Archive for the 'Education News' Category

Oh Say Can You C.E.?

Published by Robert Pondiscio on November 17, 2009 in Education News. 6 Comments

A Missouri school district has run afoul of some parents for teaching children to identify when historical events occurred by the designations ”C.E.” (Common Era) and “B.C.E.” (Before Common Era) in addition to the traditional B.C. and A.D.   The numbers don’t change one way or the other.  It’s equally accurate to say Julius Caesar was murdered in 44 B.C. or 44 B.C.E.  Still, some parents in the Rockwood School District have objected to the use of C.E. and B.C.E,. which they see as a move toward secularization. 

In a post on his blog, District Superintendent Craig Larson argues that the schools aren’t favoring one over the other, but both have begun appearing in textbooks and other publications.  Students, he sensibly argues, need to be aware of both designations “so they are literate when they encounter either notation.”

The best advice we can give to social studies teachers is: Help students understand the dating systems they may encounter in whatever source document they may be using. Rockwood teachers do explain the origins and meaning of BC (Before Christ) and AD (Latin phrase, Anno Domini, meaning “in the year of our Lord”) as appropriate, so students understand why BC and AD are in use. We certainly realize that even in our global world, BC and AD are used as the primary dating system.

I’m not aware that C.E. and B.C.E have gained a lot of traction at the K-8 level, but Larson’s argument sounds right to me.  Kids should be familiar with both.

Neologism Watch

Published by Robert Pondiscio on November 17, 2009 in Education News. 1 Comment

The New Oxford Dictionary has named “unfriend” as the 2009 Word of the Year. 

Unfriend (v.)  The act of “remov[ing] someone as a ‘friend’ on a social networking site such as Facebook.”

An unlovely word, unfriend (wouldn’t “defriend” be more accurate?) beat out other tech terms for Word of the Year, including sexting, hashtag, and intexticated–defined as driving while distracted by texting.  Other runners-up: funemployed, teabagger and death panel.

Purists and pedants may blanch, but next time a student uses the word in an essay and claims, “It’s in the dictionary!” you will have to cede the point.  As one of my former English teachers used to say, “A dictionary is not a rule book, it’s a history book.”

Ed Blogger Named to Common Standards Panel

Published by Robert Pondiscio on November 16, 2009 in Education News. 3 Comments

A name familiar in edublog circles will serve on the newly announced “work groups” charged with developing K-12 standards in English Language Arts and math.  Diana Senechal, who contributes to the Core Knowledge Blog and pinch-hits at Joanne Jacobs’ blog has been named to the panel authoring the ELA standards.  Matt Davis, who along with Souzanne Wright is leading the development of the Core Knowledge Early Literacy Program, is also on board. 

Diana, who until recently taught at a Core Knowledge school in New York City, made waves recently when she showed that it was possible to pass New York State ELA and Math tests by simply guessing.  She was also interviewed recently on EdNews.org. 

The complete list of panel members is here.  The draft K-12 standards are expected to be released by early 2010.

Give It Away

Published by Robert Pondiscio on November 12, 2009 in Education News. 1 Comment

Tout le blogosphere is high dudgeon over a North Carolina middle school fundraiser offering an extra 20 points on two tests for a $20 donation.  All of those schools that have instituted “No Grade Below 50″ policies must be kicking themselves for leaving money on the table.

Dan Willingham’s Hall of Shame

Published by Robert Pondiscio on November 11, 2009 in Education News. 8 Comments

Dan Willingham has debuted a new feature over the the Washington Post’s Answer Sheet blog aimed at debunking scientific claims made on behalf  of educational products.  The first case on the docket is a computer program called eyeQ, which purports to improve reading speed by teaching kids to use both hemispheres of the brain during reading.  A recent article about eyeQ in a Salt Lake City newspaper quotes company officials saying the product offers “strength conditioning for the eyes and the brain.  Willingham found nothing in research literature about eyeQ, and takes a dim view of the science on which the company bases its claims. 

The website makes much of the fact that only the left hemisphere of the brain is active when you are reading. It neglects to mention that the left and right hemispheres are both active in inexperienced readers. The coup de grace for me is the website’s claim that the left hemisphere is associated with scientific ability and logic, whereas the right brain is associated with intuition and artistic ability. This cartoon characterization of the brain was discredited 30 years ago.

eyeQ, which is currently in use in 750 schools, claims to be based on a “revolutionary information process” developed in Japan by Dr. Akihiro Kawamura, who has “conducted extensive research and has authored 72 books related to brain function, reading and learning technology,” according to the company’s website.   Heard of him?  No?  Well, Google him then. Still nothing?

The books do not show up in a web search, says the company’s president, “because they are in Japanese.”

Alter’s Ego

Published by Robert Pondiscio on November 5, 2009 in Education News. 3 Comments

A suggestion by Claus Von Zastrow of Public School Insights that pundits like Jonathan Alter who write about education be subject to performance pay attracted the notice of Alter, who has been mixing it up with commenters to the post.  It started when Von Zastrow took issue with Alter’s KIPP cheerleading and broad brush take on reform.

What do we make of Alter’s suggestion that only charter schools and merit pay are “real reform?” Well what about better staff development? Better curriculum? Stronger ties between schools and communities? Much, much better assessments? Are those phony reforms?  All in all, Alter gets an unsatisfactory rating, so no performance bonus this year. In fact, his failure to improve since last summer puts him at risk of termination.

