Sol Stern on Reading First

by Robert Pondiscio
May 20th, 2008

Tags: ,
Posted in Literacy, Research and Reports | 2 Comments »

You knew it was coming, and today Sol Stern dissects the IES study documenting the “failure” of Reading First, describing it as neither rigorous nor comprehensive.

“The study found that students in a small sample of Reading First schools showed no greater improvement in reading comprehension than those in a similar group of schools that applied for the program but didn’t get federal grants. The IES’s poorly designed study, together with sloppy media coverage of its findings, will likely cause irreparable damage to Reading First—the only federal education program that requires schools receiving federal grants to adhere to instructional approaches backed by evidence and science.”

Learning From Sweden

by Robert Pondiscio
May 20th, 2008

Tags: ,
Posted in Curriculum, Educational Policy | No Comments »

Sweden introduced free school choice about 15 years ago and the country’s voucher educational system is probably “the most ambitious of its kind in the world,” notes Per Unckel, a former Swedish Minister of Education and Science. No mean feat for a country “where competition within the area of public services has not generally been accepted.” Other countries, say Unckel, might find Sweden’s school system worth studying:

“Its schools are financed by local communities and work within the framework of a national curriculum designed by the parliament and government. But, while everyone must follow these rules, individual schools are run in a competitive manner. Anyone – parents, teachers, or even companies – can apply for a license to operate a school. The National School Board is, in principle, instructed to approve an application if the proposed school is likely to fulfill the national goals and has a solid financial base.”

The voucher system means that all students, irrespective of family income, can attend the school of their choice, Unckel writes. “Even in rural areas, there is now a wide choice of schools, and it seems that competition has improved the overall quality of Swedish schools, as non-public schools’ very existence has created a demand for reform of public schools.”

Amicus Brief in Petrilli v. Millot

by Robert Pondiscio
May 19th, 2008

Posted in Education Leadership | 1 Comment »

I was planning to post this afternoon in support of Mike Petrilli, whose post questioning AERA’s embrace of Bill “Guilty as Hell, Free As a Bird” Ayers was unaccountably described as “McCarthyism” by the usually smart and sensible Dean Millot. But I see Diane Ravitch, as is her wont, has settled matters nicely. It’s a bit surprising that otherwise reasonable people seem eager to overlook Ayer’s past. We’re not talking about “youthful indescretions” here. We’re taking about clear, unambiguous criminal behavior which claimed lives–behavior for which Ayers claimed credit and refuses to renounce. “I don’t regret setting bombs, said Ayers. “I feel we didn’t do enough.”

McCarthyism? Please.

The Last Word: It belongs to Matthew K. Tabor, who posts a lengthy backgrounder on Ayers and the Weathermen, and draws Millot into his lair for a few rounds of responses. Well played, sir.

The Golden Age for YA Fiction

by Robert Pondiscio
May 19th, 2008

Posted in Literacy, Research and Reports | No Comments »

Another sign that not all is lost. While the conventional wisdom says teens aren’t readers, they are actually scooping up novels in unprecedented numbers, Newsweek reports. “Young-adult fiction (ages 12-18) is enjoying a bona fide boom with sales up more than 25 percent in the past few years, according to a Children’s Book Council sales survey. Virtually every major publishing house now has a teen imprint, many bookstores and libraries have created teen reading groups and an infusion of talented new authors has energized the genre,” the magazine notes.

While Harry Potter gets all the press, any 4th- to 8th grade teacher can tell you there is an extraordinarily rich body of work currently in print for kids, most of which is virtually unknown outside of schools. Ask someone who’s not a tween, teen or teacher if they’ve heard of Jerry Spinnelli, Katherine Paterson, Kate DiCamillo or Louis Sachar. Be prepared for blank stares.

“This is the second golden age for young-adult books,” author David Levithan tells Newsweek. “Levithan and others cite several reasons for this perfect storm for teen lit, the most obvious two being the increasing sophistication and emotional maturity of teenagers and the accompanying new freedom for writers in the genre to explore virtually any subject. Another is that bookstores and libraries are finally recognizing this niche and separating teen books from children’s books.”

