Ravitch on New York’s failed experiment in school turnaround model. Lessons for all of us.
Many of you follow the blog of noted education historian Diane Ravitch. She sent me a link today to her most recent blog, which I thought was worth sharing. You can read the original here.
Here is her blog on the failed reform efforts of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg:
From The New York Daily News (owned by billionaire Mort Zuckerman, who also owns U.S. News & World Report) often runs editorials applauding the “reforms” of the Bloomberg administration. Its editorials are anti-union, anti-teacher, and consistently supportive of the policy of closing schools that have low test scores.
But the New York Daily News has excellent reporters who don’t follow the editorial line. They just report the news. And the story today is stunning.
The headline summarizes the story: “Bloomberg’s New Schools Have Failed Thousands of City Students: Did More Poorly on State Reading Tests than Older Schools with Similar Poverty Rates.”
This analysis shows the abject failure of the policy that has been the centerpiece of the Bloomberg reforms for the past decade.
Closing schools and replacing them with new schools is also the centerpiece of the Obama-Duncan “turnaround” strategy.
Here is an excerpt from the news story. Note that the grandmother of a student in Brooklyn makes more sense than the six-figure bureaucrats who run the New York City Department of Education. Tanya King of Brooklyn for Chancellor!
…When The News examined 2012 state reading test scores for 154 public elementary and middle schools that have opened since Mayor Bloomberg took office, nearly 60% had passing rates that were lower than older schools with similar poverty rates.
The new schools also showed poor results in the city’s letter-grade rating system, which uses a complicated formula to compare schools with those that have similar demographics.
Of 133 new elementary and middle schools that got letter grades last year, 15% received D’s and F’s — far more than the city average, where just 10% of schools got the rock-bottom grades.
“It’s crazy,” said Tanya King, who helped wage a losing battle to save Brooklyn’s Academy of Business and Community Development, where her grandson was a student.
The school opened in 2005, then closed in 2012.
Instead of closing struggling schools and replacing them with something else that doesn’t work, King says, the city should help with extra resources to save the existing schools.
“You have the same children in the school,” she said. “What’s going to be the difference? Put in the services that are going to make the school better.”
Her grandson Donnovan Hicks, 11, will be transferred next fall for the seventh-grade into another Bloomberg-created school, Brooklyn’s Peace Academy, where just 13% passed the state reading exams this spring.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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102 comments Add your comment
crankee-yankee
July 22nd, 2012
9:49 am
But since this evidence doesn’t track with the “remormist” line of thinking, it will be panned or ignored.
Dunwoody Mom
July 22nd, 2012
10:18 am
@crankee-yankee, that’s true and why it is imperative the parents become the frontline in the battle against these “reform” movements – everyone else is ignored. When all is said and done, Bill Gates, Michelle Rhee, et all, will be responsible for the destruction of the education of our children. I would suggest that all parents and stakeholders to please start educating themselves on this “reform” movement pushed by Gates, Rhee, Pearson, etc.
Rent "Waiting for Superman"
July 22nd, 2012
10:21 am
Maureen, you are a wholly-owned propaganda tool of the teachers’ unions, and you should drop any pretense of running a “debate” blog.
Dunwoody Mom
July 22nd, 2012
10:31 am
The standard line of those who question the “reform” movement – it’s the fault of the teachers’ unions.
living in an outdated ed system
July 22nd, 2012
10:35 am
Ms. Ravitch’s blog is nonsense. I have already respectfully lambasted her for her ignorance around game-based learning and her attacks on Bill Gates. It is fine to disagree with him on matters of policy, but to continue to steadfastly refuse any outside” help on education reform, is causing irreparable harm to our education system. I am sick and tired of hearing her, and others, say “Why do people listen to him about education? He’s not a teacher!” You all need to realize that only way education will be fixed in this country is if “insiders” allow “outsiders” to help them solve the problems in the spirit of collaboration. That’s how innovation works – from the “outside-in” not the other way around! Ms. Ravitch likes to say she’s a “historian.” No, she is not. She is a lobbyist and has become the symbol of the resistance against education reform in America.
You don’t believe me? Here’s the “nonsense” she wrote on her blog about game-based learning. She cites no research for her conclusions and she should not comment on topics she does not understand. In fact, no should comment on an issue if they are not fully informed.
From Diane’s Blog – 7/18/2012
Are you ready? Bill Gates says that game-based learning is the future of education.
He has a dream. A dream of children sitting around and playing games on their computers or their iPads or their Whatevers.
They will be wearing galvanic skin response monitor bracelets, or they will have a little chip in their heads to measure their level of excitement, and they will be excited all the time.
Every classroom–if there are classrooms–will buzz with their excitement. Little and big squeals of sheer joy as they blast off and shoot the intruder or blow away somebody else’s avatar or compete to win the most points.
They will be so excited that they won’t want to go home. They won’t want to read a book.
They will need half a gram of soma to calm down, to become calm enough to leave the classroom of the future where they have spent the entire day in play and gaming.
Just a question: Why does he get to do this to our children? Why doesn’t he use his own children as guinea pigs first?
Another question: Why do education leaders listen to him?
