Betsy DeVos rarely makes a statement without referring to her idea of Education Freedom. She is, of course, referring to school vouchers. But as education secretary she has been more about denying students true education freedom. DeVos stands for the opposite of educational freedom! As she travels around the country promoting her agenda, here’s a […]
Play v. Reading: How Flawed Thinking About Preschool Has Become Accepted Practice
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 One education topic that every politician running for office mentions is preschool for all. What do they mean? What do they think preschool should be […]
The Need for School Psychologists at this Critical Time
Public schools provide support staff that help teachers consider the whole child. This includes the role of the school psychologist. These professionals are the experts that make a school and school system complete. They provide children and teens the mental health support they need. Since the corporate school reform march to privatize public education, those […]
Gifted and IDEA: Charter Schools Won’t Solve the Gifted Debate
Even though gifted is listed as a special education category, Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) never adequately addressed it. Intellectually advanced students are complex, not always easy to understand. They need and deserve school support. Much debate surrounds gifted education. But charter schools will not be a sufficient answer to concerns. Some gifted students are […]
Is NCLB’s Reading First Making a Comeback?
Reading First was President George W. Bush’s signature reading program, the cornerstone of No Child Left Behind. With a $6 billion price tag (a billion per year for six years), it promised “scientific proof” it would have every child reading by third grade. States had to apply for federal grants. Reading First centered around phonics. […]
11 Problems Facing Students as They Return to School
If you support our students, the next generation, and a democratic public education system that we all own, it’s tough to watch the changes corporate reformers have caused in schools. They’re not the ideas that most parents and teachers support, so we wonder why they’re implemented. Most of the problems that exist in public schools […]
The Technology Cheating Problem Is Still a Problem
While many were appalled at the celebrity college entrance scandal, there’s another scandal that gets minimal attention. Students cheat with technology! Cheating has always been a problem in school but with technology it runs rampant. In the classroom, teachers curtail cheating by supervising students in person. They learn about students and become familiar with their […]
Helping Students, Including Those with Learning Disabilities, With Self-Expression
The most important words a student can hear from their teacher or parent are, “I want to hear how you think and feel about this.” Helping students express themselves through writing is critical in every class at every grade level. Self-expression is so important today that I felt compelled to write about one of my […]
How Dwindling Human Interaction in Public Schools Hurts Us as a Society
Look at the picture above. Is the boy going to pick on the girl, or will he invite her to play with the other children? In today’s impersonal school climate, how do students learn about those around them? When there’s no chance of bringing students together in school, how will children better understand their peers? […]
NCTQ’s “Case Closed” Brain Image Post Plugs Pearson’s RICA Reading Te$t for Teachers. Fails the Smell Test!
Kate Walsh, President of the astroturf National Council of Teacher Quality (NCTQ), a group that pretends it’s for teachers and schools when it’s really about privatization, recently published an article “Case Closed” implying that teachers are “science deniers” when it comes to teaching reading. But Walsh’s brain imaging illustration is taken from a research article […]