Monthly Archives: January 2019

Comments Dec. 18th, 2018-Jan. 16th, 2019

COMMENTS Dec. 19th, 2018 to Jan. 16th, 2019

Build and Support Efforts

Here is a summary of two years of weekly presentations on a variety of key educational improvement topics by some of the top researchers and practitioners in the nation with links and slides. http://tinyurl.com/CCSS-Implementation-Consortium  

Tom Ultican favorably reviews Andrea Gabor’s terrific new book After the Education Wars. I’ve read the book. It is a must read and I especially like Gobor’s stressing of positive build and support principles such as engagement and the use of public school examples of where build and support has worked. https://tultican.com/2018/12/19/after-the-education-wars/ Another favorable review by Peter Greene https://dianeravitch.net/2019/01/07/peter-greene-admires-andrea-gabors-after-the-education-wars/ Deming yes. Taylorism, no.

Forbes article on the importance of history and civics. https://www.forbes.com/sites/nataliewexler/2019/01/13/math-and-science-cant-take-priority-over-history-and-civics/amp/  

Jal Mehta on leadership for deeper learning. http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/learning_deeply/2018/12/the_paradox_of_leading_for_deeper_learning.html

The Lawsuit That Could Change the Face of Civics Education. https://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/newsletter-Rubin-010818  

How one district tackled its low reading performance. https://www.npr.org/2019/01/02/677722959/why-millions-of-kids-cant-read-and-what-better-teaching-can-do-about-it

 Fortune: America is Losing Teachers at an Alarming Rate http://fortune.com/2018/12/28/american-teachers-quitting/

Jan Resseger: Decades of research support community schools in New York City. https://janresseger.wordpress.com/2019/01/09/decades-of-academic-research-support-community-schools-strategy-in-nyc/ and David Kirp’s article in the NYTimes https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/10/opinion/community-school-new-york.html

Charter, Voucher, Corporate Reform, and Privatization Issues

Carol Burris: Can charters be reformed? She lists five major problems with the charter school industry. https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2018/12/16/can-charter-schools-be-reformed-should-they-be/?utm_term=.127764beacd8

Peter Greene: LA teacher’s strike is different—the union is bargaining for public school survival and quality. https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2019/01/12/is-the-los-angeles-teacher-strike-a-different-kind-of-strike/#7d56ffd930e5 Similarly, a thoughtful article by Jan Resseger on the meaning of the LA strike https://janresseger.wordpress.com/2019/01/15/18499/, Steven Singer: LA teacher strike is about excessive charter expansion and high-stakes testing. https://gadflyonthewallblog.com/2019/01/14/la-teachers-strike-is-about-charter-schools-and-high-stakes-testing/ and Miriam Pawel writing in the New York Times finds aggressive charter expansion in LA is a root cause of the teacher’s strike. She writes: Can California provide sufficient resources to support an effective public education system? Or will charter schools cripple it?” https://dianeravitch.net/2019/01/15/whats-at-stake-in-l-a-teachers-strike-the-survival-of-public-education/

Jeff Bryant: Choice Has Become an Excuse for Charter and Voucher Schools to Discriminate http://educationopportunitynetwork.org/choice-has-become-an-excuse-for-charter-and-voucher-schools-to-discriminate/?link_id=1&can_id=cea050dcef20333abf235c3ba9bc6d51&source=email-choice-is-about-discrimination&email_referrer=email_476304&email_subject=choice-is-about-discrimination

Nancy Bailey: Arne Duncan continues to push dangerous corporate school reforms. https://nancyebailey.com/2018/12/26/arne-duncan-continues-to-push-dangerous-corporate-school-reform/

A batch of Diane Ravitch postings:

https://dianeravitch.net/2018/12/23/new-orleans-the-last-public-school-closes-despite-objections-of-parents-and-students-and-alumni/

https://dianeravitch.net/2019/01/11/arizona-100-charter-schools-in-financial-trouble-at-risk-of-closing-says-report-from-watchdog-group/

https://dianeravitch.net/2018/12/22/john-thompson-reformers-are-shifting-tactics-not-goals/

https://dianeravitch.net/2018/12/19/this-for-profit-college-chain-is-closing-stranding-students-with-plenty-debt-but-no-degrees/

https://dianeravitch.net/2018/12/19/oklahoma-businessman-splits-rural-town-by-opening-a-charter-to-compete-with-public-school/

https://dianeravitch.net/2018/12/19/texas-superintendent-says-we-need-to-fund-our-public-schools-and-stop-diverting-money-to-charters/

https://dianeravitch.net/2018/12/22/los-angeles-charter-school-founder-pleads-guilty-to-felony-embezzlement-charge/

https://dianeravitch.net/2019/01/05/florida-government-watchdog-agency-reports-on-charter-corruption-cronyism-lack-of-accountability/

https://dianeravitch.net/2018/12/24/waltons-are-shamefully-targeting-black-communities-with-privatization-promises/

https://dianeravitch.net/2018/12/28/when-school-choice-means-schools-choose/ The problems of skimming.

https://dianeravitch.net/2018/12/29/linda-lyon-arizona-legislators-want-to-punish-teachers-instead-of-funding-schools/

https://dianeravitch.net/2019/01/06/john-thompson-the-news-from-oklahoma-part-1/ What the teacher strike was all about. https://dianeravitch.net/2019/01/08/john-thompson-oklahoma-and-the-same-tired-privatization-agenda-part-3/

https://dianeravitch.net/2019/01/04/texas-watch-out-for-governor-abbotts-bait-and-switch-of-billions-from-public-schools/

https://dianeravitch.net/2019/01/04/angie-sullivan-nevada-needs-a-charter-moratorium/

https://dianeravitch.net/2019/01/16/trustees-of-houston-independent-school-district-protest-states-hostile-privatization-plan/

https://dianeravitch.net/2019/01/14/nancy-bailey-the-harm-that-tfa-recruits-do-to-students-with-disabilities/

This Indiana on-line school graduated just 2% of its students in 2018. https://chalkbeat.org/posts/in/2019/01/02/this-indiana-virtual-charter-school-graduated-just-2-percent-of-its-students-in-2018/

https://dianeravitch.net/2019/01/08/florida-education-association-responds-to-governor-desantis-on-quality-education/

Common Cause, Connecticut against moneyed interests pushing charters. http://www.commoncause.org/connecticut/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2018/12/Charter-school-PAC-report-121818-final_19012.pdf

Thomas Ultican: Anti-public school forces retooling for 2019. https://tultican.com/2018/12/26/destroy-public-education-forces-retooling-for-2019/

Peter Greene: How charters damage public schools in PA. http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2019/01/pa-how-charters-damage-public-school.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FORjvzd+%28CURMUDGUCATION%29

Technology

Backlash against personalized learning. Report offers seven proposals for corrective action. https://thejournal.com/Articles/2019/01/09/A-Personalized-Learning-Backlash.aspx?Page=2

Peter Greene: 8 reasons not to love personalized learning. http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2018/12/8-reasons-not-to-love-personalized.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FORjvzd+%28CURMUDGUCATION%29

Peter Greene: Why teachers don’t use the software their districts paid for. http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2018/12/why-teachers-dont-use-software-their.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FORjvzd+%28CURMUDGUCATION%29

Technology Review: The biggest tech failures of 2018. https://www.technologyreview.com/s/612646/the-biggest-technology-failures-of-2018/

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