Chicago is getting $14 million through the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) that will be used for personalized learning, placing children online for their schooling. They are advertising their gift as “Supporting Chicago’s Teachers in Personalized Learning.” The Chan-Zuckerberg website motto is “We believe in a future for everyone.” Here’s my question. Do they believe in a […]
Poverty & Reading: The Sad and Troubling Loss of School Libraries and Real Librarians
My last post listed reasons why many children don’t learn to read. Poverty was behind many of the items. Poor students attend poor schools where they miss out on the arts, a whole curriculum, even qualified, well prepared teachers. Students might end up in “no excuses” charter schools with only digital learning. But, next to […]
IEPs for All Students? Hold On!
A discussion about IEPs for all students seems to be trending. In an interview with The Nation during the presidential campaign, Jane Sanders talked about IEPs and public schools. It was likely the most we heard about public education at that time. Here are her words. It’s interesting, because we’ve made progress with IEPs [Individualized […]
The Best Gift for Children: Saying NO to Summit Online Learning
During this holiday and Christmas season, salute the fine parents of Cheshire, Connecticut who said NO to Summit online learning! Theresa Commune said her 11-year-old son just wanted more attention from teachers than he was getting. “They need teachers to get them to love learning at this stage,” she said. Especially great is that parent […]
USDOE Special Ed. Director Nominee’s Ties to Common Core and Personalized Learning
President Trump recently nominated Johnny Collett from Kentucky to be the assistant secretary of education for special education and rehabilitation services for the U.S. Department of Education. Collett once taught high school as a special education teacher, though it is unclear if his college major is special education. But, unlike Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, he […]
The New “Collaboration”—Students Teaching Themselves Without Schools
While the teacher’s role is currently mentioned in corporate reform involving technology, it is diminishing. Teachers are being replaced by outside partnerships who control how and what students learn. Simultaneously, the student-to-student role is increasing. Students are being relied on to instruct each other. This is exemplified in the term “collaboration.” What collaboration used to […]
Alternative Ed., or Personalized Learning? And Susan Sarandon’s Ad
During this serious time when public schools are under siege and threatened by a tech, anti-teacher, anti-brick-and-mortar schools, and an anything goes takeover, it’s important to define public schools. It goes without saying that public schools should be creative places for learning. Some children, especially those who are at-risk, require different learning environments. The alternative […]
“Personalized Learning” is NOT Working for High School Students
Backed by major philanthropists and investors such as Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, the ed-tech industry has aggressively pushed the idea of “personalized learning.” But on the ground, the concept remains nebulous, and research evidence remains thin. ~Benjamin Herold. Education Week, September 21, 2017 Will students graduate high school with what they need to go […]
The Dallas Dance Investigation: What’s Your School District Up To?
Dallas Dance is in trouble. But don’t forget his agenda. The attempted transformation of a school system to personalized learning is troubling. How many school districts have administrators or school board members pushing personalized learning at all cost? Anyone hearing buzz words and phrases like “no walls and no boundaries?” I have posted before about […]
Teaching and Purpose: A Response to Bill Gates and his Purpose Problem
I recently ran across Bill Gates’s blog. He was reviewing Yuval Noah Harari’s book Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow. The title of his post was, “The Purpose Problem: What if People Run Out of Things to Do?” Gates ironically reflects on what it means to have purpose in one’s life. I say ironically, […]