Mirva
July 22nd, 2012
10:36 am
Yet again, this shows that any “reform” measure that does not center around the issue of poverty and the issues that come from children who live in poverty is doomed to fail. Of course there will be some who manage to overcome these problems, but the majority will not. Closing your eyes to these very real issues and making blanket statements like “no excuses” and “all children can learn” does not make these problems disappear. If you don’t address the problems head on, you are doomed to fail.
EduKtr
July 22nd, 2012
10:39 am
So Diane Ravitch is tagged a “noted” yadda-yadda … while Mort Zuckermann is damned to the eternal flames of hell as a (gasp!) BILLIONAIRE.
Gee, that’s a balanced way to frame an issue. Did they teach you that in journalism school, Maureen?
Dunwoody Mom
July 22nd, 2012
10:51 am
Where in the post was Zuckerman “damned to the eternal flames of hell” for being a BILLIONAIRE? Another way to distract from the conversation…
SGaDawgette
July 22nd, 2012
10:55 am
@ Rent and EduKtr: please notice the different print. Maureen Downey did not make those comments. They were in the part of Ravitch’s blog that she posted for discussion. Debate would be more productive if you aimed your arguments at the appropriate source.
Maureen Downey
July 22nd, 2012
11:16 am
@SGA, Rent and EduKtr are the same poster. When we move to some form of registration, this practice of people posting under one name and then agreeing with themselves under another name will cease. Posters will have to pick a screen name and stick to it.
And to those who don’t realize this, the blog tool shows me posters who are posting under different names via the duplicate IP addresses. There are actually only a handful of daily posters who do it, but they do it daily.
I am also aware when longtime posters (Good Mother) reinvent themselves under new names. Not sure why. My AJC colleagues and I have many discussions about the stranger posting habits of folks and what their motivations are. Still not sure.
Maureen
Socrates
July 22nd, 2012
11:25 am
So grandma says schools need “extra resources” LOL. After 30+ years in education both in the USA and other countries here is the only resource that works –education will improve only when parents make it the most important part of the childrens live –Wow how hard is that? You realize that the USA spends nearly double to educate a child today than we did in the 1970’s and 80’s? Can anyone seriously argue that children are better educated? Education buzz words, new “innovative” strategies , more and more money, yeah that’ll work won’t it?
William Casey
July 22nd, 2012
11:41 am
@Maureen: I’m pleased that you are considering registration and requiring people to post under only one name. That would be a step in the right direction for rational discussion.
GeeMac
July 22nd, 2012
11:43 am
@Socrates, the primary reason we spend more money today is IDEA. Educating a child with severe mental and or physical handicaps is extremely expensive. Back in the 70s, these students were usually not accepted in the public schools.
LoganvilleGuy
July 22nd, 2012
11:46 am
It seems to me that the more that federal and state governments try and regulate education, the more our educational system seems to decline. Yet, those that are trying to push through huge reform changes rely on federal and state government to push them on local school systems.
crankee-yankee
July 22nd, 2012
11:50 am
Maureen Downey
July 22nd, 2012
11:16 am
It is sad that contributors multi-post.
Is it that they can only legitimize their viewpoints through deceit?
mountain man
July 22nd, 2012
12:14 pm
GeeMac – you are absolutely correct about the driver of a lot of increased educational expenses – IDEA. SPED studests cost a LOT more to “mainstream”, with little results to show for it.
I_teach!!
July 22nd, 2012
12:15 pm
Not a great surprise, really.
And, Rhee’s very short and stormy tenure as D.C.’s school chancellor really didn’t help her argument.
Reopening schools without addressing the special issues that come with teaching the poor will not fix a damned thing.
But teachers know this.
And, for the person who has to use multiple names to bolster his argument? Keep in mind-GA is without a teacher’s union…and unions are not the evil things that they have been made to be.
I_teach!!
July 22nd, 2012
12:15 pm
*teachers’. I’m in vacation brain mode…although that ends next Monday!
sneak peek into education
July 22nd, 2012
12:16 pm
If anyone believes that the reform movement are in it for the sake of the children (and believe me, the battle cry of it’s for the children is truly bogus-it’s for the MONEY), they are gravely mistaken. Please take 5 minutes to watch the following link (again posted by Diane Ravitch) and you will see what the reform movement truly cares about-COLD HARD CASH. PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW, ESPECIALLY OTHER TEACHERS, PTA MEMBERS, PARENTS, AND OUR LEGISLATURE. HELP TO MAKE IT GO VIRAL!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFTNQ1PAMiY&feature=youtu.be
Also, thanks Maureen. I stated my concern only the other day about people posting under different names numerous times to make statements and then agree with themselves. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing.
NTLB
July 22nd, 2012
12:16 pm
These so called “reform” models for schools could work if they also included “reform” formulas that addressed the deficiences and problems of the COMMUNITIES of the low performing schools.
Bloomberg’s reform tactics are isolated and futile as proven by the report above. It take an entire village, not a new school, to raise a child.
