Personalized (Online) Learning Fails at Classroom Dynamics and Socialization Personalized (Online) Learning Fails at Classroom Dynamics and Socialization Let’s get together, yeah yeah yeah Think of all that we could sha-are Let’s get together everyday Every way and everywhere And though we haven’t got a lot We could be sharin’ all we’ve got Together ~Haley Mills, From Walt Disney’s The Parent Tra

Batch Processing Students on an Assembly Line Using the Factory Model | Teacher in a strange land Batch Processing Students on an Assembly Line Using the Factory Model There’s a revealing little clip in ‘Waiting for Superman’ —the feel-bad documentary that was designed to damn public education before revealing and promoting its amazing new successor, charter schools . WFS was loaded with such car

This Map Shows the Largest Employer in Every State This Map Shows the Largest Employer in Every State If your reaction was “Wow, Walmart controls A LOT of the country,” you’d be right. This map shows the largest private employer in every state in the U.S., and Walmart is tops in an incredible 22 states. In total, the company employs 1.5 million Americans. Here’s a full state-by-state list for you

House Democrats pile on to scrutinize DeVos - POLITICO House Democrats pile on to scrutinize DeVos For two years, Democrats watched with fury as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos sought to dismantle nearly every significant Obama administration education policy. Now, they’re gearing up to fight back. Lots of them. As many as five Democratic-led House committees next year could take on DeVos over a

Let's talk about Teach for America… | Eclectablog Let’s talk about Teach for America… I think we need to start being very intentional with the language we use when referring to organizations like Teach for America (TfA) and the persons who decide to join them–and having made some of the mistakes I’m about to point out myself, I’m taking the liberty of making the following suggestions: • There are

Betsy DeVos to the rescue: For-profit colleges see a savior in secretary - The Washington Post Betsy DeVos to the rescue: For-profit colleges see a savior in secretary The rejection letter was harsh. Page after page, an accrediting agency ticked off all the problems at Virginia College, a large chain of for-profit schools with dwindling enrollment. There would be no seal of approval, the accredit

I Put In Work And It's All For The Kids [An NCTE Reflection] | The Jose Vilson I PUT IN WORK AND IT’S ALL FOR THE KIDS [AN NCTE REFLECTION] Just before I got home, I turn on DMX’s “X Gon’ Give It To Ya” because it matches the BPM I need to make it through the length of JFK International Airport corridors. As I get off the umpteenth moving sidewalk, DMX rapped : “I’ve been doing this for 19 years.

Jeff Bryant: Voters Reject the Rightwing Push for School Privatization | Diane Ravitch's blog Jeff Bryant: Voters Reject the Rightwing Push for School Privatization Jeff Bryant reviews the victories for public education in the last elections. The big victories were the overwhelming defeat of voucher legislation in Arizona and the Tony Thurmond’s election over the charter lobby’s candidate Marshal

Technological Monitoring of Student Work in a Classroom | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice Technological Monitoring of Student Work in a Classroom I was [in] a classroom yesterday and all of the kids had Chrome Books. They opened them midway through the class to read a few excerpts the teacher had selected. After the class, the teacher told me that he has a monitor at his desk

CURMUDGUCATION: The Seven Most Powerful Words In Education The Seven Most Powerful Words In Education What can I do to help you? These words are hugely powerful and tragically underused at every level of the education world. In the classroom, teachers have been taught since the dawn of time that they should be clear about their expectations. This is excellent practice; let the student know exactl

Opioid Crisis: Sackler Family Members Are Targets of Mass Litigation and Criminal Investigations | Diane Ravitch's blog Opioid Crisis: Sackler Family Members Are Targets of Mass Litigation and Criminal Investigations The Sacklers of Connecticut are one of the richest families in America. Forbes recently put their collective wealth at $14 billion. That money was created by Purdue Pharma, which cre

Rescuing Our Schools from the Corporate Goliaths: Lessons from Indianapolis - Living in Dialogue Rescuing Our Schools from the Corporate Goliaths: Lessons from Indianapolis The theme of my previous post on the 2018 Network for Public Education conference was: How Was I Wrong? Let Me Count Some Ways. As I explained, the 2014 NPE conference in Austin hit a nice balance in terms of messaging and res

