My website is dianeravitch.com. I write about two interconnected topics: education and democracy. I am a historian of education.
Diane Ravitch’s Blog by Diane Ravitch is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at dianeravitch.net.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
You will really want to read the comments to understand that there is something going on here where the school board and at least one charter school are trying to change the rules in the state so that athletes can transfer to any school they wish. Of course this is primarily to benefit charter schools and would make a mess of high school athletics.
http://www.sltrib.com/news/4332402-155/deadlock-on-athlete-transfer-rule-means-no
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I wonder if this is an ALEC thing. I’m 99% sure this was just done in FL.
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Good morning ,
My granddaughter will be entering school in a year. Today my daughter asked, “what about charters? There is a highly ranked one nearby.”
As a longtime reader of the blog and Ms. Ravitch’s books, I was able to suggest some questions to get behind test score hype. I want to make sure I didn’t miss anything. What questions should be asked if someone is considering a charter school?
Thanks Rick
Sent from my iPhone
>
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Rick,
I would check out your local public school first.
I invite other readers to offer questions for you to ask.
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Doctors are aware that their first responsibility is “to do no harm”. In other words, they should help their patients. Obviously that message has not been received by mayors, other politicians and some educational reformers. They would rather close low performing schools rather than working to improve them. The schools they choose to close are those which do not perform as well as schools in affluent neighborhoods which are better funded.
Neighborhood schools are the “glue” which hold communities together, They bring together parents and children. Some bring services like dentists, mental health professionals and doctors to children and their parents rather than have these people go to dentist’s offices who they may not have the money to pay for these services.
By closing local schools this puts an additional burden on students and their parents. Children are put on buses to leave their neighborhood to travel as much as two hours in each direction. So if the school day begins at 8AM, children need to board their bus at 6AM while needing to get up at 4 or 5AM. It also puts increasing pressure on the receiving schools to find teachers and classrooms to address these new incoming students.
It would appear logical that the increased costs of busing could be used to improve schools. Maybe the politicians will get the message.
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Diane – Did you see the Esquire article on charter school fraud ?
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http://www.paaoregon.org/single-post/2016/09/11/Three-Letters-Back-to-School-Supplies-for-Parents
Three templates, all in one place — letters to place in your student’s school file: an opt out of high stakes test letter; a data privacy letter; and an opt out of ed tech letter.
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Another study on the high cost of for-profits for low-income young adults in Baltimore:
http://hub.jhu.edu/2016/09/15/for-profit-schools-disadvantaged-youth/
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And what about John Oliver’s wonderful piece on charters. That guy does his homework!
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Front Page Story in today’s Cincinnati Enquirer: http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2016/09/15/school-report-cards-can-we-trust-grades/90402648/
Among the quotes:
Cincinnati Public Schools Superintendent, Mary Ronan: “I would give the state an F on this state report card,” she said. “It’s pretty confusing. It’s gotten terribly complex.”
Little Miami Public Schools Superintendent, Greg Power: “I am beyond angry,” and
“It’s irrelevant. The state has been doing more and more with this whole data thing – measuring kids every which way that they think they need to be measured – and they’re making themselves completely and totally irrelevant in the local community.”
Of course, there is Thomas B. Fordham Institute representative as a go to source for defending the report cards.
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This article titled “The Intellectual Yet Idiot” reminded me of our Ed Reform crew (most particularly those who brought us the Common Core): https://medium.com/@nntaleb/the-intellectual-yet-idiot-13211e2d0577#.y336zychf
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Well, well, well. Charter school group names new Washington board I knew the other shoe would drop I just didn’t know when or how. Greater Tacoma Community Foundation [Washington State] CEO, Kathi Littman, was appointed to the board of California-based Summit Public Schools, which operates charter high schools in Tacoma and Seattle. I knew she wasn’t hired for experience when I looked up her background several years ago on LinkedIn. She’s all ready to help privatize public schools in our area – as CEO of a Community Foundation. If there was ever a time to NOT use our community foundation for ANY kind of philanthropy, this is it. The lack of a board policy on the kinds of board the CEO can sit on in this visible community position is striking. The institutional take-overs continue in Washington State.
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pnwarriorwoman,
Beware Summit charters. I have a post about them tomorrow morning. Beware. They are avaricious.
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Jeb Bush continues his rhetoric: http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2016/10/14/jeb-bush-education-school-askwith/
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And don’t forget about Arne Duncan: http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/November-2016/Arne-Duncan/
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Diane, did you by chance see this piece of fiction about post-Election America three years into the future by Damon Linker from “The Week.” The most frightening aspect of this is that I could easily see large portions of it occurring. http://bit.ly/2elPi4d
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Opt out movement grows in Oregon http://friendsofross.org/opt-out-movement-successful-in-oregon-statewide-math-54-school-districts/
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Could you ever do a post or discussion question on the role of “foundations,” even the local ones set up to support public school districts, in the influence of policy and advocacy. It seems to me that a financial entity should not drive programming or set agendas, but rather should respond to them. I see situations where a foundation set up for the local public ed district seems to drive the district, including personnel decisions and board appointments and I think it’s not good. I’d love to know what others are seeing in this regard.
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Yes, public/private relationship between Oakland Unified School District has been transformed by District School Boards and Superintendents seeking funding in cash strapped District wanting to implement Board and Superintendent’s “reforms”. Foundations do two things. They provide private money but they also receive contracts with the District to sell services.
Here are two contracts with foundation called Oakland Public Education Fund. Instead of just providing funding for public education this Foundation provides services that advance and support a neoliberal agenda.
The Oakland Public School Fund raises money for Oakland Public School. However, it defines public as including the District’s 37 charter schools. That means that privately raised money may never get to Oakland public school student. And, on the Oakland Public Education Fund is a Director that brought the first charter school to Oakland, Lilian Lopez and the Oakland Public Education Fund’s listed Secretary.
16-1936 Professional Services Contract – Oakland Public Education
Fund – Office of the Chief of Staff
Ratification by the Board of Education of a Professional Services Contract between the District and Oakland Public Education Fund, Oakland, CA, for the latter to provide Social Media Management: set up and maintain social media posting schedule, guidelines and standard operating procedures; solicit material from key stakeholders and schedule posts for optimal times; produce detailed monthly analytical reports that include recommendations on using that data to improve practice; and other projects as needed, in support of OUSD Communications, via the Office of Chief of Staff, for the
term July 1, 2016 through October 31, 2016, in an amount not to exceed $14,830.00.
Resource Code – 0000-958
Funding Source: General Purpose – Unrestricted
16-1936 Professional Services Contract
16-2088 Professional Services Contract – Oakland Public Education
Fund – Community Day School
Approval by the Board of Education of a Professional Services Contract between the District and Oakland Public Education Fund, Oakland, CA, for the latter to provide via Media Enterprise Alliance (a fiscally sponsored project of the Oakland Public Education Fund), a Digital Arts Specialist, fifteen hours a week, assisting teachers with implementation of MEA curriculum, providing technical assistance to staff and students, providing teacher professional development, and attending staff meetings, at Community Day School, for the period August 29, 2016 through June 12, 2017, 2017, in an amount not to exceed $24,990.00.
Resource Code – 0000-333
Funding Source: General Purpose – Unrestricted
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This sounds like it would make a good feature piece/post exposing the perils of the neo-liberal agenda using alleged grants/donations through foundations (that are nothing but tax shelters used to subvert the republic) but with strings attached that meddle with public education by cutting out the professionals, the teachers, and the community based, locally controlled, transparent, democratic process that has been the cornerstone of public education in the U.S. for almost two centuries.
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Did you see “School of the Future” that’s on NOVA this week? I missed the beginning, so maybe I’m wrong, but while Linda Darling-Hammond is on there pointing out important info and they have some great examples of project-based learning, it was very evident that, today, that’s clearly the exception, not the rule. I saw many more of such programs being implemented before NCLB’s testing mandates, but I heard nothing on this show about how that can be accomplished throughout the nation with our high-stakes testing laws.
I got the impression that charters and online learning are seen as the primary vehicles of innovation and that, in schools of the future, as one kid put it, there will be “no teachers.” It really disturbs me that I saw nothing about how much of that’s being accomplished through privatization, but without the great project-based learning programs.
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Besides implementing neoliberal reform agenda, Foundations used by Oakland Administration cut cost by selling services that would be done by unionized workers with benefits.
Yet, another way Oakland Administration uses foundations is to get around State law that limits retired workers income they can receive from a district. Foundation hires and pays the retired principal to return and train new principals or even substitute for themselves while collecting retirement and supplemental income from the Foundation.
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To Involved Mom who wrote: “. . . I see situations where a foundation set up for the local public ed district seems to drive the district, including personnel decisions and board appointments and I think it’s not good. I’d love to know what others are seeing in this regard.”
At first blush, it seems odd that persons who work in a corporate or foundational environment regularly break one of their own rightly sacrosanct rules of doing business when reaching into other kinds of concerns, as you have described. That is, they wouldn’t hire a bookkeeper to work in their engineering department, nor an engineer to work in sales. And yet they think they can just jump into the field of education and know exactly what needs to be done.
To follow the analogy, instead of giving the bookkeeping department the tools to do their job, they go at it, as if they had said to their engineer, “use your engineering skills to do whatever you think is right to make the bookkeeping department work.”
At first blush, it’s contrary to the workings of intelligence and speaks, more deeply, to the overplay of hubris in otherwise intelligent people. Here, they seem to say, “I have money and am good at x; and so I MUST be good at Y. Let me do what I want because I have the money that you need and won’t give it up unless I can control things.” At the very least, it’s a cross-field power grab that does no one any good, least of all the guinea pigs (students and teachers) who have to suffer for the imposition of hubris and ignorance.
And it’s bad enough that SOME really want to do the right thing and see problems that they think can be solved by a good dose of their own “commonsense” and politics. (ALL forms of education have political implications, from neo-liberal to neo-right-wing; but in a democracy, those implications are specifically democratic.) But these well-meaning folks need to be clearly distinguished (and spoken to if they will listen) from those who are hard-headed venture capitalists working the system to their own capitalist advantage under the guise of “for the students,” and using what power they have to manipulate everyone else to their selfish perfunctory needs.
