The Michigan House of Representatives is poised to pass a package of bills targeting teacher education programs in the state. If these bills move forward, teacher education in the state would be damaged, perhaps beyond repair. Highlights include… • House Bill 5598: This bill would require all teacher ed faculty to complete 30 hours of …
I’ve been working on teacher evaluation for most of my career as a teacher, administrator, and teacher educator; first being evaluated, then doing the evaluation as an assistant principal and subject area coordinator, then helping design a state-wide beginning teacher evaluation initiative. After nearly 40 years in education, all I can say is that the …
Since publishing my post on teacher silencing yesterday, my mailbox has been inundated with stories from teachers about being harassed, threatened, and intimidated by school district administrators for posting their opinions about standardized tests, opting out, and other issues of education policy and practice. One teacher wrote: I was having a discussion this morning …
As anyone watching the corporate education reform movement can attest to, Big Data and metrics have become the coin of the realm to the reform community. Let any conversation between reformers and defenders of public education go on long enough and the reformer will eventually blurt out the magic words: “But…accountability!” This worldview seems …
Donald Trump, in a moment of rich irony, appears to have been caught just a bit off guard with just how complex the American health care system really was last week. “Now, I have to tell you, it’s an unbelievably complex subject,” he added. “Nobody knew health care could be so complicated.” Notwithstanding the …
The last day of classes for the semester is always a bittersweet day for teachers. The best part of teaching is getting to know your students; to understand what their interests and needs are, where they’ve been and where they want to go, what they know and what they want to learn. It’s endlessly fascinating …
Betsy DeVos is a big proponent of school “choice”. I will support Ms. DeVos if she can can guarantee that every family has the opportunity to “choose” a school in their neighborhood or community that… transports their child to and from school on well-maintained and safe buses driven by qualified, professional drivers feeds …
Game. Set. Match. The news that Donald Trump has named Betsy DeVos as his choice for Secretary of Education is just another brick in the wall for Mr. Trump’s plan to turn the US into a giant flea market, selling off the bits and pieces of a once great nation for parts to …
With all due respect—and, admittedly, it’s not much—to Mr. Trump and Mr. Pence, theatre and the arts are not supposed to be safe. That’s missing the entire point of the arts. The difference between a summer beach read (think: a Harlequin romance) and a compelling novel (think: Ta-Nehisi Coates’s “Between the World and Me”, …
[CC image credit: Michael Vadon | Flickr] The last few days have been incredibly hard for many of us. I’ve been walking around in a fog; nothing about the world makes sense. One of the only things that’s made me feel any better since Tuesday night was spending time with my students, who are …
Apparently Matt Lauer doesn’t know **** from Shinola when it comes to charter schools I happened to be watching The Today Show yesterday morning (which I have only recently returned to watching after NBC fired Billy Bush), and looked up to see anchor Matt Lauer in a hair net and booties, standing in …
Most of us would agree that this has been the dirtiest, nastiest presidential campaign in our lifetimes. One candidate has lied, evaded, and avoided continuously, and presents a clear and present danger to our nation, while the other has demonstrated…an inability to manage her email communication very well. Clearly, there are no good choices here. …
As a 58 year old, married white man who was raised Christian, I “check off” most of the boxes on the Privilege Worksheet of Life. I’ve never been pulled over by a police officer for no reason; joggers don’t cross to the other side of the street to avoid me; I’m given the benefit …
The charter school “debate” is no longer about charter schools vs. public schools (charters are not public schools—that myth has been exploded), or even about “for profit” vs. “not for profit” charters (the evidence here suggests this is really a difference without a distinction). No, the real issue here is about the true purpose …
I used to think that anyone who rose to a position of power and prominence in the world of education had to be smart, well-informed, and have significant teaching experience. The last few years of following the education reform debate, however, has disabused me of that notion. It seems as though so many of …
I got into a bit of a Twitter tussle the other day with a self-styled “education policy expert” for a Michigan corporate education reform group. While this person has never taught in a public school, and has little background or experience in education at all, he is now the Education Policy Director for …
Let me begin with an apology: I have intentionally lured you here under false pretenses. What do I mean? I’ve used that favorite strategy of internet hoaxes and supermarket tabloids, the “click bait headline“, to catch your eye, whet your appetite, and influence you to “click” the link, which brought you here. According to …
AYP, or “Adequate Yearly Progress”, is one of those seemingly benign terms that pops up in the educational lexicon every few years. AYP sounds…friendly. Unassuming. Who could argue with a reform initiative based on kids, teachers, or schools making “adequate yearly progress”? What are we, communists? Of course we want our schools to make progress…and …
