The week began with the president saying that there was too much emphasis on testing in schools. In the middle of the week, the New York Times published a story about Success Academy Charter Schools that, among other things, noted the following: The network serves mostly black and Hispanic students and is known for exacting… Continue reading Education’s Dirty Little Secret
Category: teachers
The Best and Brightest Have Let Us Down
I get very tired very quickly when I hear that we need the best and brightest to become classroom teachers in the United States. For one, it’s incredibly insulting because it assumes that the teachers we have now in public schools are somehow subpar, which is not true. Further, it also assumes that the elite… Continue reading The Best and Brightest Have Let Us Down
PARCC Storm II: Sunshine Peeks Through
Another week, and more snow is expected in the northeast. There’s more over the PARCC testing storm as well, but this time, there is a ray of sane sunshine. Here in New Jersey, State Assemblyman Patrick Diegnan Jr. (D-Middlesex), chairman of the Assembly’s education committee, has introduced a bill that would detail a procedure for… Continue reading PARCC Storm II: Sunshine Peeks Through
The New Smart
Yes, I know it’s the holiday break and students and teachers across the country are off, but really, this is just the calm before the storm. There are only two more months until the new PARCC tests are administered. Then there’s a 6 to 8 week break. Then more PARCC tests will be administered. These… Continue reading The New Smart
Thirty Years an Educator
Thirty years ago today, I walked into York Preparatory School on New York’s Upper East Side for my first day as a high school history teacher. I had no formal training as a teacher except for my degree in History from Syracuse University. I had been working in advertising for a Madison Avenue firm that… Continue reading Thirty Years an Educator
In Education, Teachers Must Lead the Way
Aside from the December holiday season, the back-to-school late August and early September rush has the most profound effects on the United States. Shopping patterns change, traffic gets worse, and the general tenor of every community shifts to accommodate the children and adults who work in education. Welcome to this year’s edition. Some things have… Continue reading In Education, Teachers Must Lead the Way
The Test, the Whole Test and Nothing But the Test
At some point, I could see teachers having to not only swear allegiance to the United States and the state in which they live, but taking an oath to uphold the testing mania that is now in full swing across the country. This would be the only legitimate way for tests to become an accepted… Continue reading The Test, the Whole Test and Nothing But the Test
Teaching, Unions and Social Justice
Giving of course my humble opinion, I believe we are at the high water mark of the anti-union, pro-market-force, evaluation-by-testing mania that’s gripped education. Or I could be seriously deluded and education is going through a profound change that will see radically different protocols for years to come. Monday is the National Day of Action,… Continue reading Teaching, Unions and Social Justice
Uh Oh: Christie Shows His True Color
If you haven’t seen the picture, here it is: This is Governor Christie scolding a teacher on Saturday for questioning his education policies. A full accounting of the event can be found on Jersey Jazzman’s site. But as always with this governor, the picture really tells the story. Here is a man who wants to… Continue reading Uh Oh: Christie Shows His True Color
But Zero Percent Confidence: Teacher Reform Gets Squishy
Imagine what would happen if the so-called education reformers knew what they were talking about. Could actually articulate a meaningful program that would improve teaching and learning. Didn’t have an agenda that blamed unions and teachers, and relied on privatizing the public schools. Imagine. Unfortunately, that’s not the kind of reform movement we have in… Continue reading But Zero Percent Confidence: Teacher Reform Gets Squishy
New Teacher Evaluations, Same Old Issues
While most of the rest of New Jersey was shopping and celebrating, I immersed myself in an article that shined some light on New Jersey’s new teacher tenure and evaluation law. The lesson? Principals, supervisors and other district evaluators are going to have to be crystal clear, honest and consistent in their written evaluations or… Continue reading New Teacher Evaluations, Same Old Issues
Alternate Route to Undermining Teaching
It’s not enough that the Christie Administration has bashed teachers as union mules and the source of New Jersey’s fiscal ills. It’s not enough that the governor has promoted private partnerships with public schools to avoid paying the state’s fair share of education aid to school districts in need of money. It’s not enough that… Continue reading Alternate Route to Undermining Teaching