And as a relevant aside, notice Trump’s cross-field jump from doing business (not even qualified business) to the field of politics and statesmanship. Just on that jump alone, . . . a vote for Trump is an expression of the kind of stupidity that, writ large, can bring down a vibrant democracy.
In both situations, we seem to have forgotten what it means to go beyond ourselves.
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what becomes of foundation “people”—they retire well? Get hired in positions of influence other places? I don’t get what the career path is, exactly, when someone runs a foundation that is set up to support public schools. Also, are there examples of a well-balanced foundation relationship or can it be assumed that they will never defer to a commonwealth mindset unless it comes from them? In other words, is it “praise the foundation from whom all blessings flow” always, in their mindset?
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Aren’t these people amongst the folks who like to call themselves “social entrepreneurs”? Some of them put that on their LinkedIn page.
To my mind, that’s really sick, because what it means to me is that they plan on striking it rich from manipulating other people, particularly the disadvantaged and powerless. Their source of income can be foundations, but also corporate arms, so both non-profits and for-profits, as well as government funds. They can climb ladders in a variety of capacities and arenas, such as public-private partnerships, “charities,” think tanks and politically affiliated organizations.
They seem to be a new breed of capitalist, who lacks genuine expertise in a related area yet can get rich off the backs of the indigent. The sad irony is that many of us who actually studied to become professionals, in order to work in various human services capacities in our careers, learned early on that we would never get rich doing it (and a lot of us still owe money for student loans). The fact that one of their chief funding sources is tax dollars I find thoroughly disgusting, since it means that downtrodden people who are the working poor like me are effectively paying their way to the top.
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To Involved Mom, who asks: “. . . are there examples of a well-balanced foundation relationship or can it be assumed that they will never defer to a commonwealth mindset unless it comes from them? In other words, is it ‘praise the foundation from whom all blessings flow’ always, in their mindset?”
That’s certainly the right question–and a commonwealth mindset by definition cannot “come from them” only. But it speaks to the tension between organized groups in a democracy and the political “foundations” that already “ground” everyone concerned–both the schools and the foundations. I do think the distinction is important to keep in mind: between (a) well-meaning but half-baked or completely thoughtless people who have money and/or who start foundations to help in some issue or other, but who don’t know when they have crossed the line between helping, and changing the political structure that everything is already founded on, and (b) those who, covertly or overtly, but always arrogantly and consciously embrace the destruction of present (democratic) political foundations, for any number of reasons–some of which have a long (centuries-old) history. It gets more confusing when, as is democratic, everyone is supposed to have a voice, including foundations via the people who start them and work in them.
The clue there is whether OTHERS’ voices are being quashed by forces working under the cover of a “helping” foundation, e.g., the destruction of PTA’s and local involvement or teachers’ unions. Power is, indeed, a seductive thing. And the great irony is that much could be solved by a political/ethical education of those involved. But nothing says foundational power cannot be a force for the good and where at least some of that good means: the commonwealth.
But a web of state and federal rules regulate foundations, especially where the movement of monies is concerned. But I think you would agree that to broad-brush foundations, the intentions of the people who start them, or their boards in a negative-only light would be a mistake. And of course, once foundations are “founded” and begin to grow, jobs come available for career path people who have their own ideas–there is a whole field of people who work in those kinds of positions. Whose bidding are they doing? But to apply a “career path” idea to how founders do things is to overlook that a different paradigm of life is at work for people whose well-being is not dependent on “having a job.” “Masters of the world” is not a joke in some circles.
But besides understanding initial creative movements at their inception, a look at the general mission statement, goals, and objectives of any particular foundation is a good start for analysis; but also whether those statements are actually being implemented in the concrete; OR are they drifting away from their original purposes; OR are those statements merely a nice-sounding screen for questionable and even nefarious activities, e.g., power-grabbing where education is concerned, and even if SOME qualified education is really taking place? And besides taking tax money, who are the big donors? And even that’s not enough. What is the political/ethical/ philosophical track record of those involved and the foundation itself if it’s been around for some time? I’ve seen that “call” here on this list–just who is pouring money into the privatization of schools/charter movement, and why?
And to me, the very idea of formal DEregulation is anathema to any process where human beings are concerned. But informally, embedded in any collaboration, and in democracies that are ACTUALLY working well, is a sense of circular oversight where NO ONE is the source of end-all power, or to be “praised,” or the measure of all things human. Democracy, by its very definition, really IS an ongoing experiment. A lethargic public is also responsible for present “imbalances,” and an ignorant, need I say uneducated public sets the vacuum that invites democracy’s demise.
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Homeless Educator: You’ve nailed the sound bite for education reform in America: “charters and on-line learning” sponsored by America’s education corporations that believe there is less risk and more profit in the education sector than say electronic bingo profit bust that was covered by 60 minutes Sunday night.
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My wife and I recently retired after I had worked for 45 years as a teacher and school administrator, the last 40 years in one school in northern New Jersey. My wife, who had been in social work for 20 years returned to school in the late 1990s, earning a Master’s degree in Library Studies. She worked for 20 years as a high school librarian and during these years authored or co-authored three well-received books on teaching a guided inquiry research process to students. Her program has been replicated in many parts of the United States as well as in Sweden, Germany, and Australia.
I am writing with a very specific purpose in mind. During our many years in education we have acquired thousands of books, most of which we had in our respective school work spaces. We simply don’t have the room in our home to store these books and would prefer to see them used by teachers and students, particularly in underserved communities in the Northeast. This spring we plan to rent an RV and convert it into a bookmobile, traveling through the Northeast to freely distribute our books to teachers, students, and other school personnel who might benefit from receiving these books. Many of the boos are on education(including several titles by Ms. Ravitch), many are great works of history, literature, philosophy, environmental studies, child rearing, and other miscellaneous topics.
We plan to organize this tour in May 2017 and would like to ask if this is something that could b publicizwdmto your readers once we get details organized in another few months. We would be greatly indebted to you for this support.
Peter and Randi Schmidt
Phillipsburg, New Jersey
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Boston Globe supports the expansion of charter schools on Issue 2: https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2016/10/29/vote-yes-question/4GhhmBk6IpCDWGg8NehwFJ/story.html
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The Boston Globe has been shameless in its pro-charter bias
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I just learned about the “School Choice is the Black Choice” Initiative designed to rally Black parents to take control of their children’s future by supporting charter schools and school vouchers. Journalist Roland Martin, a board member of 50Can, and his wife Rev. Dr. Jacquie Hood Martin have launched this campaign through her non-profit, J. Hood and Associates. They hosted a discussion on TV ONE’s NewsOne Now that featured both advocates and opponents of education reform. I haven’t watched it yet, but any program on reform that includes comments like “I do not want a market-based system that is pimping our kids,” has got to be good.
I read about it here:
https://www.the74million.org/article/black-education-leaders-come-together-in-dc-to-disagree-on-school-choice
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Why are pro-charter groups so interested in Oakland’s school board race? Follow the money. Michael Bloomberg reportedly donated $350,000 to school board candidates in Oakland, CA.
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/how-a-handful-of-pro-charter-billionaires-flooded-oaklands-school-board-elections-with-big-time-cash/Content?mode=print&oid=5016336
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Now that the Clintons have schooled the public on how grifters enrich themselves from ‘sham foundations’ it is time to help public understand that Charter Management Organizations drain resources from their children’s’ classrooms
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Ernie,
The Clinton Foundation does more to reduce poverty, stop the spread of AIDS, and help girls’ education than any other foundation in the world. Why don’t you review its website and its audited financial reports? 90% of its spending goes to programs, not to administration.
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Ernie, are you a shill for the Donald Trump fraudulent, racist, sexist, serial lying presidential campaign? Remember, this is a question, not an alleged accusation.
Charty Watch.org, rates the Bill, Hilary & Chelsea Foundation with a A.
https://www.charitywatch.org/ratings-and-metrics/bill-hillary-chelsea-clinton-foundation/478
Charity Navigator scores The Clinton Foundation 94.74 out of 100
https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=16680
Media Matters for America reports, “Charity Watchdog Groups Give High Ratings To Clinton Foundation, Dismantling Right-Wing Media Claims of A ‘Slush Fund’.”
http://mediamatters.org/research/2016/09/01/charity-watchdog-groups-give-high-ratings-clinton-foundation-dismantling-right-wing-media-claims/212815
Meanwhile, how does the Trump Foundation rate?
Charity Watch has no rating for The Trump Foundation.
The Washington Post reports:
Trump used $258,000 from his charity to settle legal problems
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-used-258000-from-his-charity-to-settle-legal-problems/2016/09/20/adc88f9c-7d11-11e6-ac8e-cf8e0dd91dc7_story.html
How Donald Trump retooled his charity to spend other people’s money
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-donald-trump-retooled-his-charity-to-spend-other-peoples-money/2016/09/10/da8cce64-75df-11e6-8149-b8d05321db62_story.html
Fortune reports: “Did Donald Trump Use His Foundation to Avoid Paying Taxes?”
http://fortune.com/2016/09/27/trump-foundation-avoid-taxes-charity/
The New York Times reports: “State Attorney General Orders Trump Foundation to Cease Raising Money in New York”
In addition, who was the latest beauty to come forward and reveal that Donald Trump groped her? I think she was former Miss Finland Ninni Laaksonen.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/10/12/all-of-donald-trump-s-accusers-a-timeline-of-every-alleged-grope-and-assault.html
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Lloyd, the “Teflon Don and Donna are full of BS – or was until — what is your ‘dump’ on the following story:
Dumping raw sewage into a storm drain is a federal crime that has landed some unaware Americans in prison.
Someone aboard a bus chartered by the Democratic National Committee, which depicted the Democratic presidential and vice presidential candidates, reportedly dumped sewage into a storm drain in Lawrenceville, Georgia.
A DNC spokesperson described the sewage dump as “an honest mistake,” but it is actually a crime, and individuals have been criminally prosecuted for similar “honest mistakes” in the past.
This incident presents a familiar problem (one raised by the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2015 Animas River spill), that the government must choose: either stop prosecuting ordinary citizens for “criminal negligence” or enforce the same laws against more powerful or well-known parties.
