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Dangerously Irrelevant: A day with Will Richardson, Part 1

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 11:30:13 -0500

Here is Part 1 of my notes from our day with Will Richardson. You also can see the live chat and/or follow the Twitter conversation and/or participate in EtherPad.

I'm going to make you uncomfortable; you should be uncomfortable If you're not uncomfortable right now in education, [...]

IvyGate: Crimson Says Crossword Not Victim of Cost-Cutting … Yet!

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 11:26:47 -0500

Why has the crossword puzzle disappeared from the Harvard Crimson lately? Could it be a symptom of financial woes for the august broadsheet? We asked managing editor Clifford Marks, who writes: “We did have a technical issue with our crossword service, but it’s fixed now, and [...]

The Core Knowledge Blog: Getting Back on Tracking

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 11:22:45 -0500

Want to start a fight in education? Suggest that ability grouping or “tracking” is a good idea and someone (usually not a parent and seldom a teacher) will accuse you of being indifferent to struggling students. And that’s one of the milder forms of criticism. A new study by Brookings’ Tom Loveless issued by the Fordham Institute [...]

The Gradebook: Pasco's proposed new policy manual now online

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 11:15:00 -0500

For decades, the Pasco School Board has upgraded its policies bit by bit, all of it on paper, much of it hard to follow.

For the past two years, the board has worked with a company to revise its full policy manual and put it into an online, searchable format. Now [...]

Critical Mass: Stand up

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 11:05:00 -0500

Obama milked the community organizing angle so hard when he was campaigning. But his heart isn't really in it--if it ever was. And so he's standing by while Congress kills one of this country's crowning examples of what community organizing can really do: the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program.

I got this' [...]

The Gradebook: Teachers union president: Stop blaming teachers

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:29:39 -0500

Number of comments: 5

From AFT President Randi Weingarten, in the latest issue of American Teacher:

There is a narrative seeping into policy discussions, and even mainstream public discourse, that all the shortcomings in public education can be attributed to "bad teachers." Whether it's that test scores aren't increasing' [...]

Joanne Jacobs: Untracked

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:10:52 -0500

Number of comments: 7

Many schools have abolished the remedial track to provide more challenge for low achievers. Some have no advanced track either. Tracking and Detracking: High Achievers in Massachusetts Middle Schools, a Fordham report by Brookings scholar Tom Loveless, finds “tracked schools did better, but there aren’t many of them [...]

Center for College Affordability and Productivity: Why Southern Universities Are Not World Class

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:00:00 -0500

By Richard Vedder

I like the South, and American universities in the south have improved relative to national norms a lot over the decades. So the heading on this blog is a bit unfair, a gross generalization. But it is true that the very best top flight institutions of [...]

The Core Knowledge Blog: Thomas The (Conservative, Sexist) Tank Engine

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 09:47:00 -0500

A political science professor at Canada’s Alberta University analyzed 23 episodes of Thomas the Tank Engine and concludes the popular children’s show portrays a world “blighted by a conservative political ideology and a rigid class system which stifles self-expression.” And it’s sexist, too. The U.K. Daily Mail quotes Laura Midgley, [...]

BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog: Increase in food allergies: what can schools do?

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 09:20:49 -0500

BoardBuzz recently came across a study published on the November 16, online edition of Pediatrics that shows that reported food allergies – along with related visits to doctors and hospitals – have risen dramatically among children in the U.S. over the past decade. The underlying causes for this [...]

This Week In Education: Jobs: NYT Paul Tough Leaving Sunday Magazine

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 09:15:00 -0500

Number of comments: 0

Paul Tough, who came to prominence in education circles in part through his writing about Geoffrey Canada's Harlem Children's Zone, has taken the latest New York Times buyout and is going to write full-time. Here are some past blog posts about Tough:

Paul Tough On The HotSeat

[...]

This Week In Education: Quote: Telling The Truth

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 09:11:06 -0500

"Ninety-nine times out of 100 you got to tell the truth, and the 100th time you don't need a PR guy, you need a lawyer."

