Content tagged: political theory
Clifford Adelman’s “White Noise of Accountability”
On June 24, Clifford Adelman’s, “White Noise of Accountability” was published in Inside Higher Ed. This piece offers a good example of countering disinformation in thinking about education. Some highlights include: “Accountability,” a term that has been with...
Is Thinking a “Skill”? Values and Problems in Thinking About the “Liberal Arts”
In today’s online version of the Chronicle of Higher Education, four views regarding the “future of the liberal arts” are presented. While not intending to pick on Martha Nussbaum’s “The Liberal Arts Are Not Elitist” — for in spirit we share a common concern — the piece does nonetheless represent...
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...
Are Tests Measures of Test Taking Ability?
In a recent discussion of my book, A Measure of Failure, the typical argument against any critique of standardized testing was issued in response to a favorable review of the book’s main points. In the comments we read: “A math test, such as the math...
The Questions of Education Reform Are Really Questions of Who Decides
It is clear that the education “reform” is being driven by a tiny minority of super wealthy “philanthropists”, executive authorities at state and federal levels of government, and some select “experts”. These are the same forces that have been “leading” education “reform” for the past 30 years, with the result that little has improved,...
On the Public/Private Distinction and Political Power
As privatization looms, conceptual clarity regarding this trend is required. Primary, secondary and higher education institutions all face changes that can be dubbed privatization. Yet recent reports point to the complexity of this trend. One example involves efforts of teachers to unionize at an...
ARRA Education Funds and the Crisis of Legitimacy
Governing by Carrots and Sticks: Excerpts from U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan “If folks are playing shell games, if folks are operating in bad faith, it puts their second chance at billions of dollars in jeopardy,” he said. “We have significant carrots and sticks.” — Arne Duncan, April 15, Chicago Tribute. In a April...
On Controlling for Family Influence on Achievement
As I review Berends’ and colleagues 2008 volume Charter School Outcomes (Lawrence Erlbaum), a key assumption of Anglo-American political theory, namely that just inequality is the result of “natural distinction” (as opposed to social distinction), undergirds the authors’ efforts to improve research methods for evaluating school...
