Education is not listed among the enumerated powers of Article I Section 8 of the Constitution. Yet the national governments of the United States have maintained an interest in education going back to the Congress under the Articles of Confederation, which in the Land Ordinance of 1785 established that the 16th of the 36 square miles of the territory in the Northwest being surveyed under the authority of the Congress was reserved for the maintenance of free public schools. The major current Federal involvement in K-12 education, Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, was part...
The Finland Phenomenon - a film on schools
On Thursday night I saw the premiere of "The Finland Phenomenon: Inside the World’s Most Surprising School System." This is the latest film by Robert Compton, who perhaps best known for "Two Million Minutes." Let me simply list the key takeaways from the film:1. Finland does not have high stakes tests2. Finland worked to develop a national consensus about its public schools3. Having made a commitment to its public schools, Finland has few private schools.4. When asked about accountability, Finns point out that they not only do not have tests, they do not have an inspectorate. They find...
An incredibly important piece on teaching and education
Sometimes one encounters something that needs no commentary from me - it is complete in itself. I want to share something like that about teaching and education.People who follow the blog Valerie Strauss runs at the Washington Post, the Answer Sheet, experienced that. Valerie often cross-posts things written elsewhere. Occasionally she posts something written directly for her. This morning she posted a piece by Linda Darling-Hammond, who is Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education at Stanford University and was Founding Director of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future....
I am a proud union member
I stand with my unionized sisters and brothers, especially in Wisconsin, but everywhere where teachers and unions are under attack.I am the lead union representative for more than 100 teachers in my school.Today, all across the country, teachers are blogging their support for our unionized sisters and brothers in Wisconsin, and you can follow some of the results of that at EDUSolidarityToday I want to tell you why I am proud to be a union member as well as a teacher.I teach my students one period a day. We have 9, since some students take a zero period...
What's Worth Teaching
this is a cross-posting of a review of this book. The review original appeared at Education ReviewMarion Brady is a retired educator. He has taught in K-12 and at the university level. He has written columns for Knight-Ridder Newspapers and guest-blogs for the Washington Post. He has authored textbooks. He wants to change American education far more radically than do those normally identified as “reformers.”This new book is the culmination of many years of thought and work. In it, Brady focuses on what he believes is key to reforming our educational institutions, and that is the construction...
The Influence of Teachers
Teachers can never declare "Missions Accomplished," because they are a bridge, not an endpoint, for all the boys and girls (and men and women) who come into their lives . . . . the teacher's job is to help students build a self, to create the entity that will be constant company for life. That's why the best teachers listen to students and draw out their thinking, but don't try to solve every problem. That's why the best teachers empathize and care deeply about students as individuals, but never lower standards or expectations.The words above appear on p. 21 of a new book by John Merrow, who...
Free speech, flabby thinking and multiculturalism
Cross-posted from Smart and Good:The Supreme Court has confirmed that the odious Westboro Baptist Church members may disturb military funerals in the name of free speech and folks in Orange County are screaming indignities, obscenities and blasphemies at Muslim American citizens as they enter a fundraiser for a women’s center. (Thanks to Salon for this video.) I have always considered myself a near-radical free speecher (believing that open discourse, even if testy, is better than hidden resentment –- and anyway “Sticks and stones …”) , but maybe I’m just not. Or maybe there are once unthinkable...
The Job Mismatch Myth
The Obama administration has continued the fantasy of education as a solution to economic problems. Yet more evidence of this in a recent report refuting the idea that we need a whole slew of people trained in science and math and etc. Most of the actual jobs that are available are in the lowest paying and lowest skilled areas of the economy.From the Real World Economics Review Blog:About 3.5 million of the jobs lost in the downturn were in high-wage industries, but fewer than 200,000 of the jobs created in the last year were in those same industries. Over half of the jobs created since the...
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