Section » Opinion
Race to the Top Assessment Program: Part 1 – Danger, Will Robinson, Irrational Discourse Ahead!
Anyone who has read my book or heard me speak about testing might think that I would be happy with the change in language evident in Obama’s Department of Education Executive Summary of the Race to the Top Assessment Program. Not only do...
Realism and Social Change
In corresponding with Cassiodorus about my book, the question of social change took center stage. When you argue for social change you inevitably come up against the claims of “realism” — we can’t change this or that because to do so would be “unrealistic.” This is the argument typically...
Former Superintendent Describes Schools as Drudgery and Opposes Logic of “Race to the Top”
In a November 16 commentary at Education Week former Superintendent and Connecticut Commissioner of Education Betty Sternberg challenges central tenants of current “education reform” efforts. Sternberg suggests this is how students see school: It’s drudgery. We...
Teacher-blogger Dina Strasser on “Common Core” Standards
The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) invited teacher-blogger Dina Strasser to comment on the “common core” standards. Portions of her commentary are below. * * * When ASCD asked me to write on the National Governors...
Great News: Capitalism Will Provide High Paying Jobs for All, but Only With National Standards!
On July 2, 2009 The American Prospect published an interview with Dane Linn, director of education for the National Governors’ Association (NGA). In the interview, Linn “innovates” the already well-developed ruling class method of disinformation. This...
Accountability Double-Standards
Double standard: a rule, principle, judgement, etc., viewed as applying more strictly to one group of people, set of circumstances, etc., than to another. In reviewing a front page item from Education Week (“Unions Set Sights...
Why the Push to Close 5,000 Schools, Why the Push for Mayoral Control?
Reports that Obama “intends to use $5 billion to prod local officials to close failing schools and reopen them with new teachers and principals,” have generated well-deserved criticism on several fronts. A post on...
The Disinformation of “Violence Prevention”
April 20, 2009 marked the tenth anniversary of the school shootings at Columbine High School and therefore it is time again to reflect on the dominant mode of thinking that informs how the society addresses what is awkwardly called “school violence.” Below I present excerpts of a presentation made several years ago, that focuses on how the notion...
Ten Years After Columbine: A Letter to A Principal After Virginia Tech
[Originally sent to my son's school principal, on April 27, 2007] – In many ways, this letter has been in the making for a long time. Delay in writing has in large measure been the result of my confidence in your leadership, and, as an educator of teachers and education leaders, a profound understanding of the challenges you face as a public...
KIPP Charter School: The Violence of Bootstrapping
“From Teach for America to the KIPP charter schools to instructional innovations at colleges and universities, we have proven strategies ready to go to scale.” — Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education, February 9, 2009 speaking before the 91st Annual Meeting of the American Council on Education The Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) is,...
