tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post3053247407992568376..comments2024-03-29T04:34:05.185-04:00Comments on CURMUDGUCATION: The Economist Gets Everything WrongPeter Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16511193640285760299noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-66072973467627191492016-06-14T07:11:55.771-04:002016-06-14T07:11:55.771-04:00One reason that economists have become involved in...One reason that economists have become involved in the empirical analysis of education is that education data is filled with endogenous variables and economists are used to dealing with endogenous variables.<br /><br />Take, for example, the recently released paper about the impact of teacher experience on educational effectiveness. ( https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Teaching_Experience_Report_June_2016.pdf ) A correlation between teacher experience and lower absences for students might well be the result of a more experienced teacher having the skills to convince students to come to class, but there are a number of other possible explanations for the correlation. It might be the case that more experienced teachers are more likely to be found in districts/schools/classes where the students are more likely to attend class no matter who is teaching. It might be the case that individual teachers do not increase in their ability to get students to attend class, but that teachers who do a poor job of motivating students to attend class are more likely to leave the profession than teachers who do a good job of motivating students to attend class, so what we see in the data is teacher attrition, not more effective teaching coming from more experience.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-13192507875099708122016-06-14T06:56:24.950-04:002016-06-14T06:56:24.950-04:00After reading the article, I am surprised that you...After reading the article, I am surprised that you find that The Economist got everything wrong. In particular, the article was arguing against the idea that teachers are born, not made (a belief apparently held by 70% of people in the United States).<br /><br />If The Economist is wrong and teachers are born, not made, there are several important policy recommendations that follow. First and foremost, specialized teacher education, advanced degrees, and experience are all largely irrelevant. We should not waste resources on trying to turn people who are not born to teach into teachers because it is not possible. If you believe The Economist is wrong, the key policy is to search out the teachers who are not born teachers and fire them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-64885594876220446042016-06-13T21:34:08.989-04:002016-06-13T21:34:08.989-04:00This is a must see!
Pace University - Classroom Ma...This is a must see!<br />Pace University - Classroom Management Episode 2<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWemfZqqh3cNY Teacherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06584135103498426410noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-4126865947826426202016-06-13T20:07:29.112-04:002016-06-13T20:07:29.112-04:00One way teachers are going to be trained in MA und...One way teachers are going to be trained in MA under the new emphasis on teacher prep is almost as good as cadavers: avatars. Pre service teachers will learn classroom management through computer simulations. Seriously. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12356851130823669050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-69744643492263178832016-06-13T13:34:05.625-04:002016-06-13T13:34:05.625-04:00The Economist was 50% owned by Pearson. Need to k...The Economist was 50% owned by Pearson. Need to know anything else?<br /><br />http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/aug/12/pearson-sells-economist-stake-exor<br /><br />Christine LanghofflaMissyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00516322307725011313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-17909940994709104452016-06-13T09:18:27.226-04:002016-06-13T09:18:27.226-04:00You mention Doug Lemov. Over at Schools Matter, t...You mention Doug Lemov. Over at Schools Matter, there's an interview with a former charter teacher about the robotic teaching methods, and how teachers were strictly monitored and forced into using them.:<br /><br />http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2015/09/teaching-based-on-doug-lemovs-robot.html<br /><br />------------<br />R: " ... You had to go right from silent breakfast to silent reading, to the first lesson. Every single lesson had to be in the format of what's called I Do /We Do /You Do. You've heard of that probably?"<br /><br />INT: "No, I haven't heard of that."<br /><br />R: " 'I Do /We Do /You Do' is one of Doug Lemov’s techniques. Everything the lesson did had to be, first the teacher explicitly models how to do it on the board. Let's say we're learning, if it were math, how to write a fraction. You would say, <br /><br />"'First, I'm going to show you how to do it.' <br /><br />"Literally, we would have to say, 'First, I'm going to show you. Watch what I do. I'm going to write the number 1, and then I'm going to draw a line, and write the number two.'<br /><br />"That was the I Do. Then We Do would be, 'Now, can somebody help me do the next one?' We'd do it together. Then You Do would be we'd pass out worksheets, and the kids would do it on the worksheets. It was always, always worksheets. We did stacks, and stacks and stacks of worksheets. You wouldn't believe how many worksheets these kids had to do. It was crazy. It all had to be in that format. I Do. We Do. You do. Then You Do would be independent worksheet time. There was no pair work. Nothing."<br /><br />INT: "No group work, no cooperative group work?"<br /><br />R: "Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Also, sometimes I would get in trouble because we got observed constantly. The impression I got was that they thought the reason the third graders hadn't done well on that original mock exam was because the third grade instruction was off. I was new to a charter school. In fact, actually all four of us were new to charter school that year. We were constantly being observed. We had to come in over Christmas break, and do this whole training, and it was all based on Teach like a Champion, which is the Doug Lemov technique. We were always being observed."<br /><br />"Our supervisor would come in and videotape, or check off that we were doing this, that and the other thing. I used to present a question for the kids to ponder. I like to start lessons like that from time to time. Not all the time, but some times. <br /><br />" 'Let's look at this problem on the board. Let's brainstorm some ways about how we might solve this.' <br /><br />"We were not allowed to do that. That was an inefficient use of the time. I had to go right from teacher shows the kid how to do it, to 'We Do, to You Do.' Which I hated. I couldn't get over how superficial it was. I didn't understand how no one seemed to be saying anything about it. It was like, <br /><br />" 'No. This is just how things happen here. We've got to get them ready for the tests.' "Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16911854468188214107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-31782147832099606832016-06-13T08:55:28.720-04:002016-06-13T08:55:28.720-04:00Two things:
