The K-12 Contrarian
A former high school teacher, Dave Powell is an associate professor of education at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania. In this blog, Powell examined efforts to fix education, including whom you should trust and why. This blog is no longer being updated.
Assessment
Opinion
It's Time to Give the Final Final Exam
Last week was finals week for my 9th grader. Isn't it about time to get rid of final exams?
Standards & Accountability
Opinion
Common-Core Voter's Guide: Democratic Edition
Last week I offered a few thoughts on how the Republican candidates for president feel about the common core. This week it's the Democrats' turn to go under the microscope.
Standards & Accountability
Opinion
The Common-Core Voter's Guide to Choosing a Presidential Candidate: Republican Edition
Most people aren't one-issue voters, but if you care about education it might help to know where the major presidential candidates stand on the issue. Here's a guide for the voter interested in the common core. The Republicans are up first.
Standards & Accountability
Opinion
Brand New Year, Same Old Educational Problems
It may be a new year, but we have at least one problem that followed us home from last year: presidential candidates speaking nonsense about education.
Curriculum
Opinion
World-Religion Assignment Sparks Fury
Some angry parents in Augusta County, Virginia, shut down their local schools to make sure their kids wouldn't be indoctrinated into Islam. We really need to talk about what's happening in social studies class.
School & District Management
Opinion
Can 'Every Student' Succeed Where the Feds Have Failed?
You probably know now that Congress is ready to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; the speed with which they are doing it has taken me by surprise. And I'm wondering if we shouldn't be concerned about that.
Standards & Accountability
Opinion
Mass. Exodus: Is This the Beginning of the End for Common Assessment?
Massachusetts has announced that it will no longer participate in the PARCC assessments associated with Common Core. This seems like good news, but I'm not so sure it is.
School & District Management
Opinion
Education's Jargon Problem
I know I'm not the first one to rail against the tendency of people in education to lean too heavily on jargon. But I have to get this off my chest.
Education
Opinion
The Wealthy Need Public Education, Too
A study published in the journal Psychological Science illustrates, once again, why investment in public education is imperative in a healthy democracy.
Standards & Accountability
Opinion
It's Time to End the Curriculum Wars
Is anybody else tired of the politics of division and wedge issues? Tired of the curriculum wars? Me too. Let's end this thing.
School & District Management
Opinion
In Defense of Simplicity: Let's Start With School Schedules
If you've spent any time in a school lately, you know how confusing it can be. Why are school schedules so complicated?
Standards & Accountability
Opinion
Common Core Math: Are We Writing Checks We Can't Cash?
Did you hear the one about the dad who wrote a check to his child's school using "Common Core math"? Yeah, that happened. Is the joke on him, or on us?
Teacher Preparation
Opinion
Teacher Training Isn't Dumb; Teacher Training Policy Is
A recent New York Times op-ed suggests that teachers aren't dumb—their training is. I'd go a step further than that.
Assessment
Opinion
Careful How You Use Those Test Scores
Test scores will be (strategically) released soon in our neck of the woods, and we're already being warned about how bad they're going to be. Should parents be worried about the labels the state assigns to their kids based on these test scores, or is there something more to worry about?