NOTE: This piece ran while Florida Senate Bill 6, which tied teacher evaluation to student test scores (50% of your evaluation) was coming down the tracks. Florida still uses a value added measure, but at a much lower percentage of your total evaluation, and in my district, your VAM cannot overrule your classroom observation score Read More >>
When I recently rebooted this blog after some technical difficulties, one of the first posts I re-published was titled “A Different Narrative of American Education,” in which I compared the typical reformer’s narrative of public schools with a different narrative. The blog was originally reprinted in Valerie Strauss’s “The Answer Sheet” blog on the Washington Read More >>
From Saturday, July 13, 2013 There is a myth going around our country, a multifaceted myth. It goes something like this: American schools have been dumbed down, bad teachers have been given free reign, our educational system is failing, and we will fail to be competitive in the new global economy. This is a myth Read More >>
They sat in even rows Lake slaves in the galley Attached to a screen by digital chains. Compliant, obedient, dead-eyed They stared at the glassy surface Jumping through the hoops that would determine Their futures. Standardized didn’t just apply To the test they took. I felt the awful conformist dystopian wretchedness Of the whole scene Read More >>
It’s been a while! As some of you are aware, I had a little trouble with my previous web host, and they unceremoniously dumped all my content into their trash bin. I was, obviously, not happy. But I’m back – and better yet, the blog is now linked to my website for one-stop shopping! (Thanks, Read More >>