At around 9:30 a.m., a man reported seeing someone get out of a DNC-chartered bus “and dump ‘it’s sewage into the storm drain.’”
Crime
The witness told Fox 5, “You don’t pull up and dump raw sewage on the street and in the storm drain. You just don’t do that.” In fact, if you do, it is a crime.
Police Capt. Jeff Smith told Fox 5, “There is a city violation for dumping materials into the storm drain system, obviously this feeds into streams.” The Lawrenceville ordinance prohibits dumping pollutants into the storm sewer system.
These discharges, according to city officials, “impact waterways individually” and “can have cumulative impacts on receiving waters. The impacts of these discharges adversely affect public health and safety, drinking water supplies, recreation, fish and other aquatic life, property values, and other uses of lands and waters.”
Unsurprisingly, the discharge from the DNC bus may also be a federal crime, depending on where that particular drain leads. Just ask Lawrence Lewis.
Prosecution
Lawrence Lewis escaped the projects of the District of Columbia, whereas his three older brothers were caught up in our criminal justice system and eventually murdered. Lewis worked for the District school system as a janitor while taking night classes, eventually becoming chief engineer for the Knollwood military retirement center. He was also a caretaker for his elderly mother and a role model for his two daughters.
Unfortunately for Lewis, the retirement home had recurring problems with sewage backup. After one backup, trying to protect the home’s patients from harm, Lewis did what his predecessors had often done and rerouted backed-up sewage into a storm drain. Lewis believed that the storm drain flowed into city sewage treatment facilities, but unbeknownst to him, the storm drain runs into Rock Creek, which flows into the Potomac River.
The Clean Water Act makes it a federal crime to negligently discharge sewage without a permit into “waters of the United States,” including Rock Creek and the Potomac River.
Lewis avoided a felony conviction and a long-term jail sentence by pleading guilty to a misdemeanor, for which he was sentenced to one year of probation.
The Democratic National Committee says that dumping sewage into a storm drain “was an honest mistake and we apologize … We were unaware of any possible violations.”
‘Honest Mistake’
Now, the DNC seeks to use an “honest mistake” defense that was unavailable to Lewis, because it is not a recognized defense under the Clean Water Act.
It did not work for Edward Hanousek either, who was also criminally prosecuted under the Clean Water Act for negligent discharge without a permit after employees he supervised accidentally spilled 1,000 to 5,000 gallons of oil into Alaska’s Skagway River.
Hanousek was off-duty and at home when the accidental spill occurred. Nonetheless, a district court “sentenced him to six months in prison, another six months in a halfway house, another six months on supervised release, and imposed a $5,000 fine.”
The man who reportedly saw someone dump waste into a Lawrenceville storm drain said, “It’s wrong, it’s absolutely wrong. I don’t care whose name is on the bus.” But as Lewis, Hanousek, and many others know, it is also a federal crime, regardless of who is responsible for the discharge.
Federal courts have held—as the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in West Virginia Highlands Conservancy v. Huffman (2010)—that the provisions of the Clean Water Act “apply to anyone who discharges pollutants into the waters of the United States,” including the folks on the DNC-chartered bus.
As Heritage Foundation scholars have argued elsewhere, “the government should be put to a choice: either abandon criminal liability based on negligence,” or bring charges against powerful parties “at the scene and up through the responsible chain of command. Sauce for the goose ought to be sauce for the gander.”
Already, however, The Washington Post reports that “Lawrenceville police told Fox 5 that they are not filing charges, but opted to hand over the investigation to the state’s Environmental Protection Agency.”
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Gee Lloyd – Ramblin thought – I think you forgot to READ the original beginning of my request to you – I asked you to comment on the article I enclosed about the Clinton bus dumping their CRAP down the sewer drain…A federal crime – And since it is an article I note for you that the second example included in the article also referenced the same problem – dumping your toilet S–t into the sewer – It was not me rambling although at one time in my life I was a “Ramblin Man” guess I should send you the tune.
Yup, I guess she was hoping to “drain the swamp” on the bus….
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The Allman Brothers- Ramblin Man – YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1x28jaeyX2s – 172k – Cached – Similar pages
Jan 27, 2007 … good song. … “Ramblin’ Man” by The Allman Brothers Band Listen ad-free with … Lynyrd Skynyrd – Simple Man – Duration: 7:40. strokes612 …
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Look at any date from 2013 back. The Clinton Foundation gave less than 6 percent to charity. The money was spent on salaries, for people like Bill, Chelsea, Huma, Cheryl, and Sidney, and for lavish travel arrangements. They only cleaned up their act when she announced her candidacy. It looks like there was a time in 2011 Chelsea hired Eric Braverman to run the foundation. Unfortunately, his reforms to make the charity clean were not appreciated and he was forced to resign a year later. I wonder if he is the source of some of the government leaks.
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RaisetheBar,
Absolutely untrue. The Vlinton Foundation is a working Foundation. 90% of its funding is spent directly on programs, not administration. You are parroting GOP propaganda. Read the website.
Compare it to the Trump Foundation, which has no programs and is a shell. It does nothing other than pay Trump’s legal bills and buy a painting of him.
Read this:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-boasts-of-his-philanthropy-but-his-giving-falls-short-of-his-words/2016/10/29/b3c03106-9ac7-11e6-a0ed-ab0774c1eaa5_story.html
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The DNC should go through the legal process like anyone else. So let’s all vote for Trump. He’s never avoided prosecution for anything.
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Peter and Randy Schmidt,
Let me know when you plan to give away books, and I will post it
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Jack, you are rambling and making no sense.
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Some Sunday morning music for you Lloyd (and Jack) :-): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEX2z-ZGMUw
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Politifact.com says, “Reince Priebus’ False claim that 80 percent of Clinton Foundation costs are overhead.”
Politifact ruled that the claim was FALSE.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/aug/25/reince-priebus/reince-priebus-false-claim-80-clinton-foundation-c/
Fact Check.org says from 2015,
“Considering all of the organizations affiliated with the Clinton Foundation, he said, CharityWatch concluded about 89 percent of its budget is spent on programs. That’s the amount it spent on charity in 2013, he said.
“We looked at the consolidated financial statements (see page 4) and calculated that in 2013, 88.3 percent of spending was designated as going toward program services — $196.6 million out of $222.6 million in reported expenses.
“We can’t vouch for the effectiveness of the programming expenses listed in the report, but it is clear that the claim that the Clinton Foundation only steers 6 percent of its donations to charity is wrong, and amounts to a misunderstanding of how public charities work.”
http://www.factcheck.org/2015/06/where-does-clinton-foundation-money-go/
But I’m sure that the GOP spin machine build on decades of fear, hate, lies, and misinformation with its serial liar presidential candidate Donald Trump will not back down, and their loyal minions will fall right into line and refuse to accept any evidence from any source and will continue to think what they are told to think like the bad little racist, brain dead, hating, ditto-head robots that they are
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I’d like to speak to Trump FOLLOWERS–in the light of just five of Trump’s problems that are obvious to most or even all of us:
(1) Trump’s absence of tax records;
(2) Trump’s often-displayed bad temperament including his contempt for a good number of US citizens;
(3) Trump’s admiration of dictators and dictatorial powers including his easy expression of revenge.
(4) Trump’s ignorance of democratic-governmental institutions, not to mention international treaties.
Democracy depends on a modicum of political understanding in “the people.”
Trump followers (excluding the KKK and its associates) are mostly good, ethical, lawful, hardworking people. In that sense, they are not “deplorable.” On the other hand, political acumen has gone missing. What I see as DEPLORABLE about ALL Trump followers is their ignorance: of how a person with the above four points would import on the country and culture of the United States.
You cannot support Trump and be politically astute–doesn’t click.
The only other alternative to deplorable political ignorance is a deliberate but covert embrace of some other form of government, besides democracy. What might that be?
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Data we already know but here’s the data.
“When looking at categories of donors to the nominees through September, retired individuals top both candidates’ lists by a lot ($57 million for Clinton, $18 million for Trump). From there the two diverge, with Clinton receiving the next-highest amount from lawyers and law firms at $31 million so far, and $17.3 million from those employed in the field of *education. (Obama had the same top three.)”
= emphasis mine.
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I think this is worth sharing to as many as possible.
Just published by Newsweek 3 hours ago
“Trump’s Missing Emails”
“Over the course of decades, Donald Trump’s companies have systematically destroyed or hidden thousands of emails, digital records and paper documents demanded in official proceedings, often in defiance of court orders. These tactics—exposed by a Newsweek review of thousands of pages of court filings, judicial orders and affidavits from an array of court cases—have enraged judges, prosecutors, opposing lawyers and the many ordinary citizens entangled in litigation with Trump. In each instance, Trump and entities he controlled also erected numerous hurdles that made lawsuits drag on for years, forcing courtroom opponents to spend huge sums of money in legal fees as they struggled—sometimes in vain—to obtain records.”
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trumps-missing-emails/ar-AAjDm2V?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp
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Thank you for posting this Newsweek article on Trump’s avoidance of the law, not to mention basic civility and morality. Please send it to everyone in the world and file it under “Who does he think he is?”
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Will campaign cash corrupt the state Supreme Court? A detailed accounting of how Washington State billionaires are trying to replace the State Supreme Court that, so far, thwarted their charter school fantasies.
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Diane,
I’m concerned about the direction accountability is heading in the state of Texas. On Tuesday, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) informed schools and districts that in an attempt to shorten the time on the test, the number of test questions will be reduced. The current plan is to reduce the math test by 12 questions, reading test will be reduced by 8 questions, and writing tests in 4th and 7th grade will require one less essay.
A bit of background of state accountability in Texas: In the late 1990s, the state adopted the TAKS test (Test of Essential Knowledge and Skills), which by the middle of the 00’s, the state schools had mastered, which apparently was either unacceptable, or distasteful, to lawmakers. There’s some debate over that. So, the state adopted the STAAR test (State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness), which is intended to measure the effectiveness of schools in preparing students. Notice that it measures schools, not students. This is key in understanding the last three years of changes to the test.
