Carolyn Foote

We've been having two different reform conversations about education. One conversation revolves around testing, teacher accountability, measurements, incentives and punishments. One conversation revolves around learning, students, teaching, the future of the classroom, school change, networked learning, and professional growth for teachers. One conversation values teachers and schools, is open to...

This spring, the Texas legislature, led by Governor Rick Perry, has committed assault against the students and teachers of the state of Texas -- a state which already is 44th in the nation in its funding of education.

Draconian budget cuts were threatened from the beginning of the...

Last week my school district held a forum for local legislators about the education budget crisis in Texas.

Texas Representatives Donna Howard and Paul Workman were joined by Texas Senator Kirk Watson to share their perspectives on the education budget shortfall and the financial crisis Texas finds itself in.

But...

Time Magazine recently announced that Mark Zuckerberg was selected as their "Person of the Year." It seems a rather peculiar choice, since not only is Facebook "old hat" but also because Facebook has not been the best player in regards to user privacy.

So I have my own end of...

In a recent speech at the American Enterprise Institute signaling national educational belt-tightening, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan signaled a grim era of budget cutting for schools, while offering some insightful and not so insightful recommendations for schools to address nationwide budget shortfalls.

Sadly, once again, it feels...

"If we amplify everything we hear nothing."

Sometimes we overlook the simplest things. Much of the talk of school reform has focused on merit pay, charter schools. and achievement tests. But actually, there is one obvious thing we can do to improve our students' education, especially in the most impoverished schools. We can support well-staffed, well-stocked school...

In a recent online panel discussion of education reform, education advocate Diane Ravitch decried what she called the current "national monologue" about education. She's right. The current discussion is being cast as one story of reform, pitching testing as the cornerstone, and poor-teaching as the villain. But when the education...

A few nights ago, I lay in bed beside my 6-year-old nephew listening to him read and giggle his way through a new book. Driving home afterward, I thought of Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers student who committed suicide after fellow students livestreamed his personal life onto the Internet. I imagined...