Walt Gardner's Reality Check
Walt Gardner taught for 28 years in the Los Angeles Unified School District and was a lecturer in the UCLA Graduate School of Education. This blog is no longer being updated.
Education
Opinion
Choosing Schools for Various Reasons
Don't jump to conclusions about motives when parents avoid choosing low-income schools.
Education
Opinion
Teacher Generation Gap Not Surprising
Newer teachers take for granted the rights they possess.
Education
Opinion
Family Breakdown and Schools
Children from broken homes can benefit the most from paternalistic schools.
Education
Opinion
Give MOOCs a Fair Chance
If properly designed, MOOCs can make college more affordable without diluting quality.
Education
Opinion
Federal Spending and Test Scores
The Coleman Report explains why federal money has not erased test score differences between groups.
Education
Opinion
A New Low in Teacher-Union Scapegoating
Blaming teachers unions for California's fiscal woes is classic scapegoating.
Education
Opinion
What Happened to Magnet Schools?
Once considered the most promising way to voluntarily integrate schools while at the same time provide a challenging curriculum, magnet schools have since been eclipsed in popularity by charter schools. What is taking place in Los Angeles is a case in point. Although magnet schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District have been in existence since 1977, they have not been able to keep pace with the growth in charter schools since 1993 when they first started. At present, there are 197 charters, enrolling about 110,000 students - far more than any other district in the nation. This compares with 173 magnets, enrolling a little over 59,000 students.
Education
Opinion
Teacher Absences
With the fall semester at the mid-term mark, teachers are increasingly using their leave privileges. According to the Center for American Progress, the average absence rate for any given day is 5.3 percent. ("Teacher Absence as a Leading Indicator of Student Achievement," Nov. 5). This compares with 3 percent for full-time salaried workers. The difference is likely to provide fuel for reformers who point out that teachers already work far fewer days than employees in any other field.
Education
Opinion
Not Yet Ready to Give Up on Public Schools
Despite pronounced disaffection with the academic performance of students, 53.9 percent of voters in California approved Proposition 30, a ballot measure that is expected to raise an additional $6 billion a year in taxes to protect public schools and colleges. To achieve this goal, the sales tax will rise to 7.5 percent - a quarter of a percentage point - until 2016, while individuals making more than $250,000 annually will see their income-tax-rate increase by one to three percentage points until 2018. The money will go into the general fund, with the lion's share earmarked for schools.
Education
Opinion
The Gifted-Genius Debate
The U.S. has long been uncomfortable with differentiation in education, as Richard Hofstadter made clear in his 1964 Pulitzer Prize-winning Anti-intellectualism in American Life. But things slowly started to change in 1983 with the publication of "A Nation At Risk." Its alarmist indictment about education made elitism seem a bit more acceptable. The result is that 165 public high schools now admit gifted students on the basis of an exam.
Education
Opinion
The 'Natural' Teacher
Every profession has practitioners who seem to have been born with the wherewithal to become a success. Teaching is no exception. Jaime Escalante, Frank McCourt and Pat Conroy immediately come to mind. They possessed an uncanny ability to achieve wonders with their students because they followed their inner voice. But there are countless other teachers who deserve equal recognition for performing what I consider to be akin to miracles in the classroom.
Education
Opinion
Unintended Consequences of Teacher Evaluation
New performance evaluation systems being adopted in school districts across the country are heralded as long overdue. But there's one aspect that is downplayed by reformers: they give principals a rare opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. Their prey are veteran teachers who are at the top of the salary scale and who are likely to speak out on issues affecting their school because they have tenure. By rating them as ineffective, principals can get rid of them, in the process improving the district's balance sheet and silencing opposition.
Education
Opinion
Teaching to the Test Is Good
No, the headline above is not a typo. It's recognition of a strategy that all effective teachers engage in, even though they are reluctant to admit it. The controversy arises from a confusion between teaching to the actual items on a test (indefensible) and teaching to the broad body of knowledge and skills that a test's items measure (sound).
Education
Opinion
Private Schools Struggle to Fully Diversify
Despite sincere efforts to diversify, private schools have been stymied in making minority students feel included. In the 2011-12 school year, for example, 26.6 percent of students in independent schools nationwide were minority, compared with 18.5 percent a decade before. Yet admitting more students from these groups has not necessarily led to their feeling particularly welcome ("Admitted, but Left Out," The New York Times, Oct. 21).