It’s been a rough couple of weeks for the charter school industry, and it doesn’t look like things are looking up any time soon. In the wake of a devastating segment by John Oliver on the charter school business, and calls from civil rights groups like the NAACP and Black Lives Matter, the …
A new report from the Justice Department recommends the suspension of contracts for private prisons, effective immediately. In explaining the justification for this decision, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates concluded that “the facilities are both less safe and less effective at providing correctional services than those run by the government.” Teachers and those who have …
Over the last few weeks I’ve had the good fortune to spend time with my favorite group of persons: music teachers. And whenever I get a chance to hang with music folks we have the best conversations–and by that, I mean that I hear some absolutely jaw-dropping, eye-popping stuff about what is actually …
A recent blog post by Morna McDermott at Educationalchemy.com connects the dots between the recent surge in popularity of the new “Gig Economy” and unsavory influences from the usual suspects in the corporate education reform agenda, ALEC and Pearson. McDermott points out the K12 aspects of this connection (i.e., Competency Based Education (CBE) as an …
I read an excellent piece on the status of American education in The Atlantic recently, and would strongly recommend anyone interested in schools and schooling to click here and take a look at what Jack Schneider has to say about what’s really happening in our schools. On balance, Mr. Schneider offers a very fair and level-headed analysis …
Photo Credit: http://lubbockonline.com/stories/020310/fea_558112953.shtml#.VzMlBmO8lVc In the wake of the Michael Butera situation with NAFME, there has been a lot of discussion about matters of equity and inclusion. But this will be a missed opportunity if no action is taken. Here are a few ideas–please suggest yours in the comments below… We need to make …
An Opportunity Missed? No one is feeling any joy or satisfaction from this incident, nor should they. NAfME leadership could have headed this off with strong action taken immediately upon learning of this incident—but they didn’t. It seems clear that NAfME leadership was more worried about the potential of being sued than in doing …
A major plank of most education reform agendas is the issue of “school choice.” Reformers claim that school choice gives parents the power to move their children to “better schools,” and gives children a better chance of success. But what if unfettered, unregulated school choice didn’t improve academic achievement, and was really a scam designed …
For all of the money spent by the corporate education reformers we’d expect to see massive improvements in student learning, school facilities, and education policy. Instead, charter schools have been a mostly unsuccessful “experiment” that has diverted billions of dollars from public schools struggling to maintain safe facilities and adequate programs for students. Standardized testing …
Much has been made of that strange tangle of synthetic carpet fibers and dryer lint perched atop Donald Trump’s noggin over the course of the Republican presidential primary: Is it real? Is it alive? Is it hair? But that discussion obfuscates the real story here–what is the relationship between The Donald’s mane and his positions …
John Kasich just blew his chance at being Vice President by calling Donald Trump a toxic influence on the American political scene. No way to walk that one back, John. You actually told the truth, and for that you will pay. Republican voters don’t care about the truth–as we have heard countless times, “they …
The news was shocking in its incongruence and rapidity: failed presidential candidate and serial Rubio attacker, Chris Christie, was endorsing failed strip club owner and serial bankruptcy artist, Donald Trump. To careful observers, this was a stunning turn of events from just a few weeks ago, when Mr. Christie had said the following about his …
Today’s Lessons… 1. Abusive teaching behavior has been documented multiple times at Eva Moskowitz’s “Success Academy” charter school network. Ms. Moskowitz never denies these abuses happened—she simply attacks the newspaper or journalist who reported the abuses. 2. The PR firm handling Ms. Moskowitz’s damage control here is none other than Mercury LLP—the same …
There are three aspects of American life and culture about which I am unapologetically–and nearly equally–passionate: education, politics, and sports. While I am sure that the 3 areas share many similarities, it’s the differences among these arenas that has attracted my enthusiasm. Education, specifically music education, has been my career path for over 30 years, …
While children and teachers in Detroit are forced to attend schools where black mold and mushrooms grow, and windows need to be propped open in the winter because the boilers can’t be regulated, Gov. Snyder enjoys his recently renovated $2 million condo in swanky downtown Ann Arbor. While nearly 9000 children in Flint …
“Once you’ve decided that people are incapable of responsibly exercising their right to vote—you know, the kind of thing they used to say to keep women and black people from the polls back in the day—it’s not a huge step to deciding that they don’t possess the skills necessary to understand when their own …
