Teacher in a Strange Land
From January 2010 to September 2018, Nancy Flanagan, an education writer and consultant focusing on teacher leadership, wrote about the inconsistencies and inspirations, the incomprehensible, immoral and imaginative, in American education. She spent 30 years in a K-12 music classroom in Hartland, Mich., and was named Michigan Teacher of the Year in 1993. This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: teacher leaders.
Curriculum
Opinion
The Year of the Lie: Fake Ed-News
The actual truth about public schools? Well, as always, it's complicated. And we are not fond of complicated, in America. We'd rather grab onto a catchy meme--Dump Devos!--than explicate the pros and cons of a national curriculum, explore the long-term consequences of privately-managed, publicly-funded schools, or carefully deconstruct overly casual (not causal) use of student achievement data.
Equity & Diversity
Opinion
Terminal Charterism: The View From Michigan
If you want to know what end-stage, terminal charterism looks like--how it impacts the educational ecology, when it is fertilized by policy tweaks, and allowed to flourish--take a look at the reality of Betsy DeVos's accomplishments in Michigan.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Teacher Says: Change the World!
We are on the very edge of destroying what makes America truly great. America is a place of free thinking, brainstorming, and giving every child the chance to receive a quality education free of charge.
Law & Courts
Opinion
A #SafetyPin Thanksgiving
When does human decency surpass Don't Rock the Boat school leadership? Aren't these extraordinary times? Aren't the lives of children and the fate of public education at stake?
Teaching
Opinion
How Do German Schools Teach About Political History and Human Dignity?
I asked, as a teacher, what German schoolchildren were taught about Germany's role in World War II. We do not avoid our history, he said. So what do you do in America?
Federal
Opinion
Get Rid of the Department of Education? Why Not?
I think a case could be made that the last two administrations have so morphed the originating aims of a federal department in charge of educating all students--whether intentionally or not--we might not find the loss of a department of education and burning down 16 years of questionable policy such a loss. But then--I think of equity. We are responsible for all children. Aren't we?
Federal
Opinion
Amusing Ourselves Into Oblivion
When the election is over, schools will still be expected to exemplify neutral public spaces, accepting all students and honoring all family beliefs. Media and money, helped by attractive electronic technologies, have reshaped our values, and we will not be able to acknowledge that, as public institutions.
Student Well-Being & Movement
Opinion
Teacher Leadership vs. Teacher Professionalism
Teacher leaders are everywhere. Often, they're doing precisely what the established system wants them to do--accepting leadership roles and tasks pre-defined by that same system, for the distinction of being named a leader in a flat profession. Sometimes, they even get compensation or perks. But are they acting as professionals?
Curriculum
Opinion
Reflections from a Nasty Woman: What's at Risk for Women Who "Come Forward"?
It is undeniable that character matters greatly in public leadership. Women who recognize and call out sexism and the sometimes-subtle aspects of rape culture are correct. And it isn't until the moral rot is laid bare and understood that we have any chance of living in a better, safer, more equitable world. We're not there yet, as this election illustrates.
School Choice & Charters
Opinion
Seven Things I Learned From Attending a Charter School Board Meeting
I have been to hundreds of school board meetings in my life, mostly in the district where I taught for 30 years, and neighboring districts. I have attended Board meetings in Detroit, Lansing and Denver. Recently--I decided to check out the board meeting of a local charter school. I did this because the charter in question had been co-opted by an unreliable and ethically challenged operator. Who was guarding the citizens' interest and tax monies?
Assessment
Opinion
Does ESSA Actually Require 95% Participation on State Assessments?
While the ESSA unquestionably requires the states to administer yearly assessments in mathematics and reading, it does not actually require 95% student participation on those tests. Instead, as currently written, it requires 95% student participation on some other, completely different set of nonexistent assessments. Congress might want to consider hiring a few more proofreaders.
Reading & Literacy
Opinion
There Is No Such Thing as Social Promotion
It seems that the promoters of "kids who fail have to be smacked upside the head with their shortcomings" have hit on a recycled tactical meme every educator is familiar with: using "social promotion" as a boogeyman to drive home the point that some kids just don't deserve to move ahead to a new grade. With their peers and friends.
College & Workforce Readiness
Opinion
What Is the Purpose of School? Who Knows? Who Cares?
I can't help wondering what would happen if the question were phrased as a constructed response. What if we asked parents, childless millennials or retirees: What's the purpose of public education? Why do we collect taxes and build buildings and elect school boards and argue about phonics vs. whole language? What's the end game?
School Choice & Charters
Opinion
Washington: A Love Story
We've got information and images a-plenty, if we want to look at states which might have some educational moxie. Teachers are now talking to each other across district and state boundaries, sharing information about how education policy is impacting their daily practice, where market-based reforms have the deepest roots and where teachers' judgment and experience is most devalued. Where would YOU go, if you could go anywhere, as an educator?