Last year, a small group of education school deans organized as “Deans for Impact,” signing on to the corporate reform agenda and agreeing to comply with the data-driven approach to education. Paul Thomas and Mercedes Schneider wrote about this new group and its corporate reform funder.
Now a group of 20 education deans formed their own group, “Education Deans for Justice and Equity.”
The new group was initiated by Dean Kevin Kumashiro of the University of San Francisco School of Education. Note here the letter that he wrote to the New York Times opposing John King’s terrible regulations for ed schools.
It is heartening to see education leaders fighting back against the bad ideas of corporate reform, which would destroy the teaching profession if left to its own agenda.
Unfortunately, JAMES G. CIBULKA’s letter in this link exemplifies KIng’s destructive procedures currently required by Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation. CAEP’s mandatory accreditation standards for all public colleges of education is burrowing into higher ed with the help of he Fed DoEd & every state DoEd that has adopted CAEP’s standards.
jcgrim
I agree 100%. The sole accreditor of teacher education programs is a perfect example of jargon filled nonsense designed to accommodate for-profit and on-line “providers” of education. I don’t know it this will link, but if you want to know what Arne Duncan found acceptable and USDE is continuing to enforce, aided by wimpy members of NCATE and AACTE, here you go.
caep-standards-one-pager-061716.pdf
Respectfully, “wimpy” is inadequate, in description, for abdication of responsibility.
It is about time that knowledgeable educators take a stand on the unsubstantiated claims of “reform.” After “reform” has gobbled up public schools, they are heading to the institutions of higher education with their one size fits all agenda and an appetite for destruction.
I just received an email from a college professor who is caught in the absurdities of generating SLOs and/or rubrics for courses. This is in a state where the legislature decided to micromanging hours of homework per credit hour in higher education.
The founder of Deans for Impact, as Mercedes noted, didn’t list his prior employer, New Schools Venture Fund ($22 mil. in Gates funding). NSVF’s “marching orders… to develop diverse charter school organizations that produce different brands, on a large scale”. (Kim Smith interview at Philanthropy Roundtable)
One of the Impact Deans (Gallagher, University of Southern California) is an Aspen Pahara Institute Fellow, the Institute’s first fellow, in a college of education deanship position. Pahara was founded by Kim Smith, who is also a founder of NSVF and Bellwether and also, founding team member of TFA. (Gates funds Aspen’s education programs, like Pahara and Senior Congressional Education Staff Network).
The other Impact Deans- Lesgold, Univ. of Pittsburg, Hernandez, Southern Methodist, McHutton, University of Texas, Hostetter, Relay, Martin, Loyola Marymont, McIntestyre, University of North Carolina-Charlotte, Smith, University of Arkansas, Gillette, Lesley University, Stoelinger, University of Chicago, Girod, Western Oregon University, Anderson, Temple University, Basile, Arizona State, Thomases, Bank Street College, Coll, University of Nevada and, Anderson, Temple University.
At Philanthropy Roundtable, in an article titled “Don’t Surrender the Academy” (implied ownership), the following statement was co-written by an external affairs manager of a Gates-funded organization,”…reformers…declare ‘We’ve got to blow up the ed schools.” The alternative described, is plutocratic influence.
Reformers are reorienting the machinery of teacher education & preparation. It will take due diligence to restock the chain of policy makers with real educators.
Scary who is on the list for Deans For Impact (Bank St School??? Lesley University??? really?)…
http://deansforimpact.org/member_deans.html
Deans for Justice and Equity has a website that identifies its members. If I was selecting a school to attend or recommending a school, I would select from their list and painstakingly, avoid any exposure to the people or schools in the list of Deans for Impact.
BIG SURPRISE- The Gates Foundation gave Deans for Impact, $261,000 in 2015.
NO SURPRISE- The internet displays no grant, from the Gates Foundation, to Deans for Justice and Equity. An education colleague described her experience with the Gates Foundation. She said she was told that you don’t apply for a grant, they seek out the applicants. Democracy, instead of neoliberalism -such a hard thing to find in Silicon Valley and northward.