This link has been bookmarked by 35 people . It was first bookmarked on 15 Aug 2008, by Barbara Reid.
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13 May 09
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At an age when children should be falling in love with learning, these children will be labeled, shamed, and tracked.
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Schools are seeing recess eliminated, electives are being cut, and teachers are insulted by the prospect of having their career and income threatened by their students’ scores on a single multiple-choice test. All in the name of No Child Left Behind, a mathematically impossible piece of federal education legislation, which requires all of the nation’s schoolchildren to be above the mean on standardized tests by 2014.
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And in the absence of ongoing classroom innovation and grassroots advocacy, NCLB has taken over.
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Uninterested in the complexities associated with teaching and learning, the Business Roundtable demanded that state legislatures impose “outcome-based education,” “high expectations for all children,” “rewards and penalties for individual schools,” and “greater school-based decision making.”
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When most of us were children, we took standardized tests once a year for a few half days. The tests were a temporary distraction intended to offer one indicator of progress or aptitude. A teacher’s reputation or salary was not at risk; administrators didn’t feel compelled to cheat; and third graders certainly didn’t vomit on the test booklet. (Some NCLB tests actually come with instructions for what to do when a student hurls on a test.)
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Since knowledge is a consequence of experience, it’s critical that children be engaged in learning activities that nurture their soul, expand their interests, build upon personal talents, and challenge their thinking. But today’s standardized tests—proudly called “high-stakes” by their proponents—trump all else. The theory behind the tests seems to be analogous to the theory that taking a sick patient’s temperature every seven minutes will cure him.
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If parents do not trust their school, they are likely to withdraw their support and seek private alternatives. And that’s exactly what they’re doing. Homeschooling and private-school enrollment are on the rise; there are more charter schools than ever. And when that many people withdraw from thinking about and participating in the school, things go downhill even more quickly.
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A 2006 Business Week article detailed how a Denver high school known for its award-winning choir crumbled when students were dispersed to three different “small” schools within the building.
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In Broad’s worldview, incentives drive everything, including education. The annual Broad Prize for Urban Education gives a total of $1 million dollars to five urban school districts that do the most to raise student test scores. The award also grants college scholarships to students in the district. That sort of money and the press it attracts has a domino effect: All of a sudden, others want to get tough and adhere to the Broad manifesto, too.
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Broad and his followers also embrace charter schools. Charters are quasi-public schools that receive public funding but don’t have to play by the same rules; they have more latitude than public schools, including the freedom to use different curricula, employ non-credentialed educators, change the school calendar, ban unions, and be selective in student enrollment. In some cities, affluent parents use the charter laws to create private schools with public money. In others, like the New City Schools in Long Beach, California, innovative educators with a coherent vision of edu-cation teach in ways they believe will benefit children in their community.
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That not only removes a public resource from the community, but also gives a handful of charter providers a hefty advantage over the community-based charters. With a little imagination, it’s easy to guess where this is headed.
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Traditionally, corporate philanthropy in education consisted of a speaker on career day or sponsorship of a softball team. I’m all for generosity, but I’m also for accountability. And I wonder, to whom are the Gateses and the Broads of the world accountable? They were not elected or even appointed, but their money is changing the ways public schools operate. They may do this for altruistic reasons, but what is a citizen’s recourse if their ideology harms children? And, worse, what happens if a billionaire finally throws up his or her hands and publicly exclaims, “Even I can’t fix the public schools”? Our schools may not be able to survive the sudden cash withdrawal—or the backlash.
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What’s good for the sons and daughters of the billionaires should be good enough the rest of the children, too.
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Because despite their flaws, inequities, and shortcomings, public schools are an American treasure owned by the citizens, and we should treat them as a public trust.
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10 Apr 09
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ron houtmanSchool Wars
Politicians, billionaires, and mavericks all want to fix public schools. They won’t. Parents will. -
29 Mar 09
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14 Feb 09
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11 Sep 08
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09 Sep 08
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24 Aug 08
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23 Aug 08
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22 Aug 08
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21 Aug 08
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David WarlickThis summer, as I listened to the unbridled joy of children playing outside my window, I read a New York Times article about first graders being placed in "Gift of Time" summer schools. For nearly 12 percent of first graders in East Ramapo, New York, summ
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20 Aug 08
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19 Aug 08
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17 Aug 08
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16 Aug 08
gregc5nzSchool Wars
Politicians, billionaires, and mavericks all want to fix public schools. They won’t. Parents will. -
greg carrollSchool Wars
Politicians, billionaires, and mavericks all want to fix public schools. They won’t. Parents will. -
15 Aug 08
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No Child Left Behind, a mathematically impossible piece of federal education legislation, which requires all of the nation’s schoolchildren to be above the mean on standardized tests by 2014.
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Since knowledge is a consequence of experience, it’s critical that children be engaged in learning activities that nurture their soul, expand their interests, build upon personal talents, and challenge their thinking.
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Is a steady diet of memorization, work sheets, and testing the sort of education the children they love receive?
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ut in order to achieve such equity of opportunity, parents need to be vigilant and take a stand. Parents can go to back-to-school night this fall. If the science lab contains no equipment, they should demand to know why and not wait patiently while the district hopes they forget. If their first grader was excited about going to school, but by the third day cries hysterically and says, “The teacher hates me,” his concerns should be taken seriously. If their kid’s school is test-obsessed, parents should let teachers and administrators know that they expect more of an education. If every parent was vocally fighting for the best public schools for their children—instead of some of the most involved and caring opting out in disgust—the government would be forced to listen.
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If affluent children enjoy beautiful campuses, arts programs, interesting literature, modern technology, field trips, carefree recess, and teachers who know them, I suggest that we create such schools for all children. What’s good for the sons and daughters of the billionaires should be good enough the rest of the children, too.
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Will RichardsonOur schools may very well be in crisis, but not for the reasons bandied about in the press. The crisis is not based on teacher pay, lack of accountability, or a lack of rigor. The problem is that we do not create productive contexts for learning in which
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The problem is that we do not create productive contexts for learning in which the needs of each child are met as their talent, interest, curiosity, and passion are amplified.
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The problem is that we do not create productive contexts for learning in which the needs of each child are met as their talent, interest, curiosity, and passion are amplified.
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