Solutions
July 22nd, 2012
12:46 pm
The lesson I take from the report is this: Students who want to learn flock to the new schools, which then perform well. Administrators see this, and for a variety of reasons, send some disruptive and lower IQ students to these higher performing schools, where the performance level drops. The moral of the story is this: Mixing high IQ students who want to learn with lower IQ students (many of whom are disruptive, for a variety of reasons) degrades the performance and accomplishments of all students, especially the performance of the ones who want to learn. We need to find a way to separate the students who want to learn from the ones who do not want to learn, and within the group who wants to learn, divided again by ability (IQ) so each group of willing learners can advance as rapidly as possible. I do not know what the solution is for the group that does not want to learn and is disruptive, perhaps a few months of forced farm labor to assist in providing them with perspective on their futures should their disruptive behavior continue?
Dd
July 22nd, 2012
12:55 pm
And again….the empire strikes back
mountain man
July 22nd, 2012
1:05 pm
Ahh, Solutions, I now have figured out your code words:
High IQ = White
Low IQ = Black.
I understand now.
teacher&mom
July 22nd, 2012
1:08 pm
@Maureen: The new registration process can not begin soon enough!
@cranky yankee: Those that post under several names also have the audacity to accuse the “union shrills” (of which I’m a proud member) of doing the same thing. Which proves my Grandmother was right, once again. The guilty are always the first to squeal.
mountain man
July 22nd, 2012
1:08 pm
The best “reform” would be a return to the basics of yesteryear: Discipline in schools and “F”s for those who fail ( and resulting retention). When we got away from these, we lost our education system. Then we try all these “reforms” to accomplish the impossible without addressing the basics.
teacher&mom
July 22nd, 2012
1:11 pm
@living in an outdated system: So, if Diane Ravitch is wrong about Bloomberg and NYC schools, what is the reason for the decline in test scores?
Solutions
July 22nd, 2012
1:15 pm
mountain man, there are high IQ black students, and their learning is disrupted by the lower IQ students just as much as the higher IQ students of other races. I believe much of the disruptive behavior of the lower IQ students is a front or a mask to hide their embarrassment at not being able to keep up with the smarter students, so they stop trying and actively try to slow the progress of the class. The solution is to separate the slower students, regardless of race, from the “smarter” students, and teach the slower students in a way that allows them to learn, and take pride in their accomplishments. Remember, the decline in educational achievement has been mostly at the higher end of the spectrum, due to disruptions in the learning environment, and the dumb-ing down of textbooks. Minimize the disruptions, and return to challenging text books (by IQ level) and achievement will follow an upward trend.
mountain man
July 22nd, 2012
1:18 pm
Solutions – I believe in “tracking” based on performance, but I don’t know of any test that can reliably measure “IQ”.
But some of the disruptive behavior has nothing to do with IQ – some very smart kids are the most disruptive – or the most absent from school.
Atlanta Mom
July 22nd, 2012
1:29 pm
Maureen,
My husband and I post under different names, but from the same household. Will this be a problem under the new registration system?
Thanks
EduKtr
July 22nd, 2012
1:33 pm
Maureen, I and no doubt many others posting to this blog are forced to use popular “proxy” IP addresses—because of your regular attempts to censor conservative views. It isn’t rocket science, and it’s therefore no surprise that IP addresses would be duplicated.
My home IP address is blocked by you, as well as my original posting name—though you won’t admit it. You also suspend discussion entirely when it suits you.
May I suggest that you and your AJC colleagues would need have fewer “discussions” if you ran a newspaper that reflects the diversity of Georgia opinion?
I love teaching. I hate what it is becoming...
July 22nd, 2012
1:37 pm
“….the blog tool shows me posters who are posting under different names via the duplicate IP addresses. There are actually only a handful of daily posters who do it, but they do it daily.”
Glad to have this confirmed. I have long suspected as much, based upon the “voice” of some posters which are pretty much identical. Same phrases. Same talking points. Same style. (Also same insults directed towards others.) I also suspect they are the very posters who most often accuse fellow posters of posting under multiple names.
@living “You all need to realize that only way education will be fixed in this country is if “insiders” allow “outsiders” to help them solve the problems in the spirit of collaboration.”
I am all for collaborating on reforms – the problem isn’t that the “insiders” have kept out the “outsiders. It is that the “outsiders” have been imposing their reforms on the “insiders” without ALLOWING for input or collaboration from the “insiders.” Many of the problems we are facing in education today have been brought about by “reforms” and mandates placed upon our schools without listening to the legitimate concerns of those in the trenches. Ask any teacher who was teaching when NCLB was passed. We all KNEW it was destined to fail! We voiced our concerns, and were ignored. And now, states are opting out because they realize it does not work. We could have told them that years ago and saved billions in taxpayers funds.
EduKtr
July 22nd, 2012
1:43 pm
“Ron F” and “teacher&mom” (and “Dunwoody Mom”?), by the way, are all from the same source … someone either using proxy IP address or teacher union resources. But of course he/she never fails to agree with your anti-parental choice stand and so are free to post.
… and post, and post, and post.
EduKtr
July 22nd, 2012
1:53 pm
Oh, and add “I love/hate teaching” to the list of probable teacher union (Ron F) pseudonyms.
