The Influence of Teachers

In the clamor, the voices of regular classroom teachers are difficult to hear, which is why I am devoting this blog to them. With apologies to Sigmund Freud, "What do teachers want?"

Are American teachers "nation builders?" Could they be? What tools does a "Nation Builder" (or any other builder) need to be able to get the job done?

Whether this two-day event was excessively celebratory is the question on my mind. Why spend two days in a conflict-free zone when the situation in schools is dire?

Focusing on vocabulary drill can lead educators to forget how kids in affluent homes actually acquire their wonderful lexicon.

Many times, I found myself wanting to skip to the final pages and see Merrow's bottom line.

While a staggering 91 percent of African American boys are below grade level in reading in third grade, this is not a racial issue. It's a national crisis: 83 percent of ALL low-income children are behind.

There's no question that Wendy Kopp and Teach for America have changed the landscape and made a significant contribution. But let's not pretend that it's all good or all bad.

February is a great month for books about education, with very readable releases from John Seely Brown, Richard Whitmire, Ron Dietel, Alexander Russo, and Gene Maeroff.