Why do those with a real choice elect for very small class sizes, highly credentialed and experienced staff, attention to the aesthetics of the environment, plenty of outdoor space, no dearth of arts of all sorts ... Read Full Post >
But I will repeat my supposition that to make the biggest difference for the most children growing up in poverty, what we must do is offer them incredible schools. Read Full Post >
One cannot judge the success of a school or student (or a president!) without prior agreement about what we mean by success. Read Full Post >
We're talking about public schools, after all--and the public has a right to demand certain results from its investment. Read Full Post >
We need schools that define success in broader ways than test scores or college completion. Read Full Post >
We have a whole class of children growing up without fathers, and they are doing terribly. Read Full Post >
In the latest figures, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the overall rate dropped 25 percent since 2007, and about 50 percent since 1991. Read Full Post >
What if the perfect for which you have spent decades championing really is the enemy of the good? Read Full Post >
Kirp then dissects the dramatic turnaround of the entire school system of Union City, New Jersey, and he shows how we can build great schools on the strengths of our democratic culture. Its answer did not come from technocrats from the outside, but from a local culture of "abrazos" or caring. Rather than firing our way to the top, Kirp shows that school improvement must come from trusting relationships. The secret sauce of Union City's success is "respeto," or respect. Read Full Post >
Teachers - and union leaders -- may feel as if they should get on board, to try to steer this process. However, I think this is a ship of doom for our schools. I think its effect will be twofold. It will create a smoother, wider, more easily standardized market for curriculum and technology. This will, in turn, promote the standardization of curriculum and instruction, and further de-professionalize teaching. The assessments will reinforce this, by tying teachers closer to more frequent timelines and benchmark assessments, which will be, in many places, tied to teacher evaluations. And the widespread failures of public schools will be used to further "disrupt the public school monopoly," spurring further expansion of vouchers and charters and private schools. Read Full Post >