Attentive Parent/Invisible Serfs Collar
July 22nd, 2012
1:54 pm
I looked into what was actually going on in New York as part of looking into Cambridge Education and its School Quality Reports that insist the teachers are not supposed to teach content. For those unaware, Fulton County hired Cambridge to audit all its schools in anticipation of that dreadful charter going into effect. Cambridge’s 1st work in the US was in NYC where it also told the teachers they could no longer teach the content. I wrote about it here: http://www.invisibleserfscollar.com/if-the-system-seeks-to-destroy-the-ability-to-think-can-james-madison-save-us/
Besides the pernicious effects of this UNESCO Quality Assurance template, NYC also suffers from a problem plagueing so many schools in the US. A failure to understand the actual non-common sense meaning of so many of the terms being used. There ends up being a disconnect between the assumed meaning and thus intentions of the reforms and the actual meanings.
NYC parents should probably consult an insider ed Glossary (or mine) on terms like School Improvement, rigorous, and especially Accountability.
Invariably the public and the administrators are working off two different scripts because of these unappreciated differences in actual word meanings.
Solutions
July 22nd, 2012
1:58 pm
mountain man, we are pretty much in agreement, I would not forbid children who score low on an IQ test from choosing to take the more difficult courses, but at the same time, they must keep up with the class, we should never slow the progress of the brightest. Rather than slow the “bright” class, just allow the ones who cannot keep up to fail, and return to the lower level class. IQ tests are predictive of performance, and they are highly reproducible, but they should not be used as a barrier to entry, rather they should be used to sort the children into groups so they can learn as well and as rapidly as possible. By permitting any child to choose the more difficult class, we can avoid the claims of discrimination. The child will prosper or fail in the more advanced class based on their own ability and effort.
Happy St. Pat's
July 22nd, 2012
1:59 pm
So the new schools underperform similar existing schools? That’s interesting, but how do the new schools compare to those that they replaced? That’s the real question. Replacing a school that had nurtured a culture of failure or indifference could still be an improvement, and it might take a little while to overcome the handicap. That said, I’m not surprised. Winning an election doesn’t make you smart, but it certainly may inflate your ego, making you *think* that you stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
crankee-yankee
July 22nd, 2012
2:01 pm
mountain man
July 22nd, 2012
1:18 pm
Yes, there are many discipline problems in “gifted” classes. Although “solutions” is correct with the idea that some disrupt due to embarrassment, it is much more involved than that. Boredom, different learning styles, broken homes, lack of nutrition, sleep, etc. all have an effect at different times/days. No one response will solve the problem of discipline, just as no one factor is the cause.
IMHO, the path that has lead away from truly “comprehensive” schools is as much to blame as any other factor. Hands-on activities, as found in the “shop” classes of old, were where many students with discipline problems in the “regular” classes would shine. They found a place where they could express the talents they had and would find connections to their core classes. With the movement to a more academy-like environment, those breaks in their day giving them an outlet disappeared.
Some core disciplines have begun to utilize the type activities of the past calling them manipulatives. Nothing new, just a return to good techniques. Some disciplines never lost the activities but had to scale them back due to budget constraints. Consumable supplies are not cheap. You get what you pay for. The rise in discipline issues is an unintended consequence of budget cuts.
I have been wrong in past posts citing $3 billion in education cuts in GA starting in the Purdue administration. I just saw a report that pegs the cuts at about $5.3 billion. Maybe that is adjusted for inflation.
Hmmmmm.....
July 22nd, 2012
2:01 pm
Schools can’t take the place of families and involved parents, no matter how many trillions of dollars you sink into them with whatever system you create, liberal or conservative…..will NEVER happen
Too many irresponsible people having unwanted children…..whatchya gonna do??
MM
July 22nd, 2012
2:28 pm
Ten years ago Ravich was on the oppostite side of where she is today. Her truest skill is sensing the trend and sailing in that direction. Somehow she seems to always be on the leading edge. No one should be listening to such an opportunist.
Happy St. Pat's
July 22nd, 2012
2:30 pm
Whatcha gonna do. Gotta do something . . . Those kids are your future doctors, future plumbers, or future thugs and baby-makers. Whatcha gonna do right now??????
Aquagirl
July 22nd, 2012
2:37 pm
Maureen, I and no doubt many others posting to this blog are forced to use popular “proxy” IP addresses—because of your regular attempts to censor conservative views. It isn’t rocket science, and it’s therefore no surprise that IP addresses would be duplicated.
I’ve ragged on Maureen and other AJC writers for everything from their hair to crappy journalism. I’ve posted all sorts of views from libertarian/conservative to bedwetter liberal. Nobody’s ever censored me.
“Forced” to use proxy IP addresses? Honey, get a life. If you’re sitting there in your tricorn hat thinking “ooh, I fooled Maureen, I WINZ!!!” you should spend less time here and more time with mental health professionals. If you’re invested in the idea of you as the ‘Merican resistance to AJC liberal tyranny that’s just plain sad.
It’s a friggin’ blog. You’re not Spartacus.
Prof
July 22nd, 2012
2:44 pm
@ EduKtr. I am rather insulted that you have not added me to your group of “teacher union pseudonyms” along with Ron F., Teacher & Mom, Dunwoody Mom, and I love teaching, I hate what it is becoming. I’ve certainly come out in favor of teachers’ unions in past posts.
living in an outdated ed system
July 22nd, 2012
2:46 pm
@Teacher & Mom – have you read Ms. Ravitch’s blog? It’s just a series of rants. She will ALWAYS take one report that helps her POV, and then will make sweeping generalizations based on that ONE report.
