After a week in Seattle to meet my new grandson, I’m finally back up to speed. Here are the choice parts from the past two weeks.
Forbes Fab Five by Five (Part I)
Forbes Fab Five by Five (Part II)
Forbes decided to gather some reformy bigwigs to decide what it would actually cost to really redo the ed system. Then they gathered five bigwigs (Weingarten, Duncan, Cuomo, Handerson and Paul Tudor Jones) together to talk about the results. Expensive and awful.
Common Core Testing Ignore Common Core
All it takes is a quick look at some ELA standards to realize that whatever the Big Test is measuring, it isn’t those standards.
What David Coleman Doesn’t Know about Literature
David Coleman tries to provide instruction on how to teach literature. He’s really not very good at this.
Getting up at Dark O’Clock with the grandson gives me an opportunity to reflect.
Ask Arne: Testing and Accountability
Duncan’s back with another video. In this one, he once again appears not to understand the results of his own policies.
John King is leaving NY for DC, and that tells us as much about DC as it does about King.
Homeostasis, Tourists, Stability and the Feds
Andy Smarick is concerned that homeostasis shows its face in the growing retreat from reformsterism. I suggest that there’s another explanation-- they never built anything to last in the first place.
When people start throwing around cost-per-student stats, make sure you know what they’re really talking about.
Charters Break the American Promise
Fordham’s Mike Petrilli set off a chorus of responses with his NYT piece this week, inclukding two from me. In the first, I argue that his vision of charters is a violation of the American promise to students. In the second, I answer his question about what to do with problem children.
Chicago Schools Caught Cooking Charter Books
Charter school test results not showing enough growth? Just change the numbers.
Ohio Schools Must Get Religion
Ohio’s Governor Kasich thinks that they need to get faith-based organizations into schools to let students know what the Good Lord’s plan for each child is. Sure, that shouldn’t cause any problems at all.