Ecology of Education

Master of Myth: What Arne Duncan Says and Does

Master of Myth: What Arne Duncan Says and Does The great enemy of truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived and dishonest – but the myth – persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. —John F. Kennedy U.S. Secretary of Education has been called the most powerful education secretary in history. With billions of dollars [...]

Evaluating Teachers with VAM: Variable Ambiguous Mistake

Anyone who has read this blog before is probably aware of my position on the use value-added measurement for teacher evaluation.  I have argued many times here, and in Teacher Magazine, that politicians, self-styled education reformers, and members of the general public are ill-informed if they believe that we can use state tests to determine [...]

Ed Reformers: Champions of the Wrong Theory of Learning

In alphabetical order: Mike Bloomberg, mayor of New York City. Eli Broad, financier and philanthropist. Jeb Bush, ex-Florida governor and possible 2012 presidential contender. Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education. Bill Gates, business magnate and philanthropist. Joel Klein, chancellor of New York City schools. In education issues, mainstream media sometimes call these gentlemen, “The New [...]

Dogs: An Unusual Guide to School Reform

Driving the country roads of Scotland, Ireland and Wales, I have sometimes been lucky enough to be blocked by sheep being moved from one pasture to another. I say ‘lucky’ because it allows me to watch an impressive performance by a dog – usually a Border Collie. What a show! A single, mid-sized dog herding [...]

Spill Happens: Education Reform & the Gulf of Mexico

There are a number of things we could arguably learn from the on-going Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico: These things are NOT fail safe. We should get off oil. MMS’s regulators are too lax. BP took too many chances. Corporations are to blame. Lobbyists are to blame. Politicians are to blame. We are [...]

Emerging Trend: Teachers as Advocates

(This piece was originally published at Cooperative Catalyst.) I keep waiting on the invitation: Who: Teachers What: Education Reform Policy Party Where: Wonk Circles All Over When: NOW! Why: We want YOU to help envision & shape the next generation of schools. The paradox, of course, is that as the reformation of education garners greater [...]

Education Reformers: Four Key Questions

Questions being ignored or inadequately addressed by the current business and industry-driven education reform effort: 1. Market forces in general, and merit pay in particular, are being promoted by leaders of business and industry as keys to improved school performance. In highly effective schools and school systems, educators see themselves as members of a team [...]

Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the Learning Revolution

The next installment of Sir Ken Robinson’s take on schooling, learning, teaching, and the revolution (not evolution) of education.  He softens his deconstruction of our education system with humor, though he looses non of his poignancy.  Among the insights: We are building our education system around a fast food model, where everything is standardized, yet [...]

Education Reform: 22 Problems, and a Proposal

The “standards and accountability” education reform effort begun in the 1980s at the urging of leaders of business and industry, is failing. The reform message, powerfully reinforced by mainstream media, is simple:

1. America’s schools are, at best, mediocre.
2. Teachers and students deserve most of the blame.
3. As a corrective, rigorous subject-matter standards and tests must be put in place.
4. Market forces must be brought to bear to pressure teachers and students to work to those standards.

Coming Soon to a School Near You: Big Ed

Corporate America has given us Big Banks (banks too big to fail) & Big Pharma (a pharmaceutical industry too big to fight). Coming soon to a school near you, courtesy of corporate America: Big Ed

The Problem with Infinity

In his book The Dip, Seth Godin writes, “the problem with infinity is that there’s too much of it.” He ends up talking mostly about business and markets, but his point is not lost on education. The trouble with focusing on content as the primary role of education is that there is an infinite amount [...]

People’s Republic of Standardization

Yong Zhao’s recently released book Catching Up or Leading the Way is a must read for educators and policy makers who want to see where our current high stakes testing regimes will take us. Zhao does a masterful job of showing how China has long had an obsession with standardized testing.

Lawmakers to Teachers: Answer These 5 Questions!

I submitted 5 open-ended questions I thought lawmakers should ask teachers before crafting bills aimed at reforming education. The policymakers on the Education Policy Committee thought it was a great idea (especially after the stink teachers made about not being included in reform efforts in Florida).  However, in order to more easily quantify the responses, [...]

The Multi-Dimensional Job of Teaching

Today, a guest repost from Trudy Norton, from her site Mrs. Norton’s Blog. She wrote this insightful piece about a day/life of a public school teacher in response to FL Senator John Thrasher’s comments following Crist’s veto of his bill, SB6.  However, this piece speaks to all teachers, be they Floridians, Texans, Iowans, or humans. Response to [...]

Calling teachers to action beyond SB 6

My heart has been racing for educators over the last month. Even though I no longer take up residence in Florida, I literally experienced palpitations watching debate over Senate Bill 6 take place on the House floor. When considering the potential impact of what could result from passage of said legislation, my thoughts went immediately [...]

Teacher Accountability? It’s About Time!

Once upon a time teachers assigned grades, and that was pretty much that. Oh, occasionally a kid would argue that a particular grade was unfair, or complain so loudly that parents or an administrator would get involved, but that was relatively rare. About a generation ago, acceptance of teacher judgment about the quality of student [...]

Governor Crist’s #SB6 Veto Letter

(Some) FL Republican Legislators’ Letter to Crist: Veto #SB6

Below is a letter that 6 Florida Republican Legislators sent to Governor Crist today, urging him to veto SB 6. You can click on the link below the images to download a copy of the pdf yourself. Crist Veto SB 6 Letter Image: Veto2009

Connecting the Dots in Florida: Inside SB6′s Players

The numerous connections between businesses, political players, and the current brand of education reform makes for a conspiracy theorist’s candy shop. Unfortunately, its hard to chalk the such theories up to an overactive imagination once the relationships are exposed. I received the below response and link resources from a Florida parent/teacher/SB6 opponent concerning the myriad [...]