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The Lake Wobegone Effect Plagues Parent Surveys
THEN (not so then) A 2008 poll from Education Next and the Program on Education Policy and Governance (PEPG) at Harvard University found that Americans are increasingly disappointed with public...
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Omnipresent Poverty and US Competitive Advantage
Using test-scores to hold teachers accountable for student education variables not under teacher control is clearly wrong-headed, but for some reason, it makes illogical sense to many education...
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It's the Poverty, Stupid: Part 1
This is the first part of a two part series. The first part discusses poverty in general, especially as it applies to the Occupy Movement. The second part relates poverty to the link between academic...
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It's the Poverty, Stupid: Part 2
This is the second part of a two part series. The first part discusses poverty in general, especially as it applies to the Occupy Movement. The second part relates poverty to the link between academic...
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Illegal Immigrants Pay Taxes--Who Knew
At least the EdWeek article alludes to a fact many Americans consider unthinkable. Many, many illegal immigrants pay taxes. Furthermore, they pay at higher rates than citizens or legal immigrants....
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The Measly Educator Expense Deduction
A Heritage Foundation study of teacher salaries has provoked quite an outpouring of response. I would like to address the $250 educator expense tax deduction and some typical hiring practices. The...
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Kindergarten Academics Is Not Academic Achievement...
...no matter what anyone says otherwise. Robert Slavin, creator of the reading program Success For All, and before that, creator of the reading program CIRC (Cooperative Integrated Reading and...
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What Happened to the Geezer Teachers?
A self-identified geezer teacher asks what happened to all the other geezer teachers. Why is the modal experience one year, not the historical 14 years anymore? Here is what happened. A lot of proven...
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How Rigor Empowers Academic Achievement
Maybe we do need another word besides “rigor”, but “challenging” and “rich” are weak alternatives. Rigor in my teaching practice means conscientious excellence. For example, rigor requires students to...
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Unresolvable “Science” Debate?
Will the controversy between evolution and creationism ever end? Is it destined to swing forever on the pendulum of public opinion? The entire controversy is sustained on both sides by too much...
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Parents In Contempt
As long as schools hold the public (who pays their bills, by the way) and parents in utter contempt, I seriously doubt that they will be able to build the relational trust necessary to academic...
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Smart People (You and Me) are Stupid
A recent provocative article from the New Yorker begins:Here’s a simple arithmetic question: A bat and ball cost a dollar and ten cents. The bat costs a dollar more than the ball. How much does the...
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In Case of Nothing to Do, Break Glass...
...and then sweep up broken glass. Americans have hopes and ideals for public education. As David Sirota explains, Here in the industrialized world’s most economically unequal nation, public education...
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Surprise! Kids Value Rote Learning...
Surprise! Kids Value Rote Learning......just not when they are the one expected to memorize knowledge. Have you ever had a child ask you a question that require a memorized fact to answer? It happened...
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Wrong Questions About Spreadsheet Math
Spreadsheets are a ubiquitous and necessary tool these days. Students need to learn spreadsheet math. "Our children still spend hundreds of hours perfecting their ability to add, subtract, multiply,...
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American Education is NOT Failing....
...In fact, it accomplishes its hidden curriculum perfectly, according to Danjo1987, who hits several out of the park his first day up to bat on EdWeek forums. hllnwlz wound up the pitch and...
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Tricks and Shortcuts vs. Mathematics
The issue is not whether algebra should be taught in the eighth grade or later. The issue is not whether local schools should be able to make their own textbook adoption decisions. The issue is about...
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True, Authentic, Real Life Math Problem of an Eighth Grader
A certain student had recently missed much of the first quarter, so her band teacher did not count those weeks when figuring the credit for the weekly practice logs. Therefore, the student had only...
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Do Not Use Baby Talk to Teach Math
Number sense is like a mighty oak rooted in the subconscious. Beginning in infancy, it is little more than a humble acorn. Misconceptions are weeds that also root in the subconscious and stunt the...
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We Teach Our Students to Misbehave...
… and then complain when they do exactly as we expect. A certain student came home from school reporting on a substitute teacher the class did not like. She began her report by asking me, “Doesn't a...
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