The Newsweek piece follows a report issued two weeks ago, What Kids are Reading: The Book Reading Habits of Students in American Schools, which was touted as the first comprehensive report to provide detailed information about the books school children are actually reading.

Go Big Mo!

by Robert Pondiscio
May 19th, 2008

Tags:
Posted in Teacher Training, Teaching | No Comments »

Speaking of Teach for America (see below), Eduwonk has a guest blog piece by former TFAer Maureen Miller, who looks behind the surge in the organization’s recruitment numbers. I’m kvelling. She was my grad student a few years ago.

Speed Hiring

by Robert Pondiscio
May 19th, 2008

Tags: ,
Posted in Education Practice, Employment, Teacher Training | No Comments »

A 15-minute call might save you 15% on your car insurance, but if the folks from Geico really want to save people time and money they may want to stock their call centers with Baltimore principals—they need just one-third of that time to reach a hiring decision on a teacher. This blog post from a Teach For America recruit hired to teach in the school district offers insight into how little due diligence goes into hiring decisions in some tough city schools. The “idealistic young man” describes attending a school district hiring fair in Baltimore where he is surprised to hear Chancellor Andres Alonzo announce that every school year in Baltimore begins with 850 vacancies.

“This huge demand for teachers resulted in a rather confused, chaotic environment. Some teachers were being hired on the spot after a 5 minute interview at best. The lines for each school were like a meat processing plant, simply looking if you were certified in an area of need, and then moving on.”

That night, the anonymous TFA recruit bunked with a couple of Teach for America Corps Members (CMs) and was surprised by some of the war stories he heard.

“The things we heard about some schools in the district were completely crazy. I should preface this by saying that I am not at all dissatisfied with my decision to join TFA, even after hearing how rough some of these schools can be. But, I think everyone needs to know what they are up against. We heard stories of teachers quitting in their first week. One female CM quit because a gang member she offended the day before fire-bombed her classroom, meaning he threw a bottle full of lighter fluid into her room (molotov cocktail). Her principal merely encouraged her to “put out the fire and call the police”. The other, a male CM, quit after a student pulled a knife on him because he didn’t like his tone!”

Perhaps if they take longer than five minutes, they might give those idealistic TFAers time to change their minds.

Required Reading

by Robert Pondiscio
May 17th, 2008

Posted in No category | No Comments »

Our weekly roundup of the week’s most important news, information and blog posts about curriculum, teaching, education policy and other items of interest to the Core Knowledge community.

Best of the Blogs

Meet Jake at Teaching in the 408
“Jake’s gonna report for duty at the TFA Los Angeles Training Institute sometime in the middle of June…”

The Layman’s Guide to Reading First at D-Ed Reckoning
Ken DeRosa explains it all.

Philosophy in Bricks and Mortar at The Blue Skunk Blog
Buildings reflect the values of those who design them. What principles will be on display in Mankato Schools new elementary building?

My not-so-friendly library, boring teachers, and other marketing interactions at Techlearning Blog
Schools do a host of wonderful things. But they also engage in a number of behaviors that chip away at thtrust and goodwill.

Let Parents and Students Choose Teachers, by Grant Wiggins in The Faculty Room
I cannot for the life of me understand educator rationalization of denying choice to parents and students. That said, I have far less interest in school choice than in teacher choice.  Want schools to reform more quickly? Let parents and students choose teachers.

Teaching, Content and Curriculum

 Is Supervising the Heck Out of Teachers the Answer?
By Kim Marshall, Education Week
In most schools, teacher evaluation is something of a joke. Could it be that the time-honored process of teacher evaluation is an ineffective strategy for improving teaching?

