I probably would have ignored a recent smug opinion piece by Beth Kassab in the Orlando Sentinel, who scoffs at parents who choose opting their children out of the tests. But another snotty write-up in a similar vein by Mike Thomas, from Jeb Bush’s Foundation of Excellence, followed quickly on its heels. I’ll start with […]
The Student Success Act—The End of Public Schools?
Last week on FOX News, Host Lisa “Kennedy” Montgomery said, “there really shouldn’t be public schools anymore.” Before Democrats could shake their heads and say, “Those silly Republicans,” Steve Benen on The Rachel Maddow Show Blog, referencing Lisa’s statement, said, “what was once an unheard of idea is slowly becoming a little more common. For […]
Parents of Students with Disabilities Who Love High-Stakes Testing: How to Convince Them Otherwise
Adversaries to ending high-stakes testing are not always misguided education reformers who worship big data, but other parents. Some of the loudest crusaders in favor of high-stakes testing are parents with students who have disabilities. As Congress plans to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), some parents are speaking up against changes that […]
The High-Stakes Testing/Common Core Connection to New Teacher Ed. Regulations
High-stakes testing, Common Core and teacher education are all interconnected. Controlling for all three is a privatization package deal. For years, there has been a push to deprofessionalize teaching and that includes going to the heart of what makes a good teacher—teacher education. By doing so, the school reformers change the way teachers work. Not […]
Isn’t It Time to Pay Attention to Our Gifted Students?
By Gina Kennedy According to the National Association for Gifted Children, there are three to five million gifted students in our public schools today, however rarely will you find two school districts in the United States that service these students in a similar way. Best practices and strategies to teach the gifted are likely based […]
Misusing Data in Regard to Public Schools
Data collection could be used positively and privately to lift students and teachers and create great public schools. But the fear is that data is currently misused in many ways. Data has also been used to misrepresent America’s schools. Parents have often been deceived, or data collection has been a waste of time because the […]
Quality Teachers for Poor Students: Another Missed Opportunity to Address Real Change
This past week President Obama sat down to a lovely salmon dinner with a few teachers with inspirational stories, to discuss his new program to get excellent teachers for children in poor school districts. The problem of poor children in school is critical. Educational Week reported last fall that almost half the students in America […]
The Continuing Bizarre Message That We MUST Test Students with Severe Disabilities—Say NO!
I wish I were a judge and had some of these ed. reformers who believe tests are more important than children come before me. Honestly. I’d send them to jail. Mandates written to play Gottcha with children’s services, intentionally designed to get rid of services and teachers, are wrong. America shouldn’t be the place to […]
Why Teachers Quit and What Administrators Would Do if They Wanted to Keep Them
A parent I know who is a strong crusader for goodness and public schooling told me about a Forbes article, “The Top 8 Reasons Your Best People Are About to Quit – And How You Can Keep Them.” How does this list apply to teachers? How do the negative business reasons described by Forbes affect […]
Refusing to Kiss the Chimp—Professionals, Crazy Stunts, and High-Stakes Testing
Years ago, back before test motivation had anything to do with calculated stunts, a friend of mine, who did some nice things for our school, brought in an adorable chimpanzee. It was a real hit with the students. At one point I was put on the spot to kiss it. Despite student begging—they drastically wanted […]