When hanging the flag, please stop and think about public education, freedom, and what schools could be like. So much has been done to privatize schools that they may be a shell of their potential. Corporate reformers have changed how America’s students are educated, and politicians from both parties have, for years, evaded, ignored, or facilitated […]
Is Mississippi Shifting to Online Teacher Education with Reading Universe?
Switching from face-to-face, in-person public education to computer screens is concerning. It’s happening in K12 and appears to be driving privatization with teacher education at the university level. The Science of Reading lends itself to this, but there’s little proof online instruction makes better students or teachers. So far, research supporting this is hard to […]
Problem-Solving through Play: What Children Miss with Age-Inappropriate Expectations
Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood. ~Fred Rogers Lately, when do children get chances to solve problems through unstructured play? How much time do they spend in school thinking, discovering, and figuring things […]
Can a State Reading Program Be a Success if Students are Segregated and Hungry?
Nicholas Kristof’s recent New York Times opinion piece, Mississippi Is Offering Lessons for America on Education, showcases a troubling disregard for segregated schooling and the poverty in which children find themselves. Mississippi’s Segregated Public Schools His article also begs questioning due to its focus on the agenda of ExcelinEd, former governor Jeb Bush’s education lobbying group, […]
Third-Grade Retention: Parents Show Common Ground Fighting It
My last post criticized Science of Reading (SoR) advocates for not fighting against third-grade retention or believing it’s good remediation for reading problems. Third-grade retention based on a test is a ploy to drive parents to take their children out of public schools. Some parents with children who have dyslexia, who believe in the SoR, […]
Why Do Science of Reading Advocates Accept Unscientific Third-Grade Retention?
How can anyone who claims the Science of Reading is real think it’s OK to retain a third-grade child based on one test or for any reason? If ever evidence or science existed involving education, understanding the rottenness of retention would be it. Yet some of the same people who believe using phonics (and more) […]
When the Last Real Teacher Says Goodbye: The Dangerous Myths Driving Their Exit
As this year’s Teacher Appreciation Week ends, Americans might want to think about a country without real teachers. In the future, technology may control and monitor children. Their data will continue to be sought after by companies. Teaching will increasingly be about profitmaking, and tutors or fast-track trained Teach for America types will supervise classrooms […]
The Troubling Focus on Testing Rewards, Testing Pep Rallies, and Test Prep Bootcamps
With spring comes heightened concerns about public school students facing high-stakes standardized tests and the troubling focus on testing rewards, testing pep rallies, and test prep boot camps. It makes schooling and a student’s worth all about the test. Testing is a serious business. Test results have been used to rate teacher performance unfairly, and […]
Fighting for a Public School for Students with Autism and Neurodiversity: Choices Parents Want
For years, parents of children with special needs have demanded classroom inclusion. They want a Free, Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in general classes, the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). But in Philadelphia, parents want a public school for students with autism and neurodiversity. They recognize that their students are not getting the resources or teachers they […]
Who’s Behind PBS News Hour’s Gloomy Reporting About Student Learning?
Arne Duncan (Obama) and Margaret Spellings (G. W. Bush), noneducators and former education secretaries, recently appeared on PBS News Hour, Study shows parents overestimate their student’s academic progress to dash any hope parents might have that their children are doing well in school. Who’s behind such gloomy reporting? Here’s how PBS begins, and here’s the survey: […]