Quite frankly, I don’t really put my credibility into her perspective, because she’s an anachronism. Until she realizes that we need to move from a “teacher-centric” to “student-centric” mindset, she is useless to me. She fails to acknowledge that change is difficult, and there will be bumps along the road. And quite frankly, I could give a _____ about test scores because they mean very little to me, especially multiple choice tests.
living in an outdated ed system
July 22nd, 2012
2:49 pm
@I Love Teaching – I have to respectfully disagree with you. If we fixed the system and teachers had the ability to truly innovate in the classroom, things would be different. Instead, we have self interest groups like the teachers unions blocking every single attempt to try and reform public education. I am against the NEA, not against teachers. But with our current system in place, I guess they’re pretty much the same thing, which is truly sad.
Rent the film "Waiting for Superman"
July 22nd, 2012
2:50 pm
Maureen: Just came across your angry post. Puzzling, but I note you don’t address my charge that you are a tool of the teachers’ unions.
Out of curiosity—how do you sleep at night, while fighting day after day against parental choice and education reform?
catlady
July 22nd, 2012
2:51 pm
Well, I know I don’t post under several names. I can’t agree with myself from one moment to the next (the curse of learning in grad school how to argue from differing points of view, I guess, or maybe I have some schitzo thing going on!)
“Reform” that is predicated on some “miracle” thought up by someone who hasn’t devoted their life to educating children (NOT making money) is just self-serving drivel, no more worthy of consideration than the hairball my cat brings up.
I love teaching. I hate what it is becoming...
July 22nd, 2012
2:56 pm
@EdKtr “Ron F” and “teacher&mom” (and “Dunwoody Mom”?), by the way, are all from the same source … someone either using proxy IP address or teacher union resources. ”
You know, I actually thought you might be legit and have access to the IP addresses, but then you threw this in there: “Oh, and add “I love/hate teaching” to the list of probable teacher union (Ron F) pseudonyms.”
And since I KNOW I am not Ron F. or anyone else on your list, you just blew any credibility you might have with me concerning multi-name posters.
catlady
July 22nd, 2012
2:59 pm
BTW, Ms Downey@11:16: I bet you and colleagues could write a book about weird stuff folks do re blogs! (Off topic, but I have a friend who worked in the ER as a nurse and you should HEAR some of the stories he tells about what people “do” to themselves!)
EduKtr
July 22nd, 2012
3:03 pm
@Prof: Yes, yes, by leaving you out I didn’t mean to suggest you’re not earning your monthly blog posting stipend from the teachers’ union. Or that you revile any less the inner-city parents stuck with failing public schools.
You have every reason to likewise feel ashamed of yourself.
Progressive Humanist
July 22nd, 2012
3:14 pm
Mountain Man- An IQ test (the various incarnations of the Stanford-Binet) can reliably measure IQ. They are extremely reliable and very stable in their measure of IQ after the age of 6. Did you mean that you know of no test that can measure all aspects of intelligence? That is something you can viably argue, but it’s not credible to suggest that IQ can’t be measured. IQ has probably been accurately and reliably assessed more than any other psychological construct over the last 100 years.
Maureen Downey
July 22nd, 2012
3:24 pm
@Rent, Not angry. Just think people ought to stop posting under multiple names in an effort to bolster their case when there is not bona fide support for their statements.
As to the union argument, I have said many times that Georgia does not have teacher unions. If you think that teachers here have unions, then you have no idea of how a union functions.
As for my sleep, it is fine. I have only one standard for school reforms — they ought to work. Show me the verifiable evidence that “parental choice” in the form of either vouchers or charter schools has transformed US education and produced amazing results.
Maureen
Maureen Downey
July 22nd, 2012
3:27 pm
@Edu, I can assure you that they are unique posters.
Maureen
Maureen Downey
July 22nd, 2012
3:28 pm
@Atlanta, Not sure how that will work. Will ask about that.
Maureen
I love teaching. I hate what it is becoming...
July 22nd, 2012
4:02 pm
@living “Instead, we have self interest groups like the teachers unions blocking every single attempt to try and reform public education.”
My ability to innovate is certainly curtailed in the classroom, but it has never been the “unions” that has done so… NCLB did not come from the unions. The testing craze did not come from the unions. The minutia I am required to display, document, and keep track of did not come from unions. Standard based grading did not come from unions. CRCT did not come from the unions. Class Keys did not come from the unions. Someone else came up with these “reforms” and pushed them through.
Yudont Nomey
July 22nd, 2012
4:55 pm
Just for the record, there are three people living in my house and we all use the same computer. We are: Pink, David and Allison. From here on out we will all be known as Yudont Nomey. And when friends and family visit, they may use my computer too. Just because comments are coming from the same IP address does not mean they are coming from the same person. And as for proxy IP, I thought those were for people who were doing illicit things, like spamming and downloading porn.
Tabitha
July 22nd, 2012
4:57 pm
If the education insiders keep resisting reform, demanding more money, pushing for unions and denigrating anyone who lacks the what they perceive as the right credential, then public education will continue on its present course and will ultimately be defunded. I don’t give a fig for the expert de jour, but if parents and taxpayers are not included in our education discussions as full partners, they will simply move elsewhere. Parents are already on the move, looking for alternatives to the once size fits none solution of the public school and taxpayers are restless.
