Living in Dialogue
Anthony Cody spent 24 years working in Oakland schools, 18 of them as a science teacher at a high-needs middle school. A National Board-certified teacher, he now leads workshops with teachers on Project Based Learning. He is the co-founder of the Network for Public Education. With education at a crossroads, in this blog he invited you to join him in a dialogue on education reform and teaching for change and deep learning. This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: education reform.
Assessment
Opinion
Oregon Teachers' Union Supports Opting Out, Calls for Congressional Hearings on Testing
Today we have the fourth report this month contributed by teacher union activists, who have followed democratic processes in their unions to engage in active resistance to high stakes testing.
School & District Management
Opinion
Massachusetts Teachers Association Takes On High Stakes Tests, School Takeovers
Activist rank-and-file movements are ramping up teachers unions' fight for justice, reason, and community solidarity by passing resolutions and winning offices across the country.
Federal
Opinion
Connecticut Teachers Push Back on Common Core, Endorse Call for Congressional Hearings
I had hoped to make a difference as I wanted the CEA to take a firm stand against the misguided and ill-conceived Common Core standards and its implementation efforts throughout the State.
School & District Management
Opinion
Devastating Report Condemns Corporate Reform as Civil Rights Fraud
As the 60th anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education arrives, a report has been released by the Journey 4 Justice Alliance, a coalition of community, youth and parent-led organizations, which declares corporate education reform a civil rights fraud.
Curriculum
Opinion
Paul Horton: In Defense of Reading III -- Slow Down!
We have all heard about the slow cooking movement. There is also a growing slow reading movement. Maybe slow reading is growing slowly because fast everything seems to be growing faster than kudzu everywhere.
Standards
Opinion
Michelle Gunderson: How Chicago Teachers Union Decided to Oppose Common Core
Wednesday evening I stood before my brothers and sisters at the Chicago Teachers Union to speak in favor of our resolution opposing the Common Core State Standards. When I finished speaking, there was a call for the vote.
Education
Opinion
Is Common Core Creating the Code for a Computerized Education System?
Corporations have discovered the extraordinary value of "Computer Business Systems," which allow all sorts of processes to be rendered more efficient.
As I read of the ways these systems work, I began to understand some of the imperatives driving 21st century education "reform."
Standards
Opinion
Chicago Teachers Union Breaks With Common Core
Yesterday, in a vote that shows democracy is alive in the American Federation of Teachers, members of the Chicago Teachers Union House of Delegates voted -- reportedly unanimously -- to join the growing national resistance to the Common Core standards.
School & District Management
Opinion
Newark Mayoral Candidate Ras Baraka: 'I Will Lead a Full Scale Campaign for Local Control of Schools'
The outcome of the May 13 election determines the future of public education in Newark. We will either continue in an era where: Schools are closed. Unproven strategies are used to "turnaround" schools.
Education Funding
Opinion
John Thompson: Can the Gates Foundation Learn?
Reformers once won a series of political victories, even as their educational theories were repeatedly defeated by realities in schools that are far more complex than anything they imagined.
Reading & Literacy
Opinion
Computerized Grading: Purloining the Analysis, the Most Fundamental Exposition of Humanity
There is great urgency behind the search for this magic combination - test questions that can prompt student essays which can then be scored fairly accurately by computers.
Standards
Opinion
Paul Horton: A Teacher Writes to Arne Duncan
If you decide to come back to Chicago and enroll here, your kids will take no multiple-choice tests in my class. They will write paragraphs, speeches, short papers, and research papers.
School & District Management
Opinion
John Thompson: Are Turnarounds and Tea Party Turmoil Driving Teachers Out?
Ignoring educational research, these expensive turnaround campaigns begin with the mass dismissal of teachers. This immediately reduces the number of African-American teachers serving African-American communities
States
Opinion
What Will It Take to Educate the Gates Foundation?
Bill Gates has made it clear that this was an experiment from the start. What he did not seem to allow for in his scenario was the possibility that his experiment would not succeed.