If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
It's time to address the top-down, mostly privately-funded school reform "movement" currently shaping our national education policy and the impact it's having on black and brown and, most especially, poor children.
Back to School. A time of excitement, anxiety and... failure?
It is a result of the situational ethics of today's accountability hawks. The end, of helping poor children, is used to justify disgusting means -- the intimidation of adults to the point where some break under the pressure.
There is not a single school factor that has more of an effect on student learning than teacher quality. It's more important than shrinking class sizes or building state-of-the-art science labs.
I propose we dub this stressful time of year "National Hug-an-Accountant Month" in honor of the behind-the-scenes hard work these unsung professionals do for nonprofits and the community.
USA Today's reports on the reliability of student test scores unfairly leave the impression district leaders avoided an investigation into possible cheating. Further, it implies cheating was widespread. I'd like to set the record straight.
For Gray, assessing Rhee's record in D.C. presents a dilemma. His supporters despise her. But Gray has good reasons for ignoring all the noise.
Rhee decided to take the D.C. fight nationally with StudentsFirst, a group that she wants to counter all the forces she sees as only pretending to put the interest of students first.
If Michelle Rhee were to walk into my classroom, my guess is she'd probably jump out of her skin with angst and fury at the dearth of Scantron sheets, multiple choice test prep packets, and #2 pencils.
Is it possible that adults could learn from these wonderful kids and treat students as more than test scores?
