Comma interruptus
I’m currently providing advice to some colleagues on a manuscript, and 90% of the changes I’m suggesting are the elimination of commas that come in the middle of a clause between the subject and verb or between the verb and the object. In almost all cases, the commas separate parenthetical comments that would be more […]
Of Diane Ravitch and presentism
In an amended entry earlier today, I noted my being a Michael Katz student and somehow still not having fits at the sight of Diane Ravitch’s name. (As far as I’m aware, Michael doesn’t, either.) That doesn’t mean that I agree with her substantive scholarship, and I’ll repeat here a 2004 contribution I made to […]
The myth of apolitical education policy
Monday in Get Schooled, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Bridget Gutierrez asked, But will public education ever not be political? This is a classic statement that gets a mental “facepalm” reaction from me. How can you have education connected to citizenship (either education for citizenship or education attached to citizenship as a right) and then expect that […]
Welcome Meier and Ravitch to the blogosphere
Deborah Meier and Diane Ravitch have finally started their blog Bridging Differences. It should be an interesting and readable conversation. Update: One commenter writes, “I thought Michael [B.] Katz hated Ravitch–well, he trashed her scholarly work, anyway. Isn’t she out of favor now?” Yes, I’m a former Michael Katz student (Michael Katz, the historian of education at […]
At least this test-preparation didn’t steal instructional time…
According to the St. Pete Times blog The Gradebook, a small-town Florida elementary principal and several of her teachers prayed for student success the Friday evening before the state writing test early this month. Then they anointed student desks with prayer oil. Apart from the church-state issues involved—praying for your students on your own time is […]