. Do not speak at a gathering of the people you have mis-served, unless you plan to apologize (or resign). Resign. Avoid saying one eloquent thing while doing quite the opposite (HINT: Hypocrisy lends itself to […]
Beneath the Surface: More Public School Dismantling in SC
May 5, 2013 By 2 Comments
My home state of South Carolina is a poster child of disfunction, a self-loathing mutt of myopic bible-thumping, state-rights’ libertarianism mated with historical and systemic poverty born out of racism and the lingering burden of slavery. SC voted for Newt Gingrich in the 2012 Republican presidential primaries and now stands as the home of former-governor turned […]
Fear: How Not to Be Seen
May 5, 2013 By 1 Comment
This, however, is a place to offer a few words about the intersections that may at first not seem like intersections at all: Jason Collins coming out of the closet, the Boston Marathon bombing, Common Core State Standards (CCSS), Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) and other “no excuses” schools. Please continue reading HERE.
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