That was apparently too much for the Newsweek pundit, who showed up on the blog’s comments to defend himself and do a little advocacy work.  ”With the president’s support, the pool of reformers is growing,” Alter wrote.  “Come on in, guys. The water’s warm.” 

Alter gets points for showing up and opening himself up for further abuse.  The highlight of the thread so far: One anonymous wit who wickedly applies Alter’s take on merit pay to his own columns:

I’m glad you’ve accepted Claus’ merit pay proposal. The formula is clear. Since your job is to inform the public, we’re going to measure your readers’ knowledge. Then, a year from now, we’re going to measure it again. If they’re smarter, you’ll get a substantial bonus. If not, we’ll put you on a 90-day plan of review, support, and, if your readers don’t get smarter, we’ll have to regretfully let you go. Sorry, but it’s all about the readers, not the writers.

Tough crowd.

Einstein on the Fritz

Published by Robert Pondiscio on November 2, 2009 in Education News and Research and Reports. 0 Comments

Interacting with Baby Einstein DVDs may not make your baby smarter. But interacting with Dan Willingham will make you smarter about the claims marketers make on behalf of educational products.  Dan’s take on the Baby Einstein flap is up at the Washington Post’s Answer Sheet blog.  ”Many parents already believe that visual stimulation and classical music (which the DVDs offer in spades) have been shown to help brain development,” Willingham writes.  “Both beliefs are based on solid research that has been twisted out of shape,” he concludes

Meanwhile, if Dan or someone else is looking to do a little more brain-based debunking, this looks pretty ripe.

The Slumdog Ate My Homework

Published by Robert Pondiscio on October 30, 2009 in Education News. 0 Comments

The two child stars of the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire are in danger of losing a trust fund set up by the movie’s producers because they’re not regularly attending school.  The parents of 10-year-old Rubina Ali and 11-year-old Azhar Mohammed Ismail blame the absences on deaths in the family and other problems.  But the two are reportedly skipping class to take advantage of endorsement deals and other opportunities to cash in on their celebrity. 

“Our love got a little bit tougher today,” Slumdog producer Christian Colson tells the Associated Press.  “We understand there are opportunities for both kids — and for the parents of both children — to cash in, in the short term, on their celebrity. We don’t have a problem with that. But if they want to benefit from the trust, they have to get those attendance rates up.” 

Colson and Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle arranged to have the kids attend a Mumbai school that helps disadvantaged children after the movie wrapped up.  However Azhar is reportedly showing up at the school only 37 percent of the time; Rubina only 27 percent.

Does Good Teaching Equal Good Test Scores?

Published by Robert Pondiscio on October 24, 2009 in Education News. 13 Comments

In his New York  Times column praising the Obama administration’s “quiet revolution” on education, David Brooks writes ”there is clear evidence that good teachers produce consistently better student test scores.”   I ask this question not rhetorically, but in earnest: what is the “clear evidence” to which Brooks refers?   Is there a study that defines good teaching, identifies good teachers and THEN looks at the impact of those teachers on test scores?

If we define good teaching as the ability to raise tests scores, Brooks’ assertion is merely a tautology.

Two More Black Eyes for 21st Century Skills

Published by Robert Pondiscio on October 23, 2009 in Education News. 4 Comments

“I am trying NOT to write off the 21st century skills movement as a sham, but its leaders don’t make it easy,” writes the Washington Post’s Jay Mathews this morning on his Class Struggle blog. 

Mathew raises a skeptical eyebrow at a new book by Bernie Trilling and Charles Fadel, 21st Century Skills: Learning for Life in Our Times.  The pair are Silicon Valley corporate honchos and members of the board of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills.  He was hoping the book would “prove wrong those of us who could see nothing in this movement but a lot of buzz words and jargon describing principles of teaching and learning that have been with us for many decades.”   Keep hope alive, Uncle Jay.

I sense Trilling and Fadel are smart tech guys who just don’t know much about real schools with real kids who have difficulty learning how to read, write and do math. The perspective of much of the book is from thousands of feet up, as if the authors were on a jetliner flying into San Francisco’s airport. They can’t see the scuffed floors and trash-strewn playground of a public middle school in Oakland, but can use their laptops to write nice sentences about how the six emerging principles of the movement are “vision, coordination, official policy, leadership, learning technology and teacher learning.”

Meanwhile Common Core continues to treat P21 like its personal chew toy.  In his book review, Mathews sees “no sign that the Partnership, based in Tucson and Washington, D.C., is using its revenue to buy beach mansions in Bali.  However, Lynne Munson and James Elias parse a list of 230 organizations that signed on to P21’s National Action Agenda on 21st Century Skills and conclude it’s “a laundry list of vendors who undoubtedly either profit from or would like to profit from P21’s work.”  The list is also significant, they say, for who is not on it.

Just 11 of P21’s 13 member states signed.  The holdouts were New Jersey and Massachusetts, where P21 has encountered very strong resistance.  A number of the mostly for-profit heavyweights that sit on P21’s Strategic Council also were absent, including Ford Motor Company, Lenovo, Nellie Mae, Verizon, Walt Disney, and CPB.

“The closer we look,” Munson and Elias conclude, “the more P21’s unproven educational program appears to be just another mechanism for selling more stuff to schools.”