By Anthony Cody. Some have argued recently that the Opt Out movement is dead because it has actually become helpful to those promoting constant online testing, since it interferes with the annual standardized tests. Since the annual tests can be replaced by online monitoring of student performance, this will be …
By Anthony Cody. This week there has been another round of mean spirited divisiveness aired in the education movement, this time directed at Diane Ravitch. Diane posted a link to an article in Inside Philanthropy that described a corporate foundation that was donating to public schools instead of trying to …
By John Thompson. Although I wouldn’t spend too much time eavesdropping on the civil war between liberal and conservative reformers, it is fun to periodically check it out. The first of the loudest shots in their internecine conflict was issued by Fordham’s Robert Pondiscio in the aptly titled post “The …
By John Thompson. In 2014, National Public Radio’s Freakonomics Radio gave almost all of its program on “America’s education problem,” to three high-profile reformers, Joel Klein, Dave Levin, and John Freidman, who believe – or act like they believe – that education …
By John Thompson. In 2008, Tom Toch’s “Rush to Judgment” reviewed science-based alternatives to value-added teacher evaluations. Toch explained that the District of Columbia’s test-heavy IMPACT teacher evaluation system cost $1000 per teacher. For that price, we could have invested in …
By John Thompson. Three cheers for Warren Buffett’s speech at the Democratic National Convention which borrowed from Joe Welch’s challenge to Joe McCarthy. Buffett said, “‘Have you no sense of decency, sir?’ I ask Donald Trump, have you no sense decency, sir?” After all, it is time for Democrats …
By Daun Kauffman. Trauma during development, or childhood trauma, changes brain architecture and ability to learn and social behavior. It impacts two out of three children at some level, but I didn’t even know what it was… Childhood Trauma, or adverse childhood experiences(ACEs)can be defined as a response …
By Lauren Anderson. Just last week in Cincinnati, the NAACP voted in favor of a moratorium on the creation of new charter schools and a ramping up of regulation on existing charter schools. A few days later in Philadelphia, the Relay Graduate School of Education proudly co-hosted its “Grit + Imagination” …
By John Thompson. The education sector is plagued by “astroturf” think tanks that issue “reports” that repeatedly conclude that (surprise!) reform is working. To do so, pro-reform scholars cherry-pick data in order to provide attractive, multi-colored graphics that show an upward trajectory, or at least …
By Anthony Cody. The Democratic National Convention has been painful to watch. In the days prior, we had the revelation of emails which demonstrated what Sanders supporters had felt throughout the primary – that the DNC was biased towards Clinton, and was acting to enhance her candidacy despite their claims of …