According to the NYT, professors can now track how students are reading digital materials: Major publishers in higher education have already been collecting data from millions of students who use their digital materials. But CourseSmart goes further by individually packaging for each professor information on all the students in a class — a bold effort […]
The Good, Racist People has key parallels to the inherent racism of #edreform
March 11, 2013 By 2 Comments
A really, really compelling opinion piece from the NYT on the everyday racism and prejudice expressed by apparent “good people.” This might have to do with education reform measures, as the author already mentioned redlining, blockbusting, and gentrification as part of prejudicial urban renewal: I am trying to imagine a white president forced to show […]
Sorry, Kirp’s Fix Another Flawed Discourse on Ed Reform
February 10, 2013 By 12 Comments
Before I could find David Kirp’s “The Secret to Fixing Bad Schools,” I received by email and discovered on Twitter a series of enthusiastic praise from friends, colleagues, and like-minded progressives and left-leaning radicals. So let me be the first to say, “Sorry, but Kirp’s fix is yet another flawed public commentary about the state […]
Holiday over, work continues for #edreform
November 24, 2012 By 1 Comment
What should children read? Interesting question. My knee jerk reaction: whatever the hell they want. An opinion-maker for the NYT blog opens with this, on recognizing reading improves writing, on that point I agree: Malcolm Gladwell, author of “The Tipping Point” and a New Yorker staff writer, told me how he prepared, years ago, to […]
Ok, I’ll weigh in on the great #algebra dispute of 2012
July 30, 2012 By 8 Comments
Here’s the original article from the NYT Sunday. Basically, a political scientist (I know, right? What the hell are education researchers doing with all of their time anyway?) argues that math requirements are too stringent and discourage some students from completing their education. On the one hand, we have a post here from Dan Willingham […]
@sobronxschool has an early lead on a college-level standardized #test n’yuk n’yuk
April 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment
I wish I could have a breaking news banner here. I guess the humble graphic to the left will have to suffice. But over a So Bronx School, there’s a general consensus: David Brooks isn’t too bright. And he isn’t too bright to be advocating so strongly for a standardized college assessment. Tell you what: […]
Does #Pearson own #education? Probably.
December 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The NYT is reporting that the New York attorney general is investigating the Pearson Foundation for illegal lobbying, funding professional trips for officials with whom Pearson ultimately contracted. I’m sure there’s a whole lot of commentary ongoing and available on how Pearson, in partnership with a few other big foundations, basically owns K-12 education. But […]
#DOD #schools out perform the rest on #NAEP
December 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment
And the shocker is they’re outside the mandates of NCLB: hey would find that the schools on base are not subject to former President George W. Bush’s signature education program, No Child Left Behind, or to President Obama’s Race to the Top. They would find that standardized tests do not dominate and are not used to […]
A personal note on #education #leaders, central office types, #consultants and so forth
December 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
This is something that needs explanation, and I’ll refrain from all the details of why I’m asking the question. But why do education leaders, those in central offices, why do they only last a year, maybe two? Where’s the loyalty? They come in swashbuckler style, then leave. What can you do in 12, 18 or […]
Addressing #poverty and #education, for real this time
December 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
This popped up on my feed this AM, yet another face palm sort of article in the NYT on why poverty and education has yet to be admitted and addressed by the contemporary education reform movement. Of a few, here’s one of the rationales for the denial of poverty: A final rationale for denying the correlation […]
Friend David Green’s #TFA commentary @nytimes comes at a good time
I’m starting to feel as if the TFA brand is getting a tad tarnished. It’s not fooling a lot of people anymore, as is apparent from many of the responses Mr. Greene received. When I spoke at the 92Y last month, I was right after Wendy Kopp. She left immediately after her talk, the prima donna […]