One of the key changes from TAKS to STAAR was how the scores were used. Under TAKS, it was essentially “did students meet the standard?” Because students were overwhelming meeting the standards, the test and accountability changed, drastically. STAAR has four scoring components: Index 1, did students meet standards; Index 2, did students show yearly progress; Index 3, closing gaps between subpopulations; and Index 4, post-secondary readiness. Taken all together, schools are rated based on their index scores. Fail to meet an index, a campus can be designated Improvement Required, which is state shorthand for “your schools sucks, and you need remediation.” Close to 500 campuses in the state were designated IR for the 2016-2017 school year.
STAAR scores really have no bearing on student promotion in school. In 5th and 8th grade, students are supposed to show mastery of the test for promotion, but if the school’s Grade Placement Committee determines adequate growth, students can be promoted. In the past 5 years, I’ve heard of no students being retained. It may happen, just not in my district. High school students originally had to pass 8 End of Course tests to graduate, which was reduced to 5. Now, if they get to their senior year, and have passed 3 out of the 5 tests, then a campus graduation committee can determine the students are eligible to graduate. Many districts reported 100% graduation rates in 2016.
The test is entirely about monitoring and punishing schools. Three years ago, the state standards for math were “stepped down.” The grade level standards were moved down two grade levels to address math literacy, so 6th graders were now doing 8th grade math, and some of the 1st grade standards contained algebra processes. That was a very stressful year. Last year, the state mandated that accommodated tests for Special Education students would end, and Special Education students would take the exact same test general education students take, just they’ll be able to take it on a computer. All of their accommodation tools would be online! Because they are so good at regulating their own accommodations and modifications, this was deemed a good idea. And, of course, the scores would count for school accountability. No district I’m aware of met the state standards for their special education populations.
Now, the state has decreased the size of the test, increasing the value of each test question. The test, a specious tool to begin with, cannot measure all of the standards in a shortened test, unless all questions are triple or quadrupled coded, further confusing the situation for students testing. The math test for sixth grade last year contained 48 questions. It will be reduced by 12 this year, increasing the value of each question for meeting standard.
We don’t ask doctors to collect less data, we don’t want less coverage from social services and first responders, but we want schools to rely on less data, and be assessed by less data. And, oh by the way, the state will notify you of the changes after 25% of the school year is done.
I got into education, and advanced in education, because I believe in the transformative power and social importance a quality education provides everyone. I truly believe that education is the great social leveler, and, done effectively, education provides people the skills necessary for life long success.
But, in this environment of assessment and punitive actions against schools, we don’t provide that. And, that’s what’s killing me. I have a master’s and a doctorate. I’m a principal. I BELIEVE in education. But, we are creating uninformed, uninspired individuals who generally lack analytical and evaluative skills. We are not leveling society. We are not being transformative.
I’m trying to be a transformative leader and working on being Fullan’s lead learner, but I can’t see that I’m making any real difference. I can lead people and run a tight ship at McDonald’s, a prison or an insurance office. This is the demoralizing effect of modern education in Texas.
Txmilligan
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TxMilligan,
Thank you for the excellent explanation. It is interesting that all these tests–harder and harder with each new version–are tests that most legislators would fail.
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Have any other teachers in NYS registered on the TEACH system website?
This is a new State regulation that requires teachers to register on-line every year. The registration process includes asking a series of questions under the heading of “Moral Character Questions,” then supplying your ethnicity and gender, and then at the end, after you are thanked for registering, you are given this notification:
Notification of name and/or address change
Any change of name or address must be updated in TEACH within thirty days of any such change. If you fail to inform the Department of your new address or name, you may be subject to a moral character review. For more information regarding name changes in the TEACH system go to : TEACH Name Change Information
Moral character review for not submitting a name change (presumably for marriage or divorce) within 30 days?! WTH???????
Does this strike anyone else as a bit dystopian universe?
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To Alice, who says: “Moral character review for not submitting a name change (presumably for marriage or divorce) within 30 days?! WTH??????? Does this strike anyone else as a bit dystopian universe?”
I think the word is “chilling.” It reminds me of another blog I was on (National Literacy Association) during the Bush administration when, from their installed religious matters department (don’t remember what they called it at the time), they stipulated that those on any government funded site could not talk about political matters–an adult education site? We all felt it–but could do nothing but steer around it as best we could.
But that’s why “secular” democracy is so important in the sense that it “separates” religious zealots from controlling everyone through theocratic laws written in terms of a religion-specific moral doctrine (think Pense). As a general analysis, my thought is that most of those good and well-meaning folks never really understood what the scientific revolution was all about and, under the blankets, many still harbor a very dangerous totalitarian comportment, regardless that they also claim to embrace the freedoms and democratic principles that their lives rest on. Sigh . . . .
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A great video, If Congress Were Your Coworker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YibDgSd02Xk
We should ask Chris to do one on the charter school lobby.
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Actually, they did one on related to charter lobby: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpGVtCdrcYY
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I am a special education teacher in a district where the ground is shifting so dramatically to implement RTI and MTSS, without informing the educators en masse or providing the tools needed to address this instant expectation, that most do not even know exists! The stress on students, teachers, and administrators is massive. The disrespect all educators are feeling is poignant and remarkable. Trainings are offered on weekends and evenings!
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Can someone please gather the statistics regarding what is happening with teachers & teacher unions in school districts that have installed commercial grade wifi INSIDE classrooms? Students & teachers are being exposed to a Class 2B possible carcinogen for 1100+ hours EACH school year. Teachers do not know that wifi emits low-level, modulated radio-frequency radiation /electromagnetic radiation. Some are being assessed as ineffective after exposure & fired from their jobs. Others may become sick & leave on disability or even retire early. Has anyone seen the articles on chronic absenteeism in our schools? Have you become ill after working in a classroom where commercial grade wifi has been installed inside classrooms? Have you been fired for being ineffective after commercial grade wifi was installed inside classrooms? Goog: “wifi in schools” -its very bad for human health. Obama appointed the #1 lobbyist for the wireless industry to chair the FCC, & now we have commercial-grade wifi in classrooms.This has been going on since at least 2012/13 school year. No informed consent, no knowledge. Demand removal of all wireless from classrooms!
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CROSSPOST from National Literacy Association 11/4/2016
The School to Prison Pipeline (STPP): Adult Education May Help Lower the Flow Through the STPP
Tom Sticht, International Consultant in Adult Education (Ret.)
The National Education Association (NEA) has formulated a School-to Prison Pipeline (STPP) policy statement saying: “NEA’s Resolutions state NEA’s firm belief that schools must be safe and welcoming for all students, discriminatory toward none, and focused on educational practices that reach the whole child and disciplinary policies that emphasize prevention and rehabilitation over punishment.” The NEA proposes a variety of activities to help the schools change and reduce the flow through the STPP, but it doesn’t call for greater investments in adult education or the Adult Education and Literacy System (AELS) of the United States.
The Children’s Defense Fund has initiated a Cradle to Prison Pipeline® Campaign and says, “CDF’s vision with its Cradle to Prison Pipeline campaign is to reduce detention and incarceration by increasing preventive supports and services children need, such as access to quality early childhood development and education services and accessible, comprehensive health and mental health coverage. Emphasis must be shifted for the sake of our children and our nation’s future”.
Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton, who formerly worked with the CDF, has also addressed the STPP and has called for expanding Head Start and, consistent with the CDF’s call for action in the Cradle, Early Head Start preschool programs as one tactic for reducing the STPP flow. But neither she nor the CDF have called for increasing investments in adult education nor the Adult Education and Literacy System (AELS) of the United States.
Interestingly, however, the Early Head Start program also incorporates pre-natal care for pregnant girls and women, recognizing, perhaps implicitly, that in fact the STPP flow may start before the infant is born and in the cradle. Therefore, starting to remedy the STPP problem in a program that starts after an infant is already in the cradle would seem to be too late for full effects.
Even more interesting, however, is the established fact that problems leading to the flow through the STPP may start even before a child is conceived! Over 25 years ago, in 1990, Barbara McDonald and I wrote a pamphlet for UNESCO entitled “Teach the Mother and Reach the Child: Literacy Across Generations”. There we reviewed research showing that even before pregnancy better educated women tended to have higher economic productivity, lower fertility rates and smaller families, and these factors are related to the subsequent cognitive development and educational achievement of their children.
Furthermore, the effects of better educated mothers persists through pregnancy, leading to healthier births, better health care for infants and children, better preparation for schoolwork, and better success during the school years.
Adult educators have known for some time about these many beneficial effects of adult education on children’s success in school and beyond. Writing for the National Council of State Directors of Adult Education, Mclendon, Jones, & Rosin (circa 2010) state: “The fact is that better educated parents produce better educated children. xxxiv The more highly educated the parents, the greater the likelihood that their children will succeed in the K-12 school system, complete high school, go on to college, and achieve higher levels of literacy as an adult. xxxv And there is evidence that investments in the education of one low-income or welfare parent may influence the school achievement of one, two, or even more of the parent’s children. xxxvi”
Given the central importance of the intergenerational transfer of health, attitudes, language, literacy, knowledge, and motivation from adults to their children, it is disappointing to find that none of the major advocates for stopping the flow of the STPP have called for increasing investments in adult education nor the Adult Education and Literacy System (AELS) of the United States.
Elsewhere (Sticht, 2011) I have placed adult education directly in the path from pre-conception to birth and beyond. Hopefully, when the time for allocating billions of dollars for coping with STPP problems comes around, some of those dollars will go to increase the education of adults and enlarging the Adult Education and Literacy System of the United States.
The real Head Start starts with the Heads of the Parents!