Opposing Charter Schools Without Really Opposing Them | Dissident Voice Opposing Charter Schools Without Really Opposing Them Many individuals, groups, newspapers, and organizations claim that they oppose charter schools. But, revealing ongoing confusion, they also say, often in the same breath, that “there are some good charter schools out there,” that “not all charter schools are rotten,” that

Dear Lawmakers, Please Hire Teachers as Education Aides – Not TFA Alumni | gadflyonthewallblog Dear Lawmakers, Please Hire Teachers as Education Aides – Not TFA Alumni Dear freshmen lawmakers, We did it! After a fiercely contested election, we have finally begun to turn the tide back toward progressive politics. Midterms usually are sparsely attended, but this year we had an unprecedented turnout

Happy Thanksgiving! Happy Thanksgiving! | Diane Ravitch's blog - https://wp.me/p2odLa-lbM via @dianeravitch Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy your day. If you are not making dinner, go to a church or homeless shelter to volunteer to serve others. It will remind you of your blessings and good fortune. Former President Obama helped prepare food bags for those in need in Chicago (imagine Trump doing that, I

We're thankful for these Twitter superstars | Schott Foundation for Public Education We're thankful for these Twitter superstars For those of you who tweet entirely too much (which applies to many of us at Schott!) we've assembled our first annual Twitter list of Education Justice Superstars, individuals who are helping to expand the education conversation online. They’re leading the way, pushing

John Thompson: Goliath, King of the Zombies | Diane Ravitch's blog John Thompson: Goliath, King of the Zombies John Thompson here writes about his reaction to the annual conference of the Network for Public Education, where the implicit theme was that David is beating Goliath, but Goliath just keeps stumbling forward, crushing public schools and advancing privatization, with no evidence of succes

Toward a Consensus Approach to Evaluating State School Finance Systems! (and dumping the others!) – School Finance 101 Toward a Consensus Approach to Evaluating State School Finance Systems! (and dumping the others!) Over the past decade, there has been an emerging consensus regarding state school finance systems, money and schools. That consensus is supported by a growing body of high-quality em

The New Stupid Replaces the Old Stupid (Rick Hess) | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice The New Stupid Replaces the Old Stupid (Rick Hess) From an interview conducted in 2009 with Rick Hess, then Resident Scholar at The American Enterprise Institute. I have lightly abridged the interview. The original article upon which this interview is based is here . Q: Rick, you recently publ

Truly Public Schools Must Form Engaged Citizens and Then Engage Those Citizens in Shaping School Policy | janresseger Truly Public Schools Must Form Engaged Citizens and Then Engage Those Citizens in Shaping School Policy This blog will take a week long Thanksgiving break. Look for a new post on November 29. Good wishes for Thanksgiving! In its October 2018 issue, Phi Delta Kappan magazine featur

Please save me from the wisdom of self-appointed education experts, Part 293 | Eclectablog Please save me from the wisdom of self-appointed education experts, Part 293 I read a lot of stuff on education policy, written by a wide range of authors. Some are bright, well-informed, and experienced teachers. Most are not. But this piece here maybe the silliest article on education reform I’ve seen in

CURMUDGUCATION: Should Your Three-Year-Old Attend On-line School? Should Your Three-Year-Old Attend On-line School? The short answer is, "No." Or maybe, "Hell, no." You may wonder why the subject even needs to be discussed, and the short answer to that is, " Because somebody's already doing it ." By now you've probably heard the new old saying that kindergarten is the new first grade , with acade

My Review of Eve L. Ewing’s “Ghosts in the Schoolyard” | Diane Ravitch's blog My Review of Eve L. Ewing’s “Ghosts in the Schoolyard” The best book about education this year was written by a woman who is a poet, a playwright, a novelist, and soon to be the writer of a Marvel comic about “a black girl genius from Chicago.” Ewing has a doctorate in sociology from Harvard and is now on the faculty of

DeVos Proposes Controversial Rewrite of Rules for Investigating Campus Sexual Assault | janresseger DeVos Proposes Controversial Rewrite of Rules for Investigating Campus Sexual Assault Last Friday, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos released—for a 60-day public comment period—new rules for how schools that receive federal dollars must handle allegations of sexual assault. The Washington Post ‘s Lau

Charter School Cheerleaders Elected to Leadership with PA House Dems | gadflyonthewallblog Charter School Cheerleaders Elected to Leadership with PA House Dems Democratic gains in the midterm elections were a repudiation of the policies of Donald Trump. Yet holding nearly the same views as Trump’s Education Secretary Betsy DeVos earned two Pennsylvania state representatives high leadership positi