BTW, the screen name I choose is my business. The AJC thinks the solution to everything is a new rule.
redweather
July 22nd, 2012
5:20 pm
Wow! The discussion about screen names is more informative than the one about whether Bloomberg’s reforms have worked.
What passes for debate in this blog is pretty damn sorry. Everyone can’t be right all of the time, but that sure doesn’t prevent people from trying. In addition to registering posters, I think it would be a good idea to establish their mental age as well. At least that way we would know in advance when we are dealing with someone who is still in diapers.
d
July 22nd, 2012
5:46 pm
@Tabitha – I don’t resist reform. I resist business model reform which is what we are getting. Education is not a business. I resist the politicians who think that they are experts in my craft just because they graduated high school themselves. Would you accept a doctor who doesn’t have proper credentials? An attorney? An electrician? A police officer? Why would you accept an educator who doesn’t have the proper training in their field? Finally, if money were being thrown at our public schools, educators wouldn’t be furloughed, facing layoffs, increased contributions to our retirement and other benefits, and more importantly, students would not be packed 40 to a classroom that was built for 25, every classroom would be outfitted with the technology students need to be able to operate in the 21st century.
Another Math Teacher
July 22nd, 2012
5:50 pm
Maureen Downey:
“@SGA, Rent and EduKtr are the same poster. When we move to some form of registration, this practice of people posting under one name and then agreeing with themselves under another name will cease. ”
You are naive if you think that will stop it. Sounds like someone from your IT department is spewing crap in your direction.
“Posters will have to pick a screen name and stick to it.”
No, they wont. You really need to have a talk with that IT guy.
“And to those who don’t realize this, the blog tool shows me posters who are posting under different names via the duplicate IP addresses. There are actually only a handful of daily posters who do it, but they do it daily.”
Many people have noted the false posters without that tool. It’s a shame that it took you so long to call the offenders out on it.
“I am also aware when longtime posters (Good Mother) reinvent themselves under new names. Not sure why. My AJC colleagues and I have many discussions about the stranger posting habits of folks and what their motivations are. Still not sure. ”
Because Good Mother is a troll.
A Teacher, 2
July 22nd, 2012
5:50 pm
@Tabitha, what makes you think that the “public schools” created the one size fits none model. I, and almost every teacher I know, don’t like it either. We would welcome and IMMEDIATE change from the one size fits all curriculum and regulation that is thrust upon us by the state. State laws and rules have to be changed on the STATE level. Most people are demanding that the local BOE and local administration change things. Local BOE and local administration have some things under their purview, but changing state law and state policy is not something that a local BOE or local admin can do. I won’t even get into Federal Law and Federal policy and regulation, but it is the same idea on the national level.
If any of you can figure out how to get the state out of the one size fits all mode, I assure you that the majority of classroom teachers will be with you. Most of the school level administrators that I know will be there, also!
5:50 pm
July 22nd, 2012
5:50 pm
Maureen, you can assure readers of VERY LITTLE when it comes to determining “unique” blog posters.
Teachers’ unions which can afford to fly “unique” rioters up to Wisconsin to trash that state’s capital buildings and intimidate legislators’ families IN THEIR HOMES … can certainly make multiple IP addresses available for paid blog posters to utilize.
When $700-$1000 or more in yearly dues per union member is at stake?
d
July 22nd, 2012
6:12 pm
@5:50 don’t believe the gross overexaggeration of the damages to the Wisconsin Capitol (please note the correct spelling). Where is your evidence that dues dollars paid to send members to Madison? I certainly wasn’t asked. If it’s true, I’ll gladly send more to assist in that fight. I may not have collective bargaining rights in Georgia, but to simply try to silence the voice of the professionals because you don’t like their message is un-American.
5:50 pm
July 22nd, 2012
6:32 pm
@d:
Annoying idiot.The Wisconsin Capitol building wasn’t the only state building requiring cleaning and repair after union demonstrators finally left. And Wisconsin taxpayers are still paying for the pointless May recall election … that resulted in an even bigger Walker victory margin.
d
July 22nd, 2012
6:39 pm
@550 what good is the Walker victory when he lost the state Senate?
Prof
July 22nd, 2012
6:58 pm
Perhaps the solution to the problem of one blogger using multiple names to try to mimic a groundswell of support is to ignore group-think. After awhile, one recognizes the style and message of frequent posters. See the article by Jack Hitt on “forensic linguistics” in the July 23 issue of “The New Yorker.”
Steven Reid Harbin
July 22nd, 2012
7:54 pm
Maureen, I rarely post, but when I do I decided to do so under my own name as do posters such as William Casey, John Trotter and others. I can understand why others might not wish to use their real names, but I am glad that you are going to a registration system where folks have to pick a name and stick with it. Posting multiple times under more than one “name” seems disingenuous, to say the least.
5:50 pm
July 22nd, 2012
8:31 pm
@d:
Like Georgia’s Senate, Wisconsin’s won’t meet again to pass legislation until after the November elections—which will feature districts re-drawn by the Republican legislature.