Adult Education References
McLendon, L., Jones, D., & Rosin, M. (circa 2010). The Return on Investment (ROI) From Adult Education and Training. National Council of State Directors of Adult Education. (online using Google search)
[Note: These are the references in the McLendon and others report:
xxxiv Sticht, T. (1983, February). Literacy and Human Resources Development at Work: Investing in the Education of Adults to Improve he Educability of Children. Professional Paper 2-83. Alexandria, VA: Human Resources Research Organization (ERIC No. ED 262 2-1)
xxxv Sticht, T. & Armstrong, W. (1994, February). Adult Literacy in the United States: A Compendium of Quantitative Data and Interpretive Comments, Washington, D.C.: National Institute for Literacy.
xxxvi Van Fossen, S. & Sticht, T. (1991, July). Teach the Mother and Reach the Child: Results of the Intergenerational Literacy Action Research Project of Wider Opportunities for Women. Washington, D.C. : Wider Opportunities for Women. End of note]
Sticht, T. (2011, Fall). Getting it Right From the Start: The Case for Early Parenthood Education. American Educator, American Federation of Teachers. (online using Google search).
tgsticht@gmail.com
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Diane, Maybe you and others are already aware of the project censorship website, which researches and identifies big stories that do not get due diligence in the mainstream media (MSM), but two of their top 25 stories for 2016 (both with October dates) are the following:
#20 The Walmarting of American Education
http://projectcensored.org/20-walmarting-american-education/
and
#22 Department of Education Cooperates with ALEC to Privatize Education
http://projectcensored.org/22-department-education-cooperates-alec-privatize-education/
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Thank you so much for bringing this our attention! I’ve been reading over the past hour and have a great deal of knowledge/experience with four of them. Right on the mark every time. Saved it on my favorites.
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breaking news from MN
CEHD Dean’s Office cehddean@umn.edu (sent by scha0870@umn.edu)
11:40 AM (24 minutes ago)
to CEHD-OFFICIAL
November 7, 2016
Dear CEHD Faculty and Staff Members:
We are reaching out to you today with an important message related to one of our teacher licensure programs in our college.
The University of Minnesota College of Education and Human Development’s alternative pathway to teaching program for Teach for America corps members will not be renewing the contract we have with TFA. This means that we will not admit new corps members to a 2017 cohort. Reasons for ending the partnership program include an unsustainable funding model for the program and dwindling numbers of corps members.
Corps members currently in the TFA program who are part of the 2015 and 2016 cohorts will continue in their high-quality, University preparation to enable them to be recommended for teacher licensure in May 2017 and 2018, respectively. We appreciate the opportunity we have had to learn from the corps members and this partnership.
This decision will not impact the many other teacher licensure programs and pathways at the University of Minnesota. We are committed to providing multiple pathway programs to teaching. We believe that the best use of our limited resources in moving forward is to focus on innovative curriculum development and ways to prepare teachers in partnership with our K-12 colleagues. As a land-grant research institution, we are committed to working side-by-side with K-12 educators to ensure that teachers are prepared and then supported in their early years of teaching. We will work to prepare teachers who teach in multiple school settings—including rural and high-need schools—so they can meet the needs of Minnesota’s children.
Research indicates that programs such as the Minneapolis Residency Program (MRP), developed with Minneapolis Public Schools to grow their own talent pool of teachers; the Emotional Behavioral Disorder (EBD) Program for special education teaching aides, created with K-12 colleagues across several districts; and the Dual Language and Immersion licensure program for elementary teachers across multiple school districts are the most promising routes to preparing and retaining diverse, high-quality teachers.
If you have questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to us (Deborah Dillon at dillon@umn.edu).
Sincerely,
Jean K. Quam, CEHD Dean
Deborah R. Dillon, CEHD Associate Dean
College of Education and Human Development
University of Minnesota
104 Burton Hall
Minneapolis, MN. 55455
612 626-9252
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Election results from California.
Both Prop 51 and 55 on education passed with large majorities. 55 had a larger majority than 51.
http://vote.sos.ca.gov/returns/ballot-measures/
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Press Release from Harry Reid today. The freedom of impending retirement should extend throughout a senator’s term:
Washington, D.C. – Nevada Senator Harry Reid released the following statement about the election of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States:
“I have personally been on the ballot in Nevada for 26 elections and I have never seen anything like the reaction to the election completed last Tuesday. The election of Donald Trump has emboldened the forces of hate and bigotry in America.
“White nationalists, Vladimir Putin and ISIS are celebrating Donald Trump’s victory, while innocent, law-abiding Americans are wracked with fear – especially African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Muslim Americans, LGBT Americans and Asian Americans. Watching white nationalists celebrate while innocent Americans cry tears of fear does not feel like America.
“I have heard more stories in the past 48 hours of Americans living in fear of their own government and their fellow Americans than I can remember hearing in five decades in politics. Hispanic Americans who fear their families will be torn apart, African Americans being heckled on the street, Muslim Americans afraid to wear a headscarf, gay and lesbian couples having slurs hurled at them and feeling afraid to walk down the street holding hands. American children waking up in the middle of the night crying, terrified that Trump will take their parents away. Young girls unable to understand why a man who brags about sexually assaulting women has been elected president.
“I have a large family. I have one daughter and twelve granddaughters. The texts, emails and phone calls I have received from them have been filled with fear – fear for themselves, fear for their Hispanic and African American friends, for their Muslim and Jewish friends, for their LBGT friends, for their Asian friends. I’ve felt their tears and I’ve felt their fear.
“We as a nation must find a way to move forward without consigning those who Trump has threatened to the shadows. Their fear is entirely rational, because Donald Trump has talked openly about doing terrible things to them. Every news piece that breathlessly obsesses over inauguration preparations compounds their fear by normalizing a man who has threatened to tear families apart, who has bragged about sexually assaulting women and who has directed crowds of thousands to intimidate reporters and assault African Americans. Their fear is legitimate and we must refuse to let it fall through the cracks between the fluff pieces.
“If this is going to be a time of healing, we must first put the responsibility for healing where it belongs: at the feet of Donald Trump, a sexual predator who lost the popular vote and fueled his campaign with bigotry and hate. Winning the electoral college does not absolve Trump of the grave sins he committed against millions of Americans. Donald Trump may not possess the capacity to assuage those fears, but he owes it to this nation to try.
“If Trump wants to roll back the tide of hate he unleashed, he has a tremendous amount of work to do and he must begin immediately.”
http://www.reid.senate.gov/press_releases/2016-11-11-reid-statement-on-the-election-of-donald-trump#.WCaTkjKZMcg
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I would like to follow your blog via e-mail.
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What do you mean? If you subscribe, you will get notices by e-mail when a new post goes up.
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An L.A. history teacher is suspended for comparing Trump to Hitler.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-teacher-trump-hitler-20161113-story.html
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On the LA article–if you think the article is chilling, read some of the comments. The man is an educator for 40 years and has received awards for his work. Thankfully, a huge petition is circulating supporting him. One of his specialties is the Holocaust. Either those comments are “planted,” or we have entered a new kind of America, folks. The dogs are loose.
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do you know of schools where the Lenny Bernstein Artful Learning Sequence is being utilized? Was this approach ever a threat to public schooling, or is it an example of a good thing in helping to benefit our public schools without damning them?
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Prior to the election the Southern Poverty Law Center published The Trump Effect, a report on how the Trump campaign was affecting students and teachers. I have a feeling the follow up report will be much longer: https://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/splc_the_trump_effect.pdf
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A professor who predicted Trump’s win also thinks Trump will be impeached by his own party, because the GOP would rather have Pence than a president they can’t control.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/video/other/professor-who-predicted-trump-win-also-envisions-trump-impeachment/vi-AAkc2Tp?ocid=spartandhp
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Mike Pence is a puppet of ALEC where education is concerned. Not sure Trump ever heard of ALEC, but he sure knows the white nationalist alt-right and gave them a place at the top of his new administration.
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Now there’s a trade-off.
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Diane, I thought you might be interested is seeing this screen shot of what Senior Justice Writer at the NY Daily News, Shaun King, said on Twitter that teachers have told him they’ve had to deal with now, in light of our new role model for children:
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Uh oh: https://www.washingtonian.com/2016/11/15/michelle-rhee-rumored-candidate-trumps-education-secretary/
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It’s like the plot of Alien.
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Diane,
Thought your readers would appreciate this.
https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/post-election-college-paper-grading-rubric
John
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The moneyed, conservative universe of Betsy DeVos, possible candidate for education secretary
http://news.muckety.com/2016/11/19/the-moneyed-conservative-universe-of-betsy-devos-possible-candidate-for-education-secretary/48401
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Hi Diane,
I just read this at Michael Fordham’s blog, Clio et cetera, about “knowledge rich curriculum”–a trendy buzz-phrase we are seeing more of in ed literature–and thought I’d share.
Fordham makes the point that the term itself is rather silly, but then goes on to show what different types of teaching look like in a content-heavy lesson sequence. Interestingly, his point is that in those emphasizing test prep, the knowledge isn’t so rich as one where the teacher brings his/her content knowledge to bear in order to make a host of connections for the students. https://clioetcetera.com/2016/11/19/what-makes-a-curriculum-knowledge-rich/
In my mind (I teach history), this is precisely why we need fewer ed school trained teachers at the secondary level and more content area experts. Having a smattering of classes in one’s field while getting all the pedagogical practice/theory (often wrong or outdated ie teaching to learning styles, etc.) just ought not to be the norm.
This also shows how narrow the actual knowledge students learn in a test heavy environment. All those “21st century teaching” people who push testing and skills seem also to miss tht if they believe in globalization as the future, teachers need to know more than just how to prepare students for tests and help them troubleshoot their devices in class.
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David,
I have always been a believer in the importance of a knowledge-rich curriculum–in history, literature, science, and government. Pedagogy matters, but it is not a substitute for knowledge. On the other hand, I have seen brilliant, well-educated people fail as teachers because they didn’t know how to teach or how to reach their students or how to manage the classroom.
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Hi Diane—thanks for the response. I agree and wonder if teaching is more of an art than a skill….perhaps there’s a even a bit of “teacher magic” that can’t be learned, which combines not just enthusiasm for teaching/subject matter but also a combination of charisma, emotional intelligence, ability to think on one’s feet and rhetorical skills (here I’m reminded of Louise Cowan’s description of the “teacher as shaman” in her American Educator article http://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/periodicals/Dubin_0.pdf).
Combine these with a knowledge of the science of student learning (are you familiar with the Deans for Impact document?: http://deansforimpact.org/the_science_of_learning.html) and you’ve got something special.
Sadly, my own school adopted the Danielson Framework which now tries to pigeonhole us into having “engaged students”, usually defined as them staring at a screen….
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David – I like your comment about grossly overrated Danielson. It is unfortunate that following is the norm. It seems the majority of school leaders have no desire to innovate and lead.
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Thanks…my fear is that with the Danielson model so focused on engagement, that we lose sight of something much more important.