Toxic Philanthropy Part 1: Surveillance – Wrench in the Gears Toxic Philanthropy Part 1: Surveillance We are living through desperate times: populations dislocated by climate catastrophe and dispossessed by state violence. Many are attempting, unsuccessfully, to navigate economic systems grounded in low-wage, disposable labor and insurmountable debt. The cost of living continues to rise, especial

A White Supremacist Murdered Two At My Supermarket: Kentucky teacher speaks out against racist violence and the school-to-prison-pipeline – I AM AN EDUCATOR A White Supremacist Murdered Two At My Supermarket: Kentucky teacher speaks out against racist violence and the school-to-prison-pipeline I n October, two Black grandparents were gunned down by a white supremacist in a Kroger supermarket in L

Kelly would ‘welcome’ bill to restore teacher due process | The Wichita Eagle Kansas’ next governor says job protections for teachers should be restored statewide TOPEKA Kansas Gov.-elect Laura Kelly said she would welcome a bill to again provide thousands of public school teachers with statewide due process protections that were eliminated years ago. During an interview Thursday with McClatchy,

Tony Thurmond beats Marshall Tuck in California schools chief race | The Sacramento Bee Charter school backers spent millions on statewide races in 2018. They still lost twice. When former charter school executive Marshall Tuck called Assemblyman Tony Thurmond to concede over the weekend, it marked another defeat for charter-school advocates in California. Thurmond was elected California’s top ed

CURMUDGUCATION: Is This The End Of Ed Reform Policy? Is This The End Of Ed Reform Policy? From time to time Mike Petrilli (Fordham Institute) grabs himself a big declaration and goes to town. Last week, the declaration was "We have reached the end of education policy. " He frames this up with references to Francis Fukuyama's book about the end of history, and I don't know that he really ever stic

4-H: Trump agency push to dump LGBT policy led to Iowa leader's firing EXCLUSIVE: How Trump administration pressure to dump 4-H's LGBT policy led to Iowa leader's firing The Trump administration pushed the national 4-H youth organization to withdraw a controversial policy welcoming LGBT members — a move that helped lead to the ouster of Iowa's top 4-H leader earlier this year, a Des Moines Regist

In Kansas, Teach for America Underdelivers and Still Gets Paid $270K | deutsch29 In Kansas, Teach for America Underdelivers and Still Gets Paid $270K On November 16, 2018, KMUW.com (NPR in Wichita, Kansas) published an article entitled, “Kansas to Pay Teach for America $270,000 for Recruiting Three Teachers.” $270,000. Three teachers. (But if you count last year, which was pre-TFA-contract, and a

How Facebook Dealt with Crisis: A Tale of Denial | Diane Ravitch's blog How Facebook Dealt with Crisis: A Tale of Denial This article was published by the New York Times on November 15. You will learn how Facebook dealt with questions about its slipshod handling of multiple crises. Facebook has the power for great good, connecting people to act collectively as they did in the teachers’ protests l

Help save public education by giving to NPE - Network For Public Education Help save public education by giving to NPE Giving Tuesday is November 27. This holiday season please remember to give a gift to save public education by donating to NPE. Right now your tax deductible gift can have twice the impact. Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor who deeply believes in the importance of pub

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Light Up Night Hangover Edition (11/18) ICYMI: Light Up Night Hangover Edition (11/18) Last night was my town's big Light Up Night parade, which includes a huge parade (well, huge by our standards) fireworks, and cold children. But I still have some reading for you. Remember-- sharing is caring. If People Talked To Other Professionals The Way They Talk To Teachers A painful

Public advocate beats charter supporter for California schools chief - The Washington Post Public advocate beats charter supporter for California schools chief It was the most expensive race for a state superintendent. By Valerie Strauss November 17 at 6:08 PM Finally, more than a week after the vote, there is now a winner in the race for California’s superintendent of public instruction after th

Top Posts This Week 11/17/18 Ignore the charter school think-tank crowd - CommonWealth Magazine Top Posts This Week 11/10/18 #THANKSFORVOTING #REDFORED Lessons from the Continuing Attack on Kansas City’s Schools | tultican More on the Public Purpose of Our Public Schools and the Role of Public Governance | janresseger CURMUDGUCATION: Anti-Test, Pro-Computer Inside Philanthropy: Billionaires Buyin