Game and match.
d
July 22nd, 2012
9:38 pm
@550, perhaps, but in the end, it is of little concern to me. I think the Tea Party’s era of hijacking the GOP won’t last. Believe it or not, I frequently vote for Republicans, but right now, the extremism that has taken over the party will kill the party of Abraham Lincoln, and I don’t think the American people will continue to stand for it. No this and No that etc will turn off voters. Believe me, every day I thank God we got one of the most corrupt congressmen as our governor over someone the likes of Scott Walker, Rick Scott, Paul LePage.
That being said, I have enjoyed this political discourse, but as I reread your first post to me where you called me an idiot, I will end it now. I have to begin preparations to teach children next week so that I can be ready for them on August 13.
Tired
July 22nd, 2012
9:40 pm
I’ve only read the first page of comments, but it looks like I’m the only one who thought “well, at least they tried SOMETHING.”
What we’re doing isn’t working, so it’s time to try something new. And none of those new things are guaranteed to succeed, and what fails or succeeds in New York or Kansas or Texas might do the opposite elsewhere.
d
July 22nd, 2012
9:48 pm
@Tired, the only problem here is who is affected by this failure? As Dr. Trotter frequently reminds us, you can’t have good learning conditions if you don’t have good teaching conditions. In other words, my work environment is my students’ learning environment. Trying something just in the name of trying something is not the answer. Why do the politicians fear or refuse to talk to us? I am not going to ask for more than I feel I need to do my job, I am not going to do like Arne Duncan says and say I need to be paid $65,000+ a year (I won’t refuse that salary, but it’s not necessary). All I ask is pay me fairly, stop cutting my salary to balance your budget when spending money on scripts, and let me, the professional, do the job I have trained to do and can do better than any reformer.
Mdw
July 22nd, 2012
9:53 pm
@progressive humanist-the I.Q. Test can not measure true intelligence-in fact if you will look at the history and design of the test you will understand-maybe you need to read about multiple intelligences to understand this. I personally am grateful that finally a newspaper, especially as big as the one mentioned doesn’t take sides with the fallacy of the reform movement. The reformist want to blame everybody else but themselves, and if a teacher doesn’t like what they say, they throw out the union card, or teacher incompetences. Why do our lawmakers listen to people who never taught and have no data to support their ideas and then ram these ideas down the pipeline. When these lawmakers policies are carried out by the teacher and the system as a whole fails, its blaming time-blame the teachers, the unions, and the public schools.
5:50 pm
July 22nd, 2012
10:21 pm
It’s been regularly pointed out on this blog, but I’ll say it again: If you don’t like your working conditions as a teacher—why not find another line of work?
There are countless young graduates eager to take your place in the classroom.
Progressive Humanist
July 22nd, 2012
10:42 pm
Mdw-
I never stated that IQ tests can measure “true” intelligence or all facets of intelligence. They measure IQ and they are very accurate in those measurements. IQ tests reliably predict one’s aptitude for academic achievement. They correlate very strongly with the highest level of academic schooling and are among the most valid and reliable normed assessments in psychology.
The fact that you even brought up multiple intelligences tells me that you are not familiar with credible academic research. Multiple intelligence theory has been roundly discredited by empirical research. There is no legitimate empirical research to support the idea. I suggest you read Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D., & Bjork, R. (2009). Learning styles: Concepts and evidence. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 9, 105-119.
And since that article was published a handful of studies have found no statistically significant differences when testing the multiple intelligence hypothesis, and none have found statistically significant differences. In addition, modern neuroscience has shown Gardner’s original hypothesis to be incorrect because there is a high correlation between the different forms of intelligence, rather than a low correlation, which tells us we have a single general intelligence, not separate multiple intelligences.
The multiple intelligence hypothesis is a myth propagated upon misinformed educators who don’t understand empirical research and how evidence is compounded through experimental research.
I recommend that you look into the actual research (or lack of) on the subject and focus your efforts on strategies that are actually research based. It’s a shame when educators fall for unsupported fairy tales because it takes away valuable time from legitimate instruction.
Progressive Humanist
July 22nd, 2012
11:02 pm
Mdw- One more thing. I challenge you to cite three experimental studies that show a statistically significant interaction effect between students’ learning style and a teaching style that corresponds with that learning style, leading to enhanced learning in the students participating in the study. I don’t think you can even cite one, but if you can, I’d be very interested in examining that research. (And please don’t cite a polemic text written by an “educational leader” based on their anecdotal experience and qualitative observations or theoretical musings by Gardner, who is not an experimental researcher.)
Mdw
July 22nd, 2012
11:15 pm
@Progressive Humanist, I am familiar with everyone that you mentioned, (why would we care that a bigger brain means higher intelligence by Mcdaniel-which then wouldnt explain Einstein’s brain correlation and Paschler just narrows down intelligence but was based on Gardners)but it always seems to go back to the eighties. I do disagree with you on several points. My profession is working with students who have certain needs. One time, I had student who scored very low on several of these so-called intelligence test, graduated and open his business making cabinetry. Intelligences can not have a numerical value because of two reasons-abstract and no true definition of intelligences. But this actually blog discussion should be about ill-informed politician who try to act tough on education based on the decision of people who never taught.
