Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Dan Brown makes a great point...

In his recent column on the Huffington Post, DC Charter School teacher, Dan Brown describes here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-brown/hey-nicholas-kristof-and_b_178124.html#comments the fallacy in Chancellor Rhee's argument, not just about the number of "bad" teachers in DCPS, but more importantly about where good teachers come from. This is the point that Teachers and Parents for Real Education Reform has been trying to make for six months -- good school systems nurture good teaching. Good teachers are made by good systems. They don't come from the sky by sprinkling pixy dust. Good piece, Dan.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

What's Wrong With Accountability By The Numbers?

Education researcher Richard Rothstein makes a powerful argument that the current accountability system under No Child Left Behind makes all the mistakes that have been proven wrong in the private sector. He argues for a very different kind of accountability system in this month's AFT Magazine (click here). Its a must read for everyone in public education today.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Union Bashing Won't Reform Our Schools

In a thoughtful Commentary in EdWeek today, CUNY Professor Jennifer Goldstein argues that union bashing and union protectionism are keeping us from the important work of collaborating on improving the quality of teaching and learning. Goldstein Commentary pdf version here