There has been a pushdown of academic expectations for years, and Americans should be asking how much stress this causes all students, especially our youngest learners. If a child struggles in preschool or kindergarten, it might be due to pressure. Why force children to rush through preschool and kindergarten to learn skills that never would […]
The Harm Caused By the Third Grade Reading Ultimatum
Tremendous pressure is placed on children to learn to read by third grade. They must pass state reading tests created by those expecting them to read at this time. If they don’t do well, they could fail third grade. Yet there’s no clear research on the age a child should be able to read. Not […]
“The Truth About Reading” Is Missing Truths and Backstory
Americans are getting primed with a trailer for a new documentary called The Truth About Reading. It’s said there needs to be a grassroots movement of parents and educators who are angry and say enough is enough. Wouldn’t it be better if teachers and parents met and shared their concerns about reading at their schools? Schools […]
Problematic “Scientific Based” Phonics: The Flawed National Reading Panel
It’s odd and detrimental that the National Reading Panel is highlighted in reports as science, used to promote phonics and criticize how teachers teach reading. It has become so intense that teachers are being advised to drop certain reading methods to focus solely on “systematic, explicit phonics!” The NRP was discredited long ago. Why it’s […]
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. […]
High School College: High School Hell!
Freshmen are told on one hand not to worry about college, then given an early version of a college entrance exam three weeks into their first year of high school. ~Chicago Tribune Nov.13, 2017 Like kindergartners pushed to be first graders, high school is the new college. Teens are more anxious than ever. Depression and […]
Brain-Based Learning: Pushing Children to Learn Faster—Why?
There’s nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child. ~ Erma Bombeck (1927-1996), American author and humorist. Brain-based learning promotes the idea that children learn faster if they are taught differently. But why push children to learn faster than ever before? Why turn children into adults before they […]
Pushing the Privatized “Maker Movement” Into Public Schools
The 3D printing market is projected to be worth $8 billion by 2020. —Paul Hill, “Ten statistics that reveal the size and scope of the Maker Movement.” November 3, 2015 Why be skeptical of the Maker Movement and its effect on public schools? The speed to which the Maker Movement is being pushed into schools […]
The Every Child Achieves Act and the Arts: Fal-De-Ral and Fiddle-Dee-Dee
Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella songs are flipping through my head as I ponder the re-authorization of NCLB, or the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and more specifically music and the arts. In my own little corner in my own little world I can be whatever I want to be. On the wings of my fancy […]
Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Education President—Lyndon B. Johnson
Today is Martin Luther King Day to honor the man who did so much to bring people together. We have also been through several weeks of media presentations with Arne Duncan discussing the renewal of Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). And, the movie Selma debuted in theaters across the country. What do […]