ED Hirsch’s works–both new and old–are concerned about the transmission of cultural values from one generation to the next (something Hannah Arendt worried about as well). If we don’t perform this duty, then we open our society to shallow thinking (already prevalent in our liquid modern times, according to Zygmunt Bauman) and thus the sort of nationalism embodied by Trump.
I’d suggest that the combination of technology as it is today with a lack of focus in education is a very bad combination. I think Pope Francis agrees….from Laudato si, para 108:
“The idea of promoting a different cultural paradigm and employing technology as a mere instrument is nowadays inconceivable. The technological paradigm has become so dominant that it would be difficult to do without its resources and even more difficult to utilize them without being dominated by their internal logic. It has become countercultural to choose a lifestyle whose goals are even partly independent of technology, of its costs and its power to globalize and make us all the same. Technology tends to absorb everything into its ironclad logic, and those who are surrounded with technology “know full well that it moves forward in the final analysis neither for profit nor for the well-being of the human race”, that “in the most radical sense of the term power is its motive – a lordship over all”. As a result, “man seizes hold of the naked elements of both nature and human nature”. Our capacity to make decisions, a more genuine freedom and the space for each one’s alternative creativity are diminished.”
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I repeat: We should quit using the term alt-right and use the more accurate–fascism. They’re not even trying to cover up the differences anymore, even in a federal building just two blocks from the White House: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/21/us/alt-right-salutes-donald-trump.html?_r=0
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Does anyone have info on the old conservative organization that wanted to abolish public schools that former attny Gen John Ashcroft was said to belong? I remember finding the website at the time of this charge was made but can’t find now searching with google.
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dianecbrown,
probably funded by DeVos
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Sounds like something she would do, except this org was many decades old when Ashcroft was accused in the early 2000s. PS Thank you for your work. We need people like you now more than ever with conservatives controlling all Fed govt.
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Something like this: https://www.mises.org/library/what-if-public-schools-were-abolished
(sort of the opposite of John Dewey and Paul Krugman – really scary stuff) Do a search for abolish public schools or eliminate public education and you will have a back door to ALL the crazies!
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This has to be one of the scariest, most cynical things I’ve ever read. And Betsy DeVos probably has it memorized.
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Follow the money. Also, I wonder also how much of her position is based on religion. Mother Jones tied the DeVoses to the Christian right. That’s were Ashcroft was. And this zealot said to have been considered by then-Texas gvt Perry for head of state school board. http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/naming-someone-who-hates-public-schoo
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Diane, this is a complete state audit report regarding self dealing and inter-connectedness in “high performing” charter schools in Southern CA. The conclusion is that there is fraud and theft to the tune of about half a million dollars, which does not include the questionable pricing for services, and the “gifts of public funds”. A long read, but worth it. The irony is that these areas are highly conservative and scream bloody murder about teachers’ salaries and waste and fraud in schools and other government.
Click to access San-Bernardino-CSOS-OPA-final-report-1139.pdf
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Mrs. Ravitch,
I read and re-read your books while I was a Graduate student of education more than 15 years ago. I respected and appreciated your point of view, although I am in disagreement with your present point of view of education.
I am sad to report that I have lost respect for you. This is the result of your having called me a disrespectful internet troll during the time I posted to your website prior to the election. I was required to join an internet forum as a requirement for another graduate program, and immediately considered your site an excellent candidate to follow. I had hoped to engage in productive debate about the issues, and my points were met with derision, insults, and snide remarks about my background and education. You and your followers demonstrated the behavior that many people who did not vote for Mrs. Clinton cite as their reason for voting against Mrs. Clinton – the inability to hold more than one point of view in mind without engaging in insults.
Your candidate for President of the USA has lost. I believe the one who is contemptuous is you.
Sincerely,
Not a Clinton Supporter
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RWHP,
I am sorry to lose you as a reader and participant. I try to be honest when I write posts. I honestly think that Donald Trump is unfit and unqualified to be president of the United States and leader of the free world. I won’t recite all the reasons. I have written about them many times. That is my view. You don’t have to share it. But I don’t have to hide it.
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Diane,
I watched you on Amy Goodman this morning, Thank you for your commitment to education and your ability to articulate the facts regarding vouchers, charter schools, and public education. Your advocacy and voice continue to give me hope for the future of our children. Thank you for your “light”.
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Thought you would enjoy this clip of the Tonight Show. Jimmy Fallon talks about Bestsy Devos.
http://www.nbc.com/the-tonight-show/video/donald-trumps-mitt-romney-dinner-trump-cabinet-pick-betsy-devos-interview-monologue/3433856
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Dear Diane,
I thought you might be interested in commenting on Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2016/12/new-school-choice-debate-child-just-test-score.html. Defending vouchers because they “improve parent satisfaction” does not strike me as a particularly strong defense. Indeed one could argue that sometimes satisfaction indicates that something is wrong! For instance, if you were to ask college students, they might well be more satisfied with a course in which the workload is low, the teacher lenient, and grades high, even though the course would probably not be achieving its purpose.
Yours,
Isaac
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Isaac,
Thanks for the suggestion. That article is a very weak argument for destroying public education. I am not aware of any research that shows the superiority of vouchers other than parental satisfaction. But many parents would be happy to see their children in a school that teaches only religious dogma and that has uncertified teachers. They always have that choice but the community should not have to pay for it.
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“But many parents would be happy to see their children in a school that teaches only religious dogma and that has uncertified teachers. They always have that choice but the community should not have to pay for it.”
What a bias, prejudicial, slanderous statement! With your education and background I would expect you to be more broadminded and adhere to the dictates of your religion.
Has a survey ever been taken to see why parents send their children to a parochial school? My husband and I sent our children to a parochial school because we want them to be God-conscious. We want them to reflect on why God created us; what He expects of us. It is understandable why we do not pray in the public schools because of the medley of beliefs but don’t deny parents the right to have their children pray in school; to be God conscious; and be encouraged to live a life serving others.
As a public school teacher I knew my limitations as did all my God-fearing colleagues. One may wonder why so many crimes, wars, and inhumanity towards fellow beings through out history. God is a Loving God but also a Just God.
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Mary,
I sent my daughter to a Jewish day school for three years, but I didn’t expect my Catholic neighbors (who were good friends) to pay for it; nor did I subsidize the Catholic day school their children attended, although it was next door to my house (until the archdiocese closed it).
“Choice” means you make your choises, and sometimes they cost. That doesn’t make Ravitch biased, prejudiced, or slanderous. It does mean she generalized, which, as I tell the college students to whom I teach writing, isn’t a good idea. No, not all religous schools hire uncertified teachers. In fact, the top-ranking private (not religiously affiliated) school at which my husband taught–a feeder school for Harvard–hired “uncertified” teachers, too. So yes, the comment should have been tempered. But yours doesn’t do much more than throw more mud.
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“But many parents would be happy to see their children in a school that teaches only religious dogma and that has uncertified teachers. They always have that choice but the community should not have to pay for it.”
Jane, I was not advocating that the public pay for my children’s parochial education. I took offense when Dr. Ravitch implies an untruth, that parochial schools teach only religious dogma and hire uncertified teachers.
Religion class is only a very small portion of the curriculum but the objectives of being God-conscious and doing good to others pervades the day. My children received a very good well-rounded education in the parochial schools. My daughter, after three Masters degrees: Johns Hopkins, NYU, and Columbia, revolving around drama, arts/humanities, dramatic literature, educational theatre and English ended up with a doctorate in Cognitive Psychology from Columbia U.
Research shows that the Catholic schools do as well and even better on standardized tests scores. The scores are usually higher than the public schools. One example: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258188687_A_Comparison_of_Academic_Achievement_and_Adherence_to_the_Common_School_Ideal_in_Public_and_Catholic_Schools
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Hi Diane,
Since you were looking for some definitions, I though this guest post from The Learning Scientists blog on what we mean by “learning” was interesting and thought you’d like to see it: http://www.learningscientists.org/blog/2016/12/6-1
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thank you!
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David: Thank you for the excellent link (www.learningscientists.org/blog) and on to the list of ed terms. I “commented,” however, on the absence of the terms “question” and “insight” on the list, though these are probably subsumed under “cognitional theory” or “epistemology,” or other similar references.
My own long-term studies are centered on these specific events in consciousness, however, and so I missed them on the list. I understand these events as essential to understanding how we learn and how the self-corrective process, that we all constantly use, works or fails to work. The central reference is to Bernard Lonergan’s massive work in the 50’s called “Insight: A Study of Human Understanding” (2000/Univ. of Toronto Press). fwiw
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Lead Poisoning
Please consider the topic about how poorly schools serve the needs of lead poisoned children. Their special needs are typically ignored.
“…But to help the many thousands of children who have already been exposed or will be in the coming years, superintendents, regular and special-education teachers, nurses, and school psychologists must learn how the heavy metal affects young bodies, which of their students are affected, and how to advocate for them, according to attendees at a conference on lead exposure held at Princeton University last week.
https://www.njspotlight.com/stories/16/11/21/knowledge-cash-critical-in-fight-against-lead-poisoning-in-nj-s-kids/#
Lead poisoning prevention is the most important lead policy, but much more can be done to identify and help children already affected by lead.
Elyse Pivnick, MCP
Director of Environmental Health
Isles, Inc.
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Does anyone know anything about ReadWorks.org? They provide free reading comprehension passages for grades K-8 that are ‘common core aligned.’ Does anyone know who is funding their work?
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A 9 minute 36 second video with Dana Goldstein that’s worth sharing
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Will a jazz funeral be held for the last public school in New Orleans? http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2016/12/new_orleans_all_charter.html#incart_2box_nola_river_orleans_news
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How about Governor of Colorado for Michael Johnston? http://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/co/2016/12/08/michael-johnston-architect-of-colorados-teacher-evaluation-system-considering-bid-for-governor/
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Diane,
Did you see the letter to DeVos from The Clergy Letter Project, consisting of a group of 14,000 clergy men and women from diverse denominations? They do not think public schools are the place where God’s kingdom should be taught and they support real science.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-zimmerman/an-open-letter-to-the-sec_b_13538890.html
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Finally, some exceptional leadership:
QUOTE from LETTER: “Our concerns center on on three related topics. First, as a private citizen you have stated that your work on education reform was designed to “advance God’s Kingdom.” While we applaud your commitment as a private citizen, as the Secretary of Education we urge you to recognize that such a goal is inappropriate. The decisions you make and the initiatives the Department of Education undertake need to be in the best interest of all American citizens. Promoting one religious perspective leaves many of us on the outside. Indeed, having an arm of the federal government promoting ANY religious perspective leaves many Americans on the outside. Our commitment to our religious faith requires that we ask you to set aside your individual beliefs and think more broadly about the good of our country.”
