Could the odd practice of using high-stakes testing to test students with severe disabilities put an end to America’s obsession with high-stakes testing overall? There is nothing that speaks to individual differences more than students like Ethan Rediske. America may have lost Ethan, but his mom, Andrea Rediske, and Orange County Public School board member […]
How to Teach Good Students to Be Criminals
Seventeen year old Chaz Seale could have been any of us. In a hurry to get out the door he accidentally grabbed a beer instead of a can of soda out of the fridge and put it in his lunchbox. Upon arriving at school, he realized his mistake and told his teacher what happened. Now […]
Do You Want a Small Class Size For Your Child OR a Good Teacher? The Bogus Dilemma
It is well established that lowering class size, especially for K-3, can have a positive effect on students. The argument being made around the country, and illustrated well last night on Nashville’s Fox 17 news, is, do you want a small class size, or do you want a quality teacher? In How to Win Every Argument: […]
Florida Teachers Get VAMED Only a Week After the Death of Ethan Rediske
Floridians get to look up their teachers’ test scores now, courtesy of The Florida Times Union (they actually went to court for this), even though it is just a week after the death of Ethan Rediske. Tell me, Times Union Editor Frank Denton, how did his teacher do? If you aren’t one of the many […]
The NEA’s Band-Aids for Common Core are Not Good Enough!
It’s not looking good for Common Core State Standards—one would think. The recent flurry of activity could trick educators and parents into thinking something is going to happen to rid schools of the standards. Even the NEA’s Dennis Van Roekel, spoke out. But if you read closely enough, the standards are not considered to be […]
Why I Don’t Like Teach for America–#ResistTFA
I have never liked Teach for America. I remember when I first heard about it. I thought to myself that is the dumbest program ever. Maybe I was biased. I had just spent seven years of my life teaching full-time while earning a PhD in education—not to mention the many years before that, teaching and […]
Every Child, Every Day, College Bound AND Common Core?—Changing the Tune on What Constitutes College Preparation
For years the mantra has been every child must go to college. Of course, that’s why Americans were given the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). And that’s why students are being pushed with “rigor” to master skills at earlier levels than ever before. It is also why K-12 students are being pressured to fit into […]
Do Americans Love Their Children?—Yes! Many of them DO!
“Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” (New International Version) A while back I was talking with a friend about school problems, and she surprised me by saying “America doesn’t love its children!” I was taken aback. I’d never […]
Bright But Not Good Enough—A Mother’s Story
I received heartfelt comments on my post “Setting Children Up to Hate Reading.” Many parents are concerned and troubled about what is happening to their children at this level of development. Quite a few preschool and kindergarten teachers are caught in a serious struggle. How do they stay in their jobs when they are told […]
The Soulless Practice of Using Students with Disabilities to Fire Teachers—Remembering a Better World
How’s this for compassion in the new public school accountability world? By now most people have read about the Ethan Rediske situation in Orlando. The 11 year old, blind, with brain damage and cerebral palsy, as he lay dying in a Hospice, was required to take an alternative version of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test […]