Agreements with Fordham
Lest readers assume I disagree with Mike Petrilli and Fordham colleagues on everything, let me give them full credit for standing on the right side of science education in Florida, where they were ahead of the curve several years ago in criticizing the state Department of Education’s cowardice on science standards, supported the new standards, […]
Extra credit assignment for grad students
2 extra points, a gold star, and a free hall pass to beginning scholars who can spot the flaws in Mike Petrilli’s defense of Reading First. It’s clear that the Reading First program administration was corrupted, and reading Petrilli’s blog entry looks like it’s really a knee-jerk defense of Fordham’s previous defense of Reading First […]
Desegregation history
Eduwonkette made me wince a few weeks ago with her entry, Did School Integration Really Do Much Good? She quoted a relatively new economic study using Louisiana, but there’s a fairly sizable literature on this already, including classic works by Roz Mickelson and Jennifer Hochschild, among many many others. Yes, there is evidence of cognitive […]
A thoughtful debate on curriculum
One of the greatest sins of the Joel Klein administration is engaging in Stupid Ed Tricks that distract Deborah Meier and Diane Ravitch from thoughtful debate on Bridging Differences, such as the discussion they have been engaged in recently on curriculum: What Should Happen in Our Houses of Learning? (Ravitch) A Marshall Plan for Teaching […]
Interstices
The semester has ended, the graduation I attended is over, the legislative session has finished, and the Crazy May events (multiple birthdays, recitals, concerts, etc.) have not yet begun. I had some bureaucratic stuff to do over the weekend that would have been Very Nice to have done a week earlier, so I celebrated the […]