The Lee County School Board has backed out and students will get tests and tests and more tests. But I know parents will not give up. I’m hoping they will hold their Superintendent accountable for stating that she wanted to devise a plan. This plan should include parents. Perhaps there are some parent lawyers who […]
Striving Towards Local Control of Public Schools—A Proposal for Lee County and Beyond!
I would like to put forth a proposal. What could the Lee County School Board do to make everyone happy or at least happier? I have an idea. Patricia Levesque, CEO of Tallahassee-based Foundation for Excellence in Education, Jeb Bush’s group, put out a long statement expressing “deep disappointment” in “abandoning” the tests. She mentioned […]
Pediatricians, Common Core and the Meaning of “Pushing” Early Childhood Literacy
Be careful using the word “push” when it comes to reading. There is always the fear that Common Core State Standards are behind it. A recent Memphis Commercial Appeal had an Op Ed entitled “Pediatricians Push Early Childhood Literacy.” They were referring to the American Association of Pediatricians (AAP) recommendation that pediatricians should remind parents […]
Who Owns Your Schools? In Lee County, Florida They Belong to Parents and Children
For years now, I’ve wondered who owns school boards. Venture philanthropists come into cash-strapped districts and suddenly parents and citizens find their voices no longer matter. Anyone with the right amount of money, well-meaning or not, can take over how schools in that district will be run and what students will learn. Is that about […]
Testing Kindergartners and a Rise in Disabilities: Is There A Connection?
Why are children, no matter rich or poor, showing up with more disabilities—especially ADHD? Here is USA Today telling about the report in Pediatrics. Could it be because they are being pushed harder than ever before, with less, if any, recess or breaks? Perhaps they’re tired of school, or all that Common Core stuff is […]
Rating Common Core Math Textbooks—Isn’t THIS a National Curriculum?
A new report in Education Week discusses a “Consumer Reports-like” nonprofit group that will now evaluate math textbooks from different companies online. If you are teaching math and want to know which books are best—books aligned to the Common Core—you can go to Edreports.org and they will apparently tell you, eventually, which books, or book, […]
The Doctor/Music Connection and The Terrible Disregard for Music in Public Schools
How does music help prepare students for life? Ask all the prestigious doctors in Boston! The Boston Globe has a fascinating piece by Christoph Westphal about the importance of music to becoming and being a doctor. Westphal, himself an amateur cellist and physician/scientist, recently went to hear the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) welcoming its new […]
Robin Williams and Lessons to Be Learned About Kids with Mental Illness in Public Schools
I have been reminded that Robin Williams died of a particularly severe neurological disease called Lewy Body Dementia. This is not a psychiatric disorder, so it is incorrect to associate Williams to mental illness. Unfortunately, this is an older post and the title is stuck. Still, the information about schools and mental illness I hope […]
Teaching With Common Core Aligned Books and Ignoring the Questions of Children
Common Core aligned books and the drill to teach reading to young children, appears to ignore the real questions children might have about the stories they read. This could be serious, especially if the book is beyond a child’s development. If the teacher is forced to address things like syntax, story order, and facts surrounding […]
Prestigious Dyslexic Lawyer David Boies Now Supports Campbell Brown’s Attacks on Teacher Tenure
Campbell Brown was just on Morning Joe again with David Boies as her new Chairman of the Partnership for Education Justice to fight teacher tenure. Remember David Boies, the respected, folksy, tennis shoed, liberal lawyer of Gore v. Bush fame? He has had many other high-profile cases too. I’ve always seen him as a good […]