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 This blog is no longer being updated.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
Teaching Controversial Issues
It's axiomatic that democracy depends on an educated populace. Part of the process is to expose students to issues that by their very nature are controversial, and help them develop the ability to analyze conflicting arguments. In "Discussions That Drive Democracy," Diana Hess writes: "This means teaching young people that they should not shun, fear, or ignore such issues. Students need to have experiences respectfully discussing authentic questions about public problems and the kinds of policies that can address those problems" (Educational Leadership, Sept. 2011).
Education
Opinion
Are Values A Proper Concern of Schools?
The school reform movement is obsessed with quantifying outcomes. Whether through standardized test scores, dropout rates or college acceptance rates, the coin of the realm is measurement.
Education
Opinion
Why Evaluate Teachers and Doctors Differently?
It's become a mantra of reformers that the quality of teachers is the single most important in-school factor in student performance. If so, is the quality of doctors the single most important in-office factor in patient health? This question passed my mind after I read a letter to the editor written by Richard Amerling, M.D., director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, that was published in The Wall Street Journal ("Better Use of Medical Records Is Good as Far as It Goes," Sept. 26).
Education
Opinion
A Teacher's Worst Nightmare
The abrupt request for a leave of absence by a ten-year veteran high school art teacher only two weeks after the start of the fall semester serves as a reminder that accountability is still a one-way street. According to a column in the Los Angeles Times, Jeremy Davidson was done in by a combination of factors all too familiar in these troubled times to public school teachers ("At Manual Arts High, a caring teacher is at the end of his rope," Sept. 24).
Education
Opinion
Erect Wall Between Test Companies and School Officials
In the wake of the stock market crash, Congress wisely passed the Glass-Steagall Act in 1933. The landmark legislation successfully separated investment and commercial banking activities until it was repealed in 1999. Many economists today believe the decision to do so played a major role in the country's financial meltdown.
Education
Opinion
A Closer Look at Skills Mismatch in Workplace
For the past four years, there has been a steady stream of news and commentary about the disconnect between what employers are looking for and what workers have to offer. The latest entry into this debate was "Looking at Education for Clues on Structural Unemployment" (The Wall Street Journal, Sept. 9).
Education
Opinion
Teachers vs. Principals Hurts Students
The practice of law in the U.S. is an adversarial system that is widely accepted as being the most effective way of ensuring that justice is done. This is the antithesis of the way educating the young is supposed to be conducted in this country. Nevertheless, the system too often still pits teachers against principals, to the detriment of students.
Education
Opinion
What About Homework?
It's not at all surprising that homework is now a front-burner issue in many school districts ("Is Homework Out of Control?" Parade, Aug. 21). Although teachers who assign heavy loads have never been popular, it's only in the last few years that they have moved into the spotlight. After all, when elementary school teachers ask children in second and third grade to complete worksheets every night, I have to wonder if things have not gotten out of hand.
Education
Opinion
When School Choice Is Counterproductive
As readers of this column know, I've long supported parental choice of schools, even though I acknowledge that not all children have parents who are involved enough in their education to take advantage of the options open to them. But there's another consideration that has been largely overlooked: What happens when there are too many choices available to parents?
Education
Opinion
What Schools Can Expect As U.S. Slips in Competitiveness
It had to happen sooner or later. The World Economic Forum recently ranked the U.S. No. 5 in economic competitiveness. Although the Geneva-based organization based its decision specifically on huge deficits and declining faith in government, it won't be long before public schools are implicated.
Education
Opinion
Mayoral Control of Schools Shows Mixed Results
The justification for mayoral takeover of school districts is that it pinpoints accountability. I've always believed, however, that the rationale sounds better on paper than it plays out in reality. The situation in the New York City school system is a case in point.
Education
Opinion
Drawing Conclusions from Educational Experiments
Under increasing pressure to produce evidence of greater student achievement, schools are eager to adopt practices that have a proven track record. This has led the Houston public schools to engage in a novel experiment called Apollo 20 ("A School District Mimics Charters, Hoping Success Will Follow," The New York Times, Sept. 6).
Education
Opinion
LIFO Also Protects Good Teachers
Leave it to Michelle Rhee to pit teacher against teacher just as the new school year begins. In "The Great Brain Game" (Time, Sept. 12), she argues that a policy of last-in first-out in determining layoffs ensures that "thousands of great teachers" will be lost.
Education
Opinion
Personal Philanthropy No Substitute for Public Policy
Despite the guarantee of a free basic education for all students as stipulated in most state constitutions, the protracted recession has caused at least 23 states to date to slash spending on public education. This has created an uneven pattern of supplemental support by parents, business and residents.