It has been a real experience for most of this week, with the home internet appearing and disappearing in 5-10 minute intervals. I am waiting patiently for the Institute's provider to send new hardware, but in the meantime, getting work done in little microburst has been an adventure and a reminder the degree to which internet connectivity is now a basic utility and while not exactly a necessity, it certainly ties one's feet together to have it only limited capacity. Just reminder to maybe give your wi-fi connection a little hug and tell it how much you appreciate it today.
And now the week's reading list.
August 21, 2026Heather Cox Richardson, America's favorite on-line historian (and a Mainer, to boot) took a look at the history of school vouchers this week.
At Slate, so there's a paywall to contend with, but Nicholas Stewart takes a look at the horrifying state of school surveillance and "security."
And speaking of horrifying, intrusive surveillance, Fort Worth has stuck cameras in classrooms. Jacob Sanchez at Fort Worth Report has the whole awful story.
Ann Schimke at Chalkbeat has the story behind the now-defunct group that launched Riverstone, a Christian charter school.
Bruce Lesley takes a dive into the legal questions surrounding the rights of parents-- and when the invocation of those rights imposes on the rights of children.
Megan O'Matz at ProPublica looks at the schools that crop up to take advantage of voucher money in an unregulated marketplace.
Maurice Cunningham and Jeff Bryant team up for a look at those grass roots parent groups that are just big slabs of billionaire-serving astroturf.
John Warner reacts to a write who has proudly announced that he handles his summer reading list by having AI whip up some summaries.
This should be a New York Times gift article, and if you have Google in your classroom, you need to know-- they've aimed AI straight at your students.
Jennifer Berkshire looks at the overlap between public education support and data center opposition.
Some Thoughts about National Board CertificationNancy Flanagan is a National Board Certified Teacher and she has some thoughts about what it takes-- and what politicians could leave alone.
Nancy Bailey argues that we have a way to go if we really want to invest in the littles.
Jan Resseger looks into the legal protections for students' rights, with some help from Derek Black
In Florida. But at least they still have a big expensive Innovation Hub. Chris Peterson reports for the On Stage Blog.
TC Weber, as usual, covers a variety of topics, some very Memphis-related. But I don't want you to miss this section, so here's the excerpt, and maybe go read the whole post:
The other day, I was listening to a couple of young sports-talk radio hosts discuss how they learned about the football players of their generation.Jose Felicianoi had some extraordinary talent beyond signing a few pop songs. Here he is on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1966 playing the daylights out of that guitar.
They learned through the Madden video game.
Madden lists players and their skill sets. It assigns an overall rating, then breaks a player down into categories like speed, strength, awareness, agility, throwing power, and tackling. Those ratings are useful for playing the game, and they can be a good starting point for learning about players.
The fallacy comes when you decide the statistics truly define the player. Some players are better than their Madden ratings. Others seem unable to earn theirs when the real game is on the line. A player can possess every measurable tool and still fail to recognize what is happening in front of him.
My son, a high school quarterback, often talks about the difference between straight-line speed and football speed. The two are very different. Plenty of people can run a great 40-yard dash but somehow look slow on the field. They hesitate, take a poor angle, or need too much time to process what they see.
Football coaches quickly recognize the difference.
They understand that a number without context is only a number.
The same holds true when looking at student data. Test scores, attendance rates, discipline reports, grades, and growth measures can all provide insight. None should be treated as the be-all and end-all.
Like those coaches, teachers are best positioned to interpret what the data means. If you spend all day with a child, you develop context. You know whether a score reflects ability, anxiety, hunger, exhaustion, growth, boredom, or a rough morning at home.
That knowledge is not a rejection of data. It is what makes data useful.
Unfortunately, both science and data are routinely manipulated to serve unrelated goals—goals that do not necessarily benefit children.
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