[A quick update on my experiences with the National Observational Teaching Exam, or NOTE, a new product from the Educational Testing Service, intended as a competitor to Pearson’s edTPA…I’ve written about NOTE previously, but recently attended a presentation on the exam from ETS personnel, and thought it might be worth sharing some observations–no pun …
As a native New Yorker, I listened to Ted Cruz’s tirade about “New York Values” at the Republican debate the other night with great interest. In the spirit of helpfulness, here are some “New York values” that Ted Cruz may want to consider adopting…. As a New Yorker, I value transparency, and if I’d …
I had an interesting “discussion” on Twitter recently with Peter Cunningham, the Executive Director of Education Post–the investment banker, hedge fund manager-bankrolled communications mouthpiece of the corporate education reform industry. Nearly 2 years ago, Peter received $12 million in seed money to provide a “voice” for the poor billionaires who weren’t getting a fair shake from …
Inspired by my fellow music educator and blogger, Jersey Jazzman, and to offer a break from my typical posts about the horrors of education reform, here’s a playlist of some of my favorite seasonal tunes. And because the holidays are about indulging–in great music and great food!–each selection is accompanied by one of my …
Hillary Rodham Clinton has attracted a lot of attention recently for making a bold statement about closing schools that were performing “below average,” saying: “I wouldn’t keep any school open that wasn’t doing a better-than-average job.” US News & World Report rushed to Sec. Clinton’s defense, claiming her words were “taken out of context.” You can …
23 Dec 2015 It all started with the ridiculously named, “No Child Left Behind.” NCLB then morphed into the equally ludicrously labeled, “Every Child Succeeds Act.” In the meantime we’ve seen “No Excuses” charter schools, “zero tolerance” behavior policies, and a leading Presidential candidate say, with a straight face, that she “wouldn’t keep any school open that …
19 Dec 2015 Photo credit: Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com A recent article from MLive on the state’s efforts to “improve” teacher evaluation practices manages to get nearly everything wrong, with the only saving grace being the contributions of a brilliant music teacher, Mandy Mikita Scott. But first, let’s go over what the article …
In an attempt to address the rampant lying and truth bending at the debates, here’s a modest proposal: Every time one of the candidates says something that is factually wrong, or intentionally misleading, a flashing light should be activated in front of their podium. At the same time, the news crawl at the …
Well, well, well. So now Kevin Huffman (aka the ex-Mr. Michelle Rhee), former Commissioner of Education in Tennessee, has finally decided that for-profit charter schools are a bad idea. Welcome to reality, Mr. Huffman. You may have reached this conclusion years ago if you had a degree in education (BA in English from Swarthmore; law …
Photo credit: http://www.networkforpubliceducation.org/2015/08/newsletter-teacher-shortage-ny-times-got-it-wrong/ A recent column by Stephen Mucher, Director of the Master of Arts in Teaching Program at Bard College, has attracted a lot of attention from those concerned about the health and vitality of public education. And for good reason. Mr. Mucher mentions the recent history of campus protests across the country, which …
Click here to listen to my radio interview with fellow education activist Denisha Jones on the Education Town Hall: BUS (Badass Teachers Association, United Opt Out, Save our Schools): Death Knell for “Ed Reform”? Mitchell Robinson, of Michigan State University, and Denisha Jones, of Howard University — both active in the Badass Teachers Association …
Careful readers have noticed a flurry of reformster activity over the past week or so, highlighted by two big announcements. First was the rollout of #TeachStrong, an education improvement scheme allegedly dedicated “to modernizing and elevating the teaching profession,” and involving a murderer’s row of reformer groups, like Teach for America, the Relay Graduate School of …
I received the following story from a teacher who wanted to share the ridiculous things that are going on with her/his evaluation process, but was worried about retribution from her/his administration. Sadly, these kinds of stories are becoming all too common as the pressures of the accountability era exert tremendous stress on all involved, as …
It’s becoming clear that recent events in the education reform movement, like the bungled rollout of the #TeachStrong initiative, are actually the first vestiges of the death knells of the reform agenda. For those unaware of TeachStrong, its an initiative that brings together the two national teachers unions (i.e., NEA and AFT) with over 40 of the …
Gov. Bobby Jindal, a participant in the Republican “undercard” debate last night, joined the list of conservative pundits in demanding that every person in the nation, regardless of their income or employment status, must be required to pay some taxes–“even $1!”–on the premise that everyone should have some “skin in the game.” The term “skin in …
from: https://today.ucf.edu/deal-moves-teaching-simulator-developed-at-ucf-into-private-sector/ Just when you think the masters of the universe who run the corporate reform movement can’t be even more clueless, you catch wind of the newest effort to turn education into a profit-generating endeavor–this time, a hare-brained scheme to evaluate student teachers, by…and I swear I’m not making this up…observing them as they pretend to …