Showing posts with label ICYMI. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ICYMI. Show all posts

Sunday, August 30, 2015

ICYMI: This Week's Readings from the Edusphere

Some reading from this week in the edusphere.

13 Years of Dress Rehearsal

Chris Thinnes ran a back-to-school parent's night speech by Rachel Thinnes that is a great reminder that school is not just about students getting ready to live their lives -- their lives are going on right now. She also references Excellent Sheep, which is always bonus points as far as I'm concerned.


EdTPA and TFA Are Two Sides of the Same Coin 

Fred Klonsky spent a chunk of his week fending off feverish defenders of Pearson's teacher certification baloneyfest, EdTPA. Klonsky wrote several good take-downs of the program, but this one put it in the context of another favorite reformster program.
 
10 Years of Corporate Media Celebrating Disaster

You'll need a strong stomach for this look back at some of the decades most notable cheerleading for death and destruction in New Orleans. Because who cares how many people have to die, neighborhoods have to be destroyed, and citizens have to be permanently displaced if, when it's all done, privatizers can make some money and test scores go up, a little, in some places, for some people.

Message from Bethlehem Superintendent

The superintendent of Bethlehem Area Schools in PA wrote in the local paper a piece to show that he gets it, and that he regrets "a different world we are now in where a teacher potentially risks a negative evaluation because she is committed to helping her students develop their passions, gifts and talents."

NC Teachers Being 'Voluntarily Exploited' 

Brief but powerful profile of three North Carolina teachers and how they make it work. These ladies are inspirational-- wait till you read about how one turns the experience of not being able to buy groceries into a growth experience for her own practice.

Sunday, August 23, 2015

ICYMI: Good Edureads from the Week

I really thought I was going to fumble the ball this week. A combination of working the second weekend of our production of The Fantasticks, beginning-of-year in-service days, ninth grade orientation, organizing a 5K race, etc etc etc-- well, I got a bit behind on my own reading. But yesterday and today I stumbled over several must-reads for the week. I know it's a little late in the day (matinee and set strike), but here's some Sunday evening reading for you--

The Blackout

Jose Luis Vilson gives some articulate clarity to the questions raised by supporters of public schools who really think that black folks should stop pestering Presidential candidates and start getting with the right team.

Left Behind

Here's your if-you-only-read-one-thing selection for the week. This fully-researched series of articles looks at exactly how school choice plays out, and how it leaves the most challenged students behind in a half-empty school stripped of the resources they desperately need. The journalists here take a close-up look at North Charleston High in South Carolina, and the story is thorough, from individual student stories to some very handy interactive graphics that help the reader understand exactly what is happening. A well-told, fully-supported story of the worst side-effects of choice.

The Reality Television Paradigm of All Charter Systems 

Sarah Tepper Blaine takes a look at the implications of a system like New Orleans means to our system of public education, and for students on the losing end of a two tier system.

The Myth of the New Orleans Makeover 

Well, lookee here! The New York Times runs yet another criticism of the New Orleans sort-of-a-miracle.

Finally, google Dyett High Hunger Strike

and read whatever you can find that's the most current account of what's going on in the struggle for Dyett High parents to make their voices heard. If nothing else, check this link for the newest updates there. Spread the word.

As a bonus this week, I suggest that you read all five of the suggestions, because taken together, they suggest the outlines of the larger picture that's showing its iceberg head above the education waters.

Sunday, July 26, 2015

ICYMI: Top Edublogging of the Week (7/26)

As always, this is neither all-inclusive nor based on any criteria other than my own. But here are some things you should read from last week.


When candidates talk education, media rarely go beyond buzzwords

Well, in all fairness, the media don't do any better with other issues, but here's a great look at the side tracks that keep appearing in coverage of candidate edubloviation.

Dumbing down kids

If you want to get angry over EngageNY and canned teaching programs all over again, here's the piece. Detailed, specific, and incisive.

Who's actually running America's charter schools

You actually need a double dose of School Finance 101 this week. Start with this look at which groups are actually getting most of the charter business. Then move onto this explanation of just one of the crazy twists in charter financing. It's a little wonky, but clear and thorough.

ALEC now says school vouchers are for kids in suburbia

This one's important, and charts the shift in the voucher sales pitch. We knew this was coming-- now it's here. Vouchers are no longer pitched as a way to rescue those poor kids in failing urban schools. Now some folks would like to expand the market.