January | 2019 | Building Better Schools

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

The Grand Scam: The Economy’s Turned Around But Where Is the Praise for Schools?*

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/