This Week In Education
Written by former Senate education staffer and journalist Alexander Russo, This Week in Education was an opinion blog that covered education news, policymakers, and trends with a distinctly political edge. (For archives prior to January 2007, please click here. For posts after November 2007, please click here.) This blog is no longer being updated.
Education
Opinion
Reporter Arrested On The Sidewalk Outside Miami Central High
So there's a reporter in Miami working on a story about school violence who's told to move off the sidewalk by school board police -- on camera -- and refuses. He was arrested, and now he's being charged with trespassing and unlawful possession of a handgun, which he has a permit to carry.
Education
Opinion
Covering Education Well
Whether you're a reporter who wants to know how to cover education better, or an educator who wants to know how reporters look at things, you'll be happy to know about this collection of essays about covering schools that includes: What I Wish I Had Known as an Education Reporter (Christina Asquith); How to Spot a School That Cheats and Find the Real Deal (Karin Chenoweth); The Six Essential Elements of Good Teaching (former LAT Richard Lee Colvin), Cut to the Heart of Learning by Analyzing a Classroom (blogger and former journalist Jenny DeMonte), To Witness the Magic of Learning, Find a Classroom (Samuel G. Freedman of the NYT); Talk to Students for an Inside Look at High School Life (Jay Mathews of the Washington Post); and How to Get Gun-Shy Schools to Open Their Doors (former Philadelphia Inquirer reporter (Dale Mezzacappa). For the full set, click here.
Education
Opinion
Bringing Race (and Poverty) Back Into Education Reporting
There aren't many reporters covering the race or poverty beat these days, much less the family beat that LynNell Hancock advocated in a HotSeat interview last year. So I was pleasantly surprised to get a call from Jonathan Tilove (pictured), who writes about race for the 26 papers that make up the Newhouse News group. What happens in school is a fascinating and complex topic, to be sure, but if you add race, poverty, and all the rest in there you have a much more complete picture. Writes like Kate Boo, Stephanie Banchero, and others get that, and it makes their writing all the more powerful. Click here to see some of Tilove's writing.
Education
Opinion
Around The Blogs, Noontime Edition
On Deadline tells us that "sudents" are giving $2M to presidential candidates so far, assuming most of it comes from parents (Toddlers giving to Obama). Eduwonkette says she's on the KIPP bandwagon, at least when it comes to extended learning (What lessons does KIPP offer for urban education reform?). The folks at TLN give kudos to the LA Times for including classroom voices (LA Times Featuring Teacher Bloggers). The AFTies highlight the news that childcare workers are going to be unionized now, along with paras in NYC (Today, She Has A Union). Does that make UPK more or less costly, I wonder? The Wonks remind us it's carnival time (Carnival-Carnival). Elena Silva from TQATE posts about the NTC report on teacher turnover costs (Money's Worth for New Teachers). Jenny D. is happy to be included in a new report on covering classrooms (Hechinger's New Publication).
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Teacher Suspended For Graphic Book Recommendation
Teachers can get in trouble for pretty much anything these days. This time it's a book by Cormac McCarthy that was deemed a little too graphic for high schoolers: Town in uproar after teacher put on leave over book. Like high school kids haven't been exposed to tales of murder sprees and decomposing bodies before.
Education
Opinion
Best Of The Education Blogs, Early Edition
Media watchdog Jim Romenesko reports about what happens when satire seems too real in high school (Principal confiscates papers). He also points to a recent headline saying that 25 percent of South Carolina teachers are sexual predators (Paper apologizes for hed on AP's bad teachers story). Oops! EIA Mike says that the California teachers union has its own problems (Labor Challenge).
Education
Opinion
Back On The Hill, Talking About Teacher Retention
It was great to be back on the Hill yesterday moderating a New Teacher Center event in Dirksen. Some of the faces have changed, but not much else (the abundance of Diet Coke, the abundance of cheap suits, the hidden bathrooms, etc.). Miller Title II guru Alice Cain and I reminisced about being newbies on the Senate side all those years ago when she was with Simon and I was with Feinstein. (Then she doused me with coffee -- a welcome back blessing, I like to think.)
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
School Of Shock
No news yet of any schools that water-board kids, but I'm sure that's not far off. In the meantime, here's a story from Mother Jones about a school that takes in kids from several states and uses electric shocks as part of its discipline system: School of Shock. The pictures of the kids are to prevent them from shocking the wrong person.
Education
Opinion
On The HotSeat: Scott Reeder On Teacher Misconduct
Every couple of years, Springfield Illinois reporter Scott Reeder (pictured) puts out a big package of news stories that includes lots of new data and some surprising findings. This year, it's about teachers who stray off the path and should -- theoretically -- not be allowed to teach any more. In reality, Reeder finds, they just find a job somewhere else.
Education
Opinion
A Quick Spin Around The Blogs
Because you have better things to do than read them all: It's not just teachers who get staph infections, says EdWeek's web watch (States Report Teacher Staph Infections). Good to know. Fighting against the inevitable Clinton win, says Scott Elliott, Obama stands and delivers in LA (Obama's "in your face" move). Meanwhile, Mary Ann Zehr has the ELL provisions of the new Kennedy draft (Senate Draft of Title III of NCLB). And the AFTies note that acceptance of gay teachers is on the rise (Good News for Dumbledore). EIA Mike makes fun of the notion that performance pay is sweeping the nation just because NYC is going to do it (It's a Performance Pay Tsunami!). Speaking of which: Merit Pay Mania (Quick And Ed). There's also lots about merit pay and NCLB in Swift & Changeable (Kahlenberg on Al Shanker, Tough Liberals, and Teacher Merit Pay). Though I have to admit I'm a little sick of Shanker and Kahlenberg. Sorry!. Meanwhile, Dana Goldstein of TAPPED writes hopefully about progressive parents choosing public schools (ANOTHER LOOK AT EDUCATION AND INEQUALITY).