It should be important to everyone, that the other day College Board president and the Common Core creator, David Coleman, met with Catholics—The Cardinal Newman Society which promotes and defends the faith—to allay their worries about Common Core. One Newman member snapped at Coleman and said: We don’t open Catholic schools to get kids into […]
Who’s Accountable for Students with Disabilities When Things Go Wrong?
Now that the Every Student Succeeds Act has passed, and the power to run public schools has shifted to the local school districts and the state, will that mean more accountability on their part when things go wrong in the classroom? Consider the Peck Community School in Holyoke, Massachusetts, a public school for students with […]
Students with Serious Behavioral Disabilities and Inclusion: Effect on Students WITHOUT Disabilities
Contrary to Arne Duncan, and the latest DOE report claiming IEPs should be written the same for everyone, students with behavioral/emotional disabilities–should have the right to services to address their problems. If their difficulties go unaddressed, left to the general education teacher with a class of 30 students, it could affect not only the student […]
Highlighting Websites, Blogs and Books!
Back in August I passed the two year mark since I started this blog! Today I would like to draw your attention to many wonderful blogs, websites and books about education which I have been collecting like rare coins for the last year. I already listed many others when I first started this crusade. Check […]
Nine Reasons to Look Down on Think it Up
I missed the Think it Up glitz the other night. But I have seen some of the video. So what’s wrong with the wealthy wanting to crowdsource Americans to donate to student/teacher projects that will change the world? Anthony Cody writes a piece about Think it Up on his blog “Living in Dialogue,” and I […]
Student Socialization in Public Schools
Socialization you could say is how a child interacts with their peers. There are many definitions, but in school, socialization mostly involves how children play and get along with each other. We think of recess when considering socialization. We wonder how much socialization children miss when they don’t get recess. Public schools can go a […]
School Choice v. Local Control—Oil and Water!
Republican Presidential candidates claim to be for choice, including vouchers, charters and opportunity scholarships, and they also claim to be for local control of schools. But school choice and local control are like oil and water. You must choose one or the other. For example, Brandon Wright, in “Donald Trump Quotes about Education” from The […]
Teacher Age Discrimination During a So-Called Teacher Shortage
While I wrote this post nine years ago, I’m still getting heartbreaking comments and emails from veteran teachers with good records and credentials who cannot find teaching positions though we’re still told there’s a teacher shortage. When I first wrote this post in 2015, Jeb Bush was 62, Hillary Clinton was 67, Donald Trump was […]
Got Art? How Much Art Do Students Get in School?
I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way – things I had no words for. Georgia O’Keeffe The new school year is starting and I’d like to hear how much art students get? Do children in preschool do art? Kindergartners—how much art will they find between […]
There are Many Roads and Destinations for Children with Disabilities
Every child doesn’t have to arrive at the same destination. There are many endpoints and lots of highways. So why are parents and students directed to one score and one test to say who will be successful? The Atlantic is asking whether No Child Left Behind (NCLB) should be considered an achievement when it comes […]