Keeping the boys away from the girls
By Tracy Jan, The Boston Globe
A Middle School in East Boston is one of the few public schools in the state experimenting with single-sex classes as a way to tame raging hormones, refocus students on their studies, and begin addressing a worsening achievement gap between boys and girls.

To Curb Truancy, Dallas Tries Electronic Monitoring
By Gretel C. Kovach The New York Times
Instead of sending truant students to juvenile detention, school officials in East Dallas have begun an electronic monitoring program to improve attendance rates.

Education Policy

No Child Left Behind Lacks Bite
By Robert Tomsho, The Wall Street Journal
The more-radical restructuring remedies put forth by the law have rarely been adopted by failing schools, many of which aren’t doing much to address their problems.

Parenting and Homeschooling

Are Parents Really Necessary? A Guide to Preschool Education
By Amelia Harper, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine
I were a disinterested observer, I would certainly conclude that they are not. I would conclude that the government alone had the responsibility to provide for the future of its citizens and that parents were simply accidental providers of a human commodity: the youth of our nation.

Man Jailed After Daughter Fails to Get GED
WCPO-TV/Cinncinnati
A judge ordered a Kentucky father to stay on top of his daughter’s education months ago. when she failed to earn her GED, Brian Gegner was sentenced to 180-days in the Butler County jail.

Remember ‘go outside and play?’
By Rosa Brooks, The Los Angeles Times
Overbearing parents have taken the fun out of childhood and turned it into a grind.

Et Alia

Peerless Educator: The Life and Work of Isaac Leon Kandel
Book Review by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., in Education Next
The history of American education as taught today to prospective teachers makes scant mention of Kandel. In the typology of educational theories, he is labeled, if mentioned at all, an essentialist. Kandel thought that a politically progressive and democratic education should offer equal opportunity to all students and also strengthen the solidarity of the nation by providing all students with common learning.

The Politics of Commencement
By Michael Paulson, The Boston Globe
Catholic colleges and universities are shying away from politicians as commencement speakers and honorary degree recipients. Instead, the schools are scrutinizing the public records of potential honorees for evidence of open dissent from key church teachings.

Fun Facts for $500, Alex

by Robert Pondiscio
May 15th, 2008

Posted in No category | No Comments »

The answer is: games, dogs, animals, civil war and George Washington

What are the top in-school search terms entered into Google, Yahoo and other search engines by kids?

Hat tip: Joanne Jacobs.

Tennessee’s Bible Bill

by Robert Pondiscio
May 15th, 2008

Posted in Curriculum | 1 Comment »

““England has two books; the Bible and Shakespeare. England made Shakespeare, but the Bible made England.”  — Victor Hugo

A bill sitting on Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen’s desk would allow the state to develop a curriculum for the academic–nonsectarian, nonreligious–study of the Bible.   Tennessee students could be studying the influence of the Bible on literature, art, music, culture and politics. 

It’s hard to argue against the measure on curricular grounds.  Our public discourse is full of literary allusions to the Bible, and it informs our history and politics.  A pair of Tennessee state lawmakers argue for the bill here. Others inevitably worry it’s an invitation to proselytizing. This writer calls the bill a ticking time bomb.

Immigration Raid Causes School Chaos

by Robert Pondiscio
May 15th, 2008

Posted in School News | 2 Comments »

It’s described as the largest immigration raid in U.S. history Monday at a meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa–nearly 400 people arrested.  EdWeek’s Mary Ann Zehr files a strong piece on the raid’s impact on the local school. 

“All of the Latinos [from the school district] were impacted,” said David Strudthoff, the superintendent of the 600-student Postville Community School District. “About 220 students in the Postville school system are from immigrant families, he said, and many children were separated from parents or siblings employed at the plant.

“Mr. Strudthoff is also pondering the fact that more than a month ago, his district was served with a subpoena from the Iowa Division of Labor Services to provide detailed personal information about Postville students and some school employees,” EdWeek reports.

Zehr notes undocumented students have the right to a free public education, and school employees aren’t permitted to ask students about their immigration status.

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »