A study by Elaine Weiss and Don Long of the Bolder Broader Approach shows that the corporate school “reform” experiment has claimed to have raised student achievement but that those gains evaporate upon close examination. A previous post, “The Benefits (and Costs) of ‘Reform’ in Three Cities,” discussed their “Market-Oriented Education Reforms’ Rhetoric Trumps Reality,” […]
Beware the Reform-y Types in Constructivist’s Clothing
March 11, 2013 By 3 Comments
There’s been a great way to teach out there in school-o-sphere for quite some time, which we know leads to authentic learning and happy kids. It’s not lecture. It’s not worksheets. It’s not even “hands-on.” (“Hands-on” doesn’t always mean that kids are learning or even engaged.) It’s called constructivism, and it is totally awesome. Seriously, […]
Competition, Choice and Market Forces
February 12, 2013 By 12 Comments
When it comes to education, governments bandy the word choice around with evangelical fervour saying, amongst other things, they are opening charter schools for us, the parents. Rubbish. In New Zealand we have heaps of choice already: Special Character schools, Steiner Schools, home schooling, private schools, bilingual schools, correspondence school, Te kura kaupapa Maori (Maori […]
The Future is Disappearing…But Why?
February 3, 2013 By Leave a Comment
In my soon-to-be-released, self-published book, I do my best to help parents, teachers, and others understand why the Common Core Network is so bad for our kids and our nation’s future. (This is not a shameless plug, I promise. I have a real question here.) It’s becoming common knowledge that the Common Core State Standards […]
Writing Instruction Grounding Social Control
October 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Those of us who have been teachers and/or wannabe authors before everyone was an author (see the note yesterday re: artists)–I know I’m treading on my commoner sensibility here, always a tension in me–remember there is a book by William Zinsser called On Writing Well. I’ll confess that I own it and yet have never […]
To Dissect a Polemic: First, Examine the Polemicist
October 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Dissecting The Atlantic’s Reform Manifesto: Part IVGo to Part I; Part II; Part III “Why Kids Should Grade Their Teachers,” by Amanda Ripley I had an instructive moment in my education well after I left the educational institutions at which I’d been vacationing (“all work and no play,” right?): I was working at a bookstore, […]
Empty of Fact: Rachel Brown’s Bellwether Propaganda
October 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment
I asked Doug Martin, my colleague at The Common Errant and a dogged investigator of politico-corporate-educational malfeasance, to help us interpret the misleading graphic presentation offered by Rachel Brown for The Atlantic‘s Reform Pamphlet. Ms Brown seems to be responsible for page 87; I don’t think it’s appropriate to say she wrote it as it is primarily […]
Homeschooling, Freely Unequal
September 30, 2012 By 6 Comments
Dismantling The Atlantic Monthly Reform Manifesto2nd Installment I. I introduced the The Atlantic’s Reform pamphlet (“22 pages…”) by focusing on the presentation of content. But, I regret to say I left out what might have been the most important part: the “cover” of the section. It’s a TEST BOOKLET! Surprised? II. Now, this is clearly […]
I have a confession to make: I will be the faculty sponsor for an #SFER chapter on our campus
August 15, 2012 By 6 Comments
Ok, I know. I’m aware of the critique. They sound so suspiciously close to DFER, don’t they? I’ll probably get a similar reaction as to when I’ve admitted to teaching in a charter school for the three previous summers. Thou consortest with the enemy? Consort? What, dost thou make us minstrels? An thou make minstrels […]
Emotion Two: Identity crisis
September 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment
So, this is a little commentary on what I posted earlier about my confusion. No links or outsourcing of information is necessary. I’ll also keep it brief. When I noticed all the game changers in education, those who get the spotlight in education reform circles, I was somewhat disappointed that so many stakeholders in education […]
Quick note
July 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment
What about a new term to describe #edreform?
Maybe I should just use it on the sly and see if it sticks. But again, maybe if I make it plain, more people will use it casually themselves. I was listening to Bill Mahr in the car (that rhymes). A recent guest lamented that conservative, supply-side economic policies are not based on evidence. They’re […]