I asked my Econ professor at MI State...Two things:<br /><br />I asked my Econ professor at MI State (in a doctoral course on economics and ed finance) *why* the conversation in education has shifted, over the past decade, to framing economists as the ultimate experts in education reform. I expected an answer related to policy--the accountability movement buttressed by NCLB, etc.<br /><br />But he said it had more to do with economists themselves, and our growing respect for math we don't understand (that's my re-framing--he said something about turning social questions into data questions with equations that aren't understood by anyone but mathematicians and economists). Economists believe they're right, he said--and they amass data (much easier now, with a digital tools) to "prove" that they're right, and general audiences are blinded by the science. <br /><br />Also, he pointed out, economists have much better, tighter, older and more honed theories than educators, who tend to equivocate and layer nuances on research about their work. Economists love nothing more than big data sets--and education provides those. While teachers stand around wondering if those tests show anything useful at all about kids whose intellectual skills they actually know, economists rub their hands together and start constructing equations. <br /><br />Second--I am heartsick to see Charles Sposato's name being used on Match Charters' so-called graduate school. I knew Cholly Sposato from our days as MI's and MA's Teacher of the Year. His life goal was re-structuring education to help students in poverty regain their birthright: self-esteem (a word that we seem to be embarrassed to say any more). Cholly's been gone for several years--and there are dozens of great stories to tell about him and his work with kids--but I cannot believe he would endorse the crapola that Match is promoting.Nancy Flanaganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00047575960944913289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-75828506575288026872016-06-13T08:36:49.863-04:002016-06-13T08:36:49.863-04:00"The article takes a side trip to the Sposato..."The article takes a side trip to the Sposato-Match Charter 'partnership' which also seems like a great way to seriously lower your charter school personnel costs by using trainees to carry some of your workload while training pseudo-teachers who are prepped to teach in only one school-- yours."<br /><br />You ain't kiddin'.<br /><br />One of the very first articles that Jennifer "Edushyster" Berkshire ever posted dealt with the financial exploitation of recent college grad "tutors" by the Match brass.<br /><br />The first person narrative of Match tutor Barrett Smith is riveting.<br /><br />BARRETT SMITH: <br /><br />"Add in the deductions that none of us was expecting—8% of our earnings was going to the Massachusetts public retirement system, while Corps members who needed health insurance were paying a full 8% of their earnings without the reimbursement that our contract promised—and our situation began to look desperate. <br /><br />"Some of our Corps were unable to buy food. Others were spending everything they had in savings and were still unable to make car, loan or other payments. <br /><br />"Action plan<br /><br />"When we spoke to our immediate supervisor, the Corps Director, we were told 'tough luck' —<br />although she did offer to help us with budgeting.<br /><br />"But then some of us mentioned that we were talking to lawyers about a breach of contract. Within a week we had a memo from the Chief Operating Officer. No doubt he knew that one breached contract is a lawsuit; 150 simultaneously can sink the whole ship. The higher-ups had an offer for us: $1000 for each Corps member for what they called 'relief for lost public benefits.' But there was a catch: we had to sign on within four days.<br /><br />"Thirty of 50 middle school Corps members refused to sign within this short timeframe, asking to consult legal counsel. That really did it. The next week the CEO called the middle school Corps together for two separate group meetings.<br /><br />"In that first meeting, we were told by a man with an MBA and a JD from Harvard that he 'wasn’t interested' in the legality of our contracts. After all, we’re a family, as he put it. Let’s solve these matters internally, like a family. He balked several times when asked if we could have a new contract to reflect the changes that had been made. We weren’t satisfied."<br />------------<br /><br />and it just goes downhill from there.<br /><br />http://edushyster.com/the-match-that-started-a-blaze/<br /><br />The Boston Globe covered this as well:<br /><br />https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/12/30/dispute-over-tutors-pay-roils-match-charter-school/Zo0iry9UCbKqPxDGtFYTxN/story.htmlAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16911854468188214107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-58594277918002211602016-06-13T00:42:49.516-04:002016-06-13T00:42:49.516-04:00Great post, as usual. You should clean this up an...Great post, as usual. You should clean this up and send it to the Economist as a guest column.Dave Eckstromhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13521336850803352134noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-69403619504879118552016-06-12T21:18:45.633-04:002016-06-12T21:18:45.633-04:00Well said!Well said!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01223251137400603071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-53351729674746247562016-06-12T21:18:30.279-04:002016-06-12T21:18:30.279-04:00"Surgeons start on cadavers, not on live pati..."Surgeons start on cadavers, not on live patients."<br />Good god. I have no words.<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01223251137400603071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-73564374128738234082016-06-12T19:10:28.399-04:002016-06-12T19:10:28.399-04:00Coe's 6 Commandments of Teacher Awesomeness co...Coe's 6 Commandments of Teacher Awesomeness could have been written by a thoughtful 8 year old. I hope your eyes are ok!NY Teacherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06584135103498426410noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-42325805497915533422016-06-12T18:45:23.338-04:002016-06-12T18:45:23.338-04:00Could this be thought leadering at its finestCould this be thought leadering at its finestAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16319261747710290814noreply@blogger.com