You’re telling me I can’t teach everything I know in a semester?
I’ve been revising my plans for the upcoming fall undergrad history of ed class based on a bunch of things that have been percolating in my head this summer, including the need to recertify it for my university’s gen-ed program (or at least apply for recertification), the Utah Tuning project in history and what we […]
“Pushback” week
It’s almost as if Nick Anderson and Ruth Marcus worked at the same paper, because “pushback” appears to be the talking point of the week on education policy. Yesterday, Anderson reports, President Obama “pushed back” against some civil-rights groups’ criticism of Race to the Top, and Marcus applauded him when the president “took the opportunity […]
“Opportunity to learn” revived?
As Ed Week’s Michele McNeil is reporting, a coalition of civil rights groups has issued a white paper today through a (new?) organization, the National Opportunity to Learn Campaign. Last night, Diane Ravitch was tweeting her reading of the paper as a gentle but firm rebuke of the Obama administration’s approach to accountability. To some […]
The passive-aggressive student
I’m working this year with several thoughtful, independent-minded grad students right now, and this afternoon I realized that I’ve been quite lucky the last few years in terms of my experiences with grad students (and I hope the converse as well!). Since that hasn’t always been the case, I thought I’d put down my thoughts while […]
Firings in DC
Andy Rotherham is correct that the termination notices in the DC public schools this week included about a third of the total who had not met licensure standards, and a greater number were rated in the highest classification in the annual evaluations. Nonetheless, what is newsworthy about the terminations is the public nature of outright […]