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Electors request intelligence briefing: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/electors-intelligence-briefing-trump-russia-232498
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I would love to have a discussion about testing fatigue among US teenagers. I observe it every day as do my cohorts. I just gave the ACT WorkKeys test which is mandated for all 12th graders (with some qualifications) in NC. So many of the kids were done in 10-15 minutes as they cruised through the test clicking on random answers. We give 3 parts of the test at 55 minutes allotted to each. They know the test is meaningless to them and they have no interest in the results. In 4 years of giving this I have had about 2 students ask for their results! This is just one test. NC also mandates the ACT for juniors and the PLAN for sophomores. Unless the student is really motivated to do well and use the score for college admittance, many kids also breeze through those. I have never administered the PISA or other international tests but, based on my experience and observations, I bet a large number of US test takers could care less what they get on those tests. Parents and the rest of the public need to be made aware of this as they read these articles about the score comparisons. It is a completely invalid comparison to examine US students’ scores vs. kids in China. This is something that is so obvious to teachers – it’s time the word got out.
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What’s $5.3 million among friends? Front page of tomorrow’s Cincinnati Enquirer: http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/blogs/2016/12/14/brown-education-nominee-needs-pay-fine/95443600/
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“Experts often possess more data than judgment.”
Bureaucrats tell doctors how to doctor, video gamers tell the military how to strategize, and some guys … like Rex Tillerson of Exxon Mobil … tell teachers what they’re supposed to do … and then remind them that HE is the real customer of education.
Well, it seems that the customer is not always right after all.
Tillerson needs to get down on his hands and knees and reattach his soul to five year olds … or young teens … or anyone else who lives in a school. He insists that kids are products. Not such a smart statement.
So, let’s try to help.
Schools don’t exist as a minor league proving grounds for any industry. Lots of kids have career dreams that don’t include Exxon. What you do has no appeal for lots and lots of young folks. They dream differently than you. Their passions run in opposite directions. And you should learn to be very okay with that.
Schools are there to widen minds and grow creativity … the very attributes that will grow your own business in the years ahead. One day those school children will supply new solutions for new problems … because they were nurtured to be problems-solvers instead of regurgitating robots.
Are you following me here?
You’ve earned no special say in how schools are run. In fact, they’re safer with you at a greater distance.
Schools have a mission that’s timeless. They’ll produce folks who are like minded and contra-minded … and everything in between. It’s the sort of diverse thinking that produces unusual solutions and innovative advancements.
Our stake as the greatest nation on the planet is rooted in our schools … and by extension … our teachers.
We are the premier nation. The most sought after destination of all. No other nation tops America as the most wishful destination for millions and millions around the planet.
We are the model entrepreneurs of the world. And many entrepreneurs … like yourself … first tested their creativity on cold linoleum floors in extra-tiny classrooms … in homey little districts. Those were the warm incubators that welcomed silly risks and rewarded their efforts to cruise outside outside of the box.
American classrooms create wonder and possibilities … and they don’t produce any products. They help all kinds of potential to grow … and that sort of stuff is beyond quality control.
Teachers live in the encouraging zone … even in the most discouraging circumstances … urging kids to be daring thinkers … to stretch themselves as never before. To wonder. And imagine. And then act on those dreams.
Teachers knock down road-blocks and crash open doors. Their infectious sense of adventure is viral stuff. That invisible fuel that grows success that seems unlikely in the most unlikely kids … except to them.
Where did politicians first hone their skills? And inventors? How did doctors learn to dream pf “doctoring”? And those fifth grade straw bridges? How did they become reality thirty years later? Because a teacher marveled a child into thinking,”I can do this!”. And they did.
That’s not a product. That’s a miracle.
The moment schools become the handmaidens of business … or politics … they cease being schools and become boot camps. They last thing schools should foster is conformity and group-think.
Education isn’t business. Public education is the only institution that expects failure. Business loathes failure. In schools, the freedom to fail is the flip-side of the freedom to dream. With practice, it makes success a habit
So, if Rex Tillerson and the Exxon boys … or any other entrepreneurs … want a long and profitable future, they should leave their future fortunes in the hands of the dream-makers … those teacher-magicians who live on cold classroom floors and never forget that schools jump-start imaginations … and help create the Rex Tillersons of the world.
Denis Ian
https://www.yahoo.com/news/common-core-an-unexpected-flashpoint-in-rex-tillersons-potential-nomination-210400098.html
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Hi Diane—just saw this and thought you’d be interested. Bill Fitzgerald, the director of the privcy initiative at Common Sense Media, just signed the online petition “neveragain.tech” at http://neveragain.tech/
He then wrote a blog post bout his decision to do so at https://funnymonkey.com/profile/bill What I really find inpsiring are his last two paragraphs:
“With this as a backdrop, when I see something like neveragain.tech I will admit a degree of skepticism. The profiling tools are built, and the data sets are assembled, multiple times over. I also want to make explicitly clear that my signature, or lack of signature, on the list is pretty unimportant in the larger scheme of things. But with all that said – and with all the technology that has been built, and is right now humming along, collecting data, serving bad search results, and tracking us – we can still make things better. Hell, we might even be able to make things right.
“With regard to privacy, people often use two metaphors to describe why the efforts to increase privacy protections are meaningless: “the genie is out of the bottle” and “the train has left the station.” What people using these metaphors fail to recognize is that the stories end with the genie returning to the bottle, and the train pulling into another station. “Too late” is the language of the lazy or the overwhelmed. Change starts with awareness, and change grows with organized voices. That’s something I can get behind, and is the reason I signed neveragain.tech.”
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What do we say to those that say Obama doesn’t take daily intelligence briefings either, but has a subordinate take them?
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David,
First, I don’t know if it is true. Presidents typically start every day with an intelligence briefing.
Second, Obama is wiser and more experienced than Trump. Trump knows nothing about foreign affairs. Don’t you think he might want to learn?
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Here’s a piece at USA Today that goes into detail how the “daily” briefing goes. It says that even if they don’t have a standing meet6ing, the president gets the document the meeting would have covered. The piece also talks about Trump and what he wants in regards to these meetings and/or this info.
“For Obama, the PDB process paints a portrait of a methodical president who’s often disdainful of raw, unfiltered intelligence in favor of more analytical perspective. He encourages dissenting opinions. He’s interested in ‘open source’ intelligence — including press accounts and, increasingly, social media — in addition to old-fashioned spycraft and intercepted communications.”
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/12/14/intelligence-briefing-obama-trump-pdb/81751230/
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Can we all agree that the words “Newt Gingrich” and “serious intellectual” should never be associated with each other? For further evidence, as if we needed any, see transcript (or listen if you have the stomach for it) beginning at 11:31:00 in which he basically says that the president has absolute power and can pardon pretty much anyone he wants: http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2016-12-19/ongoing-questions-about-how-donald-trump-will-deal-with-business-conflicts-of-interest-as-president
I bet Nixon is kicking himself in the grave, “I could have just pardoned myself and finished my term, damn it!”
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Diane, Here is the story I emailed you about. Some local news outlets covered it. NJ Superintendent compares union talks to Sandy Hook: http://patch.com/new-jersey/westorange/n-j-superintendent-compares-union-negotiations-sandy-hook-shooting
There was also a response written by a high school student who states, “For students, teachers, and school administrators across the country, the sheer horror and pain of this attack is still very fresh, even four years later. While Rutzky was correct when he wrote that, “let us not forget the horrific act that happened 4 years ago today,” the appropriateness of his email can be questioned when he uses the school massacre as a means to motivate his employees.” https://www.tapinto.net/towns/west-orange/categories/letters-to-the-editor/articles/west-orange-student-responds-to-superintendents
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NJ teacher was recently fired for opining about Trump win on FB after hours.. Supposedly inflammatory language was used, but comments were clearly about a matter of public interest.
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Meanwhile…out it in the western states asteroid belt….State caused Seattle schools crisis
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Are you still a member of; National Council On Teacher Quality ?
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I never was a member of the NCTQ. I was on the board of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, which created it.
Read about it here: https://dianeravitch.net/2012/05/23/what-is-nctq/
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Diane, please check the Plunderbund website for story on Ohio Assembly bill that is ALEC Trojan Horse to destroy public education through vouchers, stripping local control, and choking off funding.
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CALL THE CONGRESSMEN.
TIE UP THEIR PHONE LINES FOR DAYS!
THAT IS THE WAY TO TO IT.
SHOW THEM THAT WE ARE HERE, AND WE ARE NOT GOING TO LIE DOWN FOR THIS CRAP!
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Just stumbled upon your book ‘Troubled Crusade’. Oh my. You are amazing. I’m applying to an Ed Policy Ph.D program, and whether I get in or not I’ll likely read all of your books. It is giving this practitioner and policy influencer life.
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You will like the last two books best
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I have to ask…If you have time to answer, please do. What are your thoughts on Communities In Schools and Promise Neighborhoods? I am more interested in your thoughts of PN.
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This article makes an interesting case against the learn-to-code mania we are seeing in education:
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Campbell Brown’s new job:
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/01/06/business/media/facebook-campbell-brown-media-fake-news.html?_r=0&referer=https://t.co/2qLgPfMdeS
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As we approach both MLK Day and DDay (January 20th) I strongly urge all to view and share two videos. One is a summary of the events leading up to the signing of the Civil Rights Act and the other is a 40 minute video, “The Children’s March” by Teaching Tolerance, on the power of children and organized opposition to bring about real change in the face of violence and bigotry.
There is no more timely/relevant message for this particular moment in our nation’s history. And it could not be more relevant to an audience of blog readers interested in improving education of our nation’s children, (and might even give you hope in these dark times…)
Please watch and share widely.
