Dear Deborah, It is a good idea to explore the separate elements of the federal education agenda, one by one. Merit pay, the first issue you raise, now stands high among the priorities of the Obama administration as it did for the Bush administration and as it has for the Republican Party and busin... Read Full Post >
Dear Diane, Let's explore, one by one, the separate elements of the federal education agenda, Diane. Are they based on reason and evidence or ignorance and irrationality? (I could have asked myself the same thing about our differences regarding the trade-offs and risks involved in a national curric... Read Full Post >
I have been advocating for changes in education to improve the quality of life for teachers, students and administrators for my whole career. Over the last three years I have added using Web 2.0 technologies to communicate, create, and collaborate on the Internet to my list of what needs to change... Read Full Post >
Dear Diane, "To the extent that we can teach students to seek evidence and rational explanations, we will reduce magical thinking and encourage the application of reason and intelligence." —Diane Ravitch, Bridging Differences, Sept. 29 We agree! That's my "core." We also agree that Arne Dun... Read Full Post >
I think I have found a new vision, a new paradigm, a "New Story of Learning" in the 21st Century. It is creative and innovative. It is passionate and kind. It is natural and real. It leads me down a path to the truth and beauty of learning and the beauty and truth of humanity. It describes for me ho... Read Full Post >
Dear Deborah, The current effort to develop national standards in English and math is something to which we will surely pay close attention. I understand that you reject consequential curricular decisions made outside the school, but my view is that “it depends.” That's my view of lots of thing... Read Full Post >
Dear Diane, Yes, it seems so obvious to you and me. Using their metrics, the boosters of mayoral control can hardly point to any trend that supports their claims. On NAEP data, the two biggie mayoral control cities show no change, and on graduation data, NYC shows some improvement, but Chicago show... Read Full Post >
Dear Diane, I got a few blasts for the comments you liked on Klein/Sharpton/Gingrich’s (EEP) civil rights efforts. It hit a nerve. Our obsession with schools is both a healthy and an unhealthy aspect of the American psyche. This is, at least, the second time we’ve placed schools at the center o... Read Full Post >
You and I, Diane, want an intellectually feisty citizenry, and that’s what we don’t offer the poor. Read Full Post >
Dear Diane, I think it’s unlikely that the fans of mayoral control are open to persuasion. But thanks, Diane, for relentlessly pursuing them. We’re in for lots of nonsense in the name of reform. Arne Duncan is planning a contest for a new name to replace the unpopular No Child Left Behind. I... Read Full Post >
