Yes, school boards share the blame for test prep frenzy
I spoke with Orlando Sentinel Beth Kassab yesterday afternoon, before she finished the column that appeared today. While I suspect we disagree in terms of the state’s responsibility, she is correct that school boards share the blame with the state for the zealous, inappropriate amount of test prep in schools. Many of the same school boards […]
Equality of educational opportunity in a world with zombies, werewolves, and vampires
In my class this summer, I inserted two slots in the schedule that I labeled vaguely, “Stump the prof.” In the first week, students asked what I meant by that, and I explained that twice in the semester, they not only could determine the agenda but direct what role I would have. I gave them […]
For public schools, “artistes” need not apply
A few weeks ago, my summer class and I discussed teacher evaluations–the first paper for the class uses value-added measures in teacher evaluations as the case under discussion. ((I am teaching the schools-and-society course in a six-week session: it’s intense, and because of that the class is smaller than the ten-week sections we are offering […]
The year of living chairingly
Since the Chronicle returned to its history of printing staid pieces recently and published Bruce Davis’s letter to a new chair, ((The return to staid, boring higher-ed journalism is much better than the recent confirmation of unprofessional editorial behavior that makes a number of readers disgusted. Dear editors, you hired a scorpion. Don’t pretend you didn’t […]
Visiting instructor, social foundations, 2012/13
My department is hiring a visiting instructor in social foundations of education for the 2012/13 academic year; this is a one-year, 100% teaching position, with competitive salary and benefits. The full job description is available at the Online Chronicle, and if you or someone you know is interested, the application process is entirely online. Please […]