Predecessors with good intentions created these contracts and extended these benefits but they could not have foreseen the convergence of social, political and economic forces occurring in this moment. It is our turn to navigate and the old maps no longer serve. Read Full Post >
Marc Tucker argues that in order to greatly improve U.S. student achievement we need to do more than reducing the levels of student poverty and also focus on instituting a fairer finance system and improving teacher quality. Read Full Post >
Let us hold true to making the tough choices, stop marginalizing those who may be different from us. Let us come together to make schools safe for girls, for boys, for those who are different by race or religion or ethnicity or sexual orientation. Read Full Post >
I have referred to the whole "reform movement" that is happening in NM as colonialism in it's newest form, with the secretary designate and governor wanting to implement the templates from Florida and ALEC. I've stated this in comments to colleagues, but not in any public forum. While TFA found support in the previous governor's and secretary's administration, only a few Native American educators (including myself and staff) disagreed with their acceptance as a means to get teachers into the rural schools. The TFA process is like the missionary teachers who came to our lands, supported from the Department of War, which is where the Bureau of Indian Affairs was located, to educate the Indian children. Read Full Post >
These great documentaries may not mention the prime theory that "reformers" brought to school, but they explain the trauma that the kids carry to the classroom. They do not diminish the importance of classroom instruction as they focus on the socio-emotional keys to schooling. These documentaries can now take their place in a great tradition of print and internet journalism. Read Full Post >
Paul Thomas asks a provocative question this week. Are the poor too free? Are our schools providing students with tools and skills to foster their independence? Or teaching them to be compliant cogs in a machine whose levers of control they will never touch? Thomas describes the paternalism that has become central to modern education, as well as efforts to "reform" it even further. Read Full Post >
Tom Sobol gives us an unusual opportunity to not only look at what he dreamed and how he tried, but how he felt along the way. This book offers us a bold and heartfelt story, told by a man now confined to a wheelchair, of the long and winding road leaders walk. Read Full Post >
These buildings aren't just schools, they're touchstones. They're testaments to our local values. The Friday night lights that have illuminated our skies for decades, the school gyms that have echoed with play since the Greatest Generation was young--these aren't monuments to sports. They're monuments to community. They're beacons of our local control, of the togetherness we cherish in our hometowns and city neighborhoods. We don't want education fads imposed on us by Austin or, even worse, out-of-state billionaires. Read Full Post >
Although districts serving needy students deserve more per-pupil funding than those serving affluent students, it's still important to have realistic expectations about outcomes. Read Full Post >
Countries that consistently top U.S. performance in the Program for International Student Assessment also have more equitable education systems, but American schools are making progress, according to a new study. Read Full Post >