The short clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9kT1yO4MGg
The video suitable for students (middle years and up) and adults: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9kT1yO4MGg
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Great suggestion. If I may be so presumptuous to make another recommendation. When I taught in the 80s, my schools did not recognize MLK Day, so I “protested” by reading a selection from Studs Terkel’s book “American Dreams: Lost and Found” to every class I taught. Some students got two or three doses over my tenure. It is the chapter on C.P. Ellis, a former KKK leader in NC who celebrated MLK’s assassination on the night it happened with friends at his filling station. Later he became a janitor at Duke University and, after he became a union rep, learned that he had a lot in common with black people. The story concludes with him realizing how wrong he was to hate. The highlight of my career was when one of my students who went to Duke came back and told me he went to Terkel lecture and was sitting next to C.P. Ellis.
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Here’s a short interview on 60 minutes with Freeman Hrarebowski, participant in the Children’s March in 1963. Well-worth watching to remind us all of the power and responsibility of teaching and education…
Please watch and share widely.
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oops, typo.. should read: Hrabowski
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Gosh! how I admire teachers like you who did not need Mr Gates to determine what they should use to help their children grasp adult issues.
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http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_586d5517e4b0c3539e80c341?section=us_education
Not sure if you saw this yet.
Are you friends with Charlotte Danielson? Is she accessible for a conversation? I need to talk to her about her rubriccis being used to judge special education teachers.
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I met her once, briefly. I told her that teachers hate having her rubric shoved down their throats and she said it was being misused. I urged her to say so, out loud, in public.
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YA think?
False rubrics are being forced on teachers?
Hmmm.
EVERYONE WENT TO SCHOOL– and THUS anyone and everyone BELIEVES THAT THEY KNOW what teaching (not learning) should look like….and Gates now tells them what they should expect. He gives us rubrics???
And you talk about rubrics SIXTEEN YEARS AFTER THEY MADE SURE A TEACHER LIKE ME WOULD NOT EXIST.
In 1995 Harvard matched my practice to the PRINCIPLES (RUBRIC) that ENABLE LEARNING!
I was celebrated and famous (filmed by Harvard and Pew as the Standards Research cohort for NYC because MY KIDS LEARNED… all of them, ALWAYS!)
http://www.opednews.com/author/author40790.html
AGGGGH! Nothing changes!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Look…..
I have a room filled with everything that I used for 4 decades of teaching!
Yes, I DO!
ALL the books and ideas that INFORMED my practice: ALL the lesson plans which I wrote and followed, in order to meet the demands of the job.
I have ALL and materials that I generated in grade 2 , and in grades 6 and 7 (when I taught the whole seventh grade English and art curricula.
I can show EVERYTHING THAT A TEACHER like I was, NEEDS/must have- IN ORDER TO educate children, as I did so successfully and spectacularly for over 4 decades — the materials and books that informed my practice, all the performance objectives from the state and cities, and all the curricula guides from the schools…
…. in which I was given NOTHING else but a room and a class list of students!
Ironically, there is a piece in The American Educator, entitled ” The Case For a Teacher Like Me.”
Click to access ae_fall2016preston.pdf
A teacher like me did what was needed, in my own way from 1963 to 1998.
Rubrics???LOL
And, as PROOF-EVIDENCE, I have copies of the children’s work, their writing… stuff that knocked Harvard out when they were looking for a cohort to prove what a real RUBRIC for success looks like with a master teacher.!
I have a TREASURE TROVE which SHOWS/DEMONSTRATES/GIVES EVIDENCE of what A REAL teacher looks like — to a world that has been sold a bill of goods!*
Rubrics in 2017 — LOL!
You see, dear friends and fellow educators…..
…. a REAL PROFESSIONAL TEACHER MUST HAVE SUPPORT FROM THE PRINCIPAL!
THE HARVARD/ Pew study proved principals must do FOUR THINGS that are ESSENTIAL for LEARNING TO OCCUR!! Those 4 things outline the SUPPORT that administration must give.
Let me repeat that — 4 of Harvard’s standards — Principles of Learning — are FOR THE PRINICPAL!
In the absence of support from administrations
AND
with the addition of harassment and bullying, teaching becomes impossible, and therefore SO LEARNING is impossible, too.
Forget Rubrics from charlatans…but what do I Know!
I am looking for a film documentarian, to help me FILM this for my blog SPEAKING AS A TEACHER,; I hope to use video clips on my blogs, and my diary at OPed News, — to set folks straight about what a teacher does, and what she must have!!!
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+100
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Ms. Ravitch, people in my town are interested in doing for the school system what Finland has done for theirs. Do you have any recommendations as to resources and how to use them?
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Start with a community reading of Pasi Sahlberg, Finnish Lessons. That way, you can have a conversation
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Romney endorses DeVos (fairly balanced article): http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/09/mitt-romney-betsy-devos-will-challenge-education-establishment/
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Diane, for whatever reason, your site does not allow me to post links to Plunderbund stories. Please check the site today if you have time for a good piece about Bill Phillis and how a nefarious website is going after him and his work.
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Interview with the departing Secretary of Education by NPR: http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/01/09/508362813/schools-can-save-lives-an-exit-interview-with-the-u-s-education-secretary?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social
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Trump Inauguration Songs
Today my favorite radio station, KRCL 90.1 FM in Salt Lake City, made my day(drive to work) by playing Trump Inauguration Songs. They are as follows:
It’s The End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)-R.E.M.
Hard Sun-Eddie Vedder
Political Science-Randy Newman
Back in the U.S.S.R.-The Beatles
Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)l-Pink Floyd
It’s a Man’s World-James Brown
Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)-The Byrds
Enjoy-I know I did. Also, feel free to add to this list.
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http://www.newsobserver.com/entertainment/celebrities/article126178344.html
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This may already have been discussed on this blog, but I thought I’d ask anyway for those of use still curious. (Can’t think of a better place to find smart writers that probably have the answer…)
Why can’t individuals or stakeholder groups file a FOIA request for DT’s tax returns? Alternatively, do any individuals have the info already due to a legal entanglement they had with DT? There was an interview on NPR yesterday with a reporter who has several years of DT’s tax returns due to a personal law suit he was involved in with DT. Surely, there must be some concerned citizens out there who have similar recent info from the many law suits DT’s always embroiled in.
How is this incredibly important, essential information from a person who will be the next POTUS (!!!??) still allowed to remain protected and undisclosed? (Imagine another candidate, even a GOP candidate, trying to withhold the same info…)
Thought it was worth asking…
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From George Karl’s new book about his time coaching basketball in the NBA, this excerpt didn’t seem unrelated to our current education situation:
“Fitzgerald [the owner of Golden State] said to me once, “You’re the only guy I know in the league who is not here to make money.” I took it as a compliment, but now I realize it was an insult. He meant that I didn’t understand Rule One: the NBA is a business. Money, PR, and getting along with people matters. The NBA is not all basketball, although I wish it was.
In March, I was reminded of the importance and the depth of owner involvement. Fans and the media think the background owner is ideal, the fossil who just signs the checks and lets the GM and the coach run his team. I don’t know what’s ideal, but I do know that’s not the way it works.
Back in the day, groups bought NBA franchises to have a team their community could rally around. Now the owners are billionaires, and as someone said to me, millionaires listen but billionaires don’t have to. Today’s billionaire owners know EVERYTHING about their investment, and they make every big decision and a lot of smaller ones.”
There’s more (this relates to Karl in the process of being fired…or forced to resign…with the spun statement as noted in the book: ” ‘the pressures of losing combined with personal frustrations led to my decision.’ Which was not my decision at all.” Maybe I’m just forcing the comparison, but I see connections.
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To Ohio Algebra II teacher: I think you are right to recognize the analogical relationship between education and sports–where both are owned by investor-billionaires. It’s a one-horse mentality where everything is seen as a business and where nothing can be different than that–It’s not capitalism per se, which is rather innocuous and abstract as an idea. Rather, it’s a capitalist mentality that has taken over the entire horizon of the person involved in it. Ideas like common good or commonwealth, government service, democracy, and its non-business relationship to education, the arts, family, and ideas like you talk about–rooting for the home team, probably existed at some point, but now are all dried up–dragged around unconscious having been totally encroached on by an overriding sense of corporate kleptomania. It’s not new–even Plato talked about it–but I doubt on the same scale as we are experiencing today.
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Two articles your readers might find worthy for future:
Don’t think of a rampaging elephant: Linguist George Lakoff explains how the Democrats helped elect Trump
A Minority President: Why the Polls Failed, And What the Majority Can Do
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And, in Ohio, the ESSA achieves…nothing: http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2017/01/ohio_proposes_no_testing_cuts.html
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Hi Diane,
Remembering your recent post on the skills movement, Vishal Sikka of Infosys just posted an article in the Financial Times on skills needed in the age of AI. He’s apparently also working with Missy Cummings at Duke. It’s behind a paywall, but here’s the link: https://www.ft.com/content/5bf845fe-b7c2-11e6-961e-a1acd97f622d
The pertinent part:
“The time has come to rethink education and to recast it as a life-long process. That means we need to move away from rewarding memorisation and instead prize curiosity and experimentation — the building blocks of discovering and understanding the things we do not yet know. Curriculums should be modernised to encourage creative problem finding and solving, and learning through doing, with mandatory computer science learning as the bedrock for enabling digital literacy. Organisations also need to make life-long learning resources available for employees to enhance skills development. Indeed, they should be required to dedicate a percentage of their annual revenue to reskilling staff.”
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David F,
That’s the same old “who needs knowledge” bit. Learning is akin to a barnacle. It builds and builds. The more you know, the more you can learn. The more you know, the better you can question.
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I know…I made a comment on the FT site saying just that. The sad part is that this was based on a speech Sikka gave at the WEF in Davos, where you know the tech people, corporate types and foundations soak this up. I wish we could somehow convince them about the reailty of the relationship between content knowledge and skills in education….
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Here’s an op-ed to ponder and react to the gibberish! Ugggghhhhh!
http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/4835828-155/op-ed-more-than-money-utah-schools
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Diane and Friends,
If you’re looking for something to do right now, watch Facebook.com/TheBushCenter/. Very interesting live forum on education in the city of Dallas… but it could be anywhere.
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