USDE media guy Peter Cunningham in an article about the closed-mouth demeanor of his Chicago public schools replacement.[...]

ASCD Inservice: Pawn or Origin? Enhancing Motivation in Disaffected Youth (1977)

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 09:00:00 -0500

How can educators motivate students to learn? In the March 1977 issue of Educational Leadership, Richard deCharms, professor of psychology and education at Washington University, explores the psychological underpinnings of motivation and offers some practical solutions to reach disaffected students.... [...]

This Week In Education: News: Turnarounds In LA, Philly Fault Lines

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 08:42:00 -0500

MLA Partner Schools shows promise in turning around Manual Arts High LA Times

It's difficult keeping track of all the reformers circling the Los Angeles Unified School District, vying to take charge of dozens of schools the district plans to spin off this year.

[...]

Why Boys Fail: A good primer from Sandra Stotsky…

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 08:40:31 -0500

…on where we stand on high school skills. She doesn’t break it out by gender here, but Sandra would the first to point to severe literacy skills deficits among males.

[...]

Principal's Policy Blog: Federal Legislation Introduced on Seclusion and Restraint

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 08:28:52 -0500

In response to a Government Accountability Office report exposing the inappropriate use of seclusion and restraint in schools, House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA) and Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT) have introduced legislation establishing minimum federal standards similar to those currently in place for hospitals and non-medical [...]

Special Education Law Blog: My Big Interview Happens!

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 08:25:00 -0500

Well it happened! I got to interview Dr. Alexa Posny, the new Assistant Secretary of Education for the Office of Special Education Programs and Rehabilitative Services at her office in Washington, DC. There is photographic proof on the [...]

Center for College Affordability and Productivity: Links for 12/11/09

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 08:00:00 -0500

Ben Miller
Congress has yet again shown that it would rather dish out pork for “purchases of equipment” and things “related to science” than actually help foster competition and innovation.John Ross
pay-for-performance schemes violate the ethos that attracted [many], to higher education as a profession.[AG: The apparent alternative, [...]

Center for College Affordability and Productivity: CCAP in the News: December 11, 2009

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 07:59:00 -0500

Andrew Gillen was quoted in Chicago Talks discussing Illinois' scholarship program.
Given the state’s recent history, both at the governor’s office and U of I, serious consideration should be given to the elimination or radical restructuring of the program
Richard Vedder discuss the ROI of a college education' [...]

Joanne Jacobs: Why college students drop out

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 07:13:02 -0500

Number of comments: 3

With Their Whole Lives Ahead of Them from Public Agenda looks at why so many college students never earn a degree. It’s not that students are bored with their classes or reluctant to work hard, the study concludes.

Most students leave college because they are working to support themselves and [...]

The Gradebook: Florida education news: SPC president search, virtual school, Race to the Top and more

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 06:11:24 -0500

LOTS OF LETTERS: Outgoing St. Petersburg mayor Rick Baker has more than 130 letters of support, including from some prominent folks, for him to become the next president of St. Petersburg College.

'INSANE' TIME LINE: The Florida Department of Education asks school district leaders to signal [...]

Joanne Jacobs: Teaching with cell phones

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 04:56:32 -0500

Number of comments: 3

Cell phones, banned in most schools, are used for teaching in others. Ms. Cornelius is dubious about a story touting texting as a way to teach Spanish.

Would allowing our students to use their phones as part of the lesson actually transform them and make them “eager?” Those kids [...]

Inside Higher Ed: Friday Fragments

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 04:13:06 -0500

Dean Dad [...]

NYC Educator: Call Early and Often

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 04:10:00 -0500

I was a little perturbed by a well-meaning post at Education on the Plate. Here's a teacher who seems afraid to call homes when kids misbehave. The kids have all sorts of reasons why:

“I get yelled at.”

“I get slapped and yelled [...]

Inside Higher Ed: Pell Costs Explode