Just in case you have not read, seen, or heard: a few links you may be interested in
#1: In an op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times, education historian Diane Ravitch discusses:
What could be wrong with promoting charter schools to compete with public schools? Why shouldn’t we demand accountability from educators and use test scores to reward our best teachers and identify those who should find another job?
And she predicts:
Having embraced the Republican agenda of choice, competition and accountability, the Obama administration is promoting the privatization of large segments of American education and undermining the profession of teaching. This toxic combination is the latest Big Idea in education reform. Like so many of its predecessors, it is not likely to improve education.
I cannot agree more.
#2: A Youtube video brought to my attention by Dr. David Lustick of UMASS about education and hip hop in China. Hear what these non-traditional Chinese musicians have to say about China’s education. Also read the very interesting comments on this video.
#3: My interview with Gail Connelly of the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) on NAESP Radio about American education.
#4: My interview on China’s CCTV about recent education reform efforts in China.
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Bush’s NCLB plan has been a disaster for schools, but its full impact is not yet being felt. The primary result of the NCLB push is that it lowers the expectations of schools such that they no longer attempt to educate students, but, instead, they focus on test scores and how to raise them. The schools have entirely lost their “sense of purpose” and now look for quick fixes and gimmicks. Administrators and teachers focus on “target kids,” strategic kids,” or “bubble kids” and adopt strategies meant to improve the test performance of the identified kids. Obama is buy into the debacle means that this ill-advised approach to education will be continued for several more years, probably irrevocably damaging an entire generation of students.
There is hope, however: 1. the Republicans can continue their “vote ‘no” on everything mentality and behavior and kill the plan; 2. the public can demonstrate that they are fed up and abandon the schools, opting for alternate ways to educate children; 3. someone very bright might see that there are better ways to educate children than the current bricks and mortar, 30 kids in a class with one teacher paradigm; or, 4. educators themselves can wake up and quit allowing people like Secretary Arne Duncan and George Bush make decisions for which they are unqualified.
There are some things we all need to recognize: a good school system is vital to the future of the country and the world; good schools are not measured by test scores on a limited curriculum; our kids do not need to learn “content” which can be easily measured on a test as they need to learn the skills and reasoning capabilities that tests assess badly or cannot assess at all.
America deserves and NEEDS much better than it is getting and than what is being proposed.
Feel free to comment:
The views expressed on this site are entirely my own. They do not represent my employer or any other organization/institution. All comments are subject to approval.