Mdw
July 22nd, 2012
11:20 pm
@progressive humanist-I don’t have to prove anything-I work with children who have severe needs every day. I am sorry if I offended you, but there is a difference between helping children succeed and just acting intelligent because it sounds good.
another comment
July 22nd, 2012
11:23 pm
I got called into the Principal’s office at my daughter’s school for a meeting. In this meeting he basically told me he did not like me posting on this blog negatively about him and the high school. I just sat in the room and gave him a blank look. The real last laugh was when Dale Gaddis did not renew his contract for last year. Sort of killed the Ego manic. He has been constantly at the news, unable to control his new school in South Fulton County.
To be threatened by the Principal for telling the truth on his firing of 10/17 Math teachers then rehiring 8 immediately from his old school. That is why you must sometimes have an alternate name to protect your kids. Also, many think by looking at me, that I would be a Republican like them, never ! Again my kids would not have any friends, if people knew we were Liberals.
bootney farnsworth
July 22nd, 2012
11:29 pm
I’m disappointed edu/rent/ect didn’t lump me into his/her/its tirade.
bootney farnsworth
July 22nd, 2012
11:32 pm
I’m curious who backs the morons who constantly claim we’re a union rich environment.
another comment
July 22nd, 2012
11:37 pm
The biggest problem is that children of higher intelligence are left behind. Not all children who are smart fit the narrow confines of Target or whatever each county wants to call it. When kids that are over 95% on the ITBS tests are excluded from Target, but all of the PTA volunteers kids make it in something is fishy. Maybe the parent of the higher scoring student actually utilizes their graduate degree and works 60-80 hours a week and doesn’t have time to troll the halls of school. My non-Target Child will graduate from high school with over a 3.9 GPA with the kids who made target are C students at best, both at public and private schools, ironic.
My younger child who has gotten 99% on the ITBS just refuses to do the busy work homework. She also hates going to school and convinces the Doctors she is sick everytime. She cries with frustration on group projects, when she is assigned to work in groups, that the other children won’t do the work or do such poor quality. How can she put her name on it. So this year, instead of her doing all the work, with the boys she was assigned not working on the project, she called in sick. What did the teacher do, when the project wasn’t done, he made the boys do it in class and at lunch. I also wrote him an e-mail that I took my child to the doctors because she had headaches and stomach issues, because the boys would not do any of the work.
bootney farnsworth
July 22nd, 2012
11:42 pm
something which both bothers and amazes me is the volume of posters reveling in what they see as the failings and failures of others. remains me a lot of GPC, where the most important role of any meeting was to figure out who screwed up.
I wonder why some people are so rewarded by trashing others?
S. Daniel
July 22nd, 2012
11:44 pm
A lot of money is being made in the name of education. However, for the past five years teachers have seen their salaries, benefits, and retirement shrink; teachers are making less now than they did in 2008. The conditions in which they teach are getting worse: textbooks are scarce and in poor condition, computers are outdated and slow as molasses, and classrooms are over crowded. Yet teachers come back every year. Why, because most of them love what they do and they care about the children they teach. There is money being made in education; ask any teacher and I’m sure they can tell you where it is. There is a need for educational reform but to use our limited resources on theories is wasteful.
NTLB
July 23rd, 2012
12:21 am
@d–those countless young graduates ready to replace our teaching jobs hang in for the first couple years then they jet. When the going gets rough, the young graduates get going. Thanks to dedicated teachers like me, the only true consistency our students experience in their learning, are the familiar faces of veteran teachers every new school year.
d
July 23rd, 2012
5:10 am
@NTLB, I didn’t make that comment about the countless graduates – I actually laughed when I read it. I begin my 8th year next month and don’t plan on going anywhere.
NTLB
July 23rd, 2012
9:05 am
@d–my apologies–it actually is very funny. And thanks for hanging in there!
Progressive Humanist
July 23rd, 2012
10:42 am
Mdw- You still don’t seem to understand that IQ and intelligence are not the same thing. You are correct that researchers and psychologists cannot come to a consensus on what intelligence actually is (I know; I’m a researcher, psychologist, and also a former high school teacher, btw). But an IQ score is not purported to measure all of intelligence as most people envision it. That’s a common misconception and one you seem to hold. IQ does not equal intelligence. IQ measures mostly verbal and quantitative ability and predicts how well someone can achieve in an academic setting. That’s it. That was its original intent when Binet first created the IQ test around 1910 and that’s what it still does, very accurately and reliably. And it is certainly measured numerically, as are all constructs subject to statistical analysis.
It correlates less well with how much someone will succeed in an occupation, so there’s no reason to think that a young man with a low IQ could not succeed in a cabinet making business unless you were under the mistaken assumption that an IQ score reflects all aspects of intelligence. A high IQ is only a requirement for the highest level occupations (you won’t find any surgeons, astronauts, scientists, professors, etc. with low IQs), but it is not the only criterion (some criminals and homeless people have high IQs). There are other traits that, for everything but the highest level positions, are just as important or more important than IQ (social skills, ability to work with others, persistence, diligence, etc.). This is why we would expect people with low IQs to be able to be successful in certain jobs as long as they have other requisite traits. Your inability to understand the difference between IQ and intelligence caused you to be unduly surprised after that student succeeded when you shouldn’t have been and to question the validity of the test when in actuality it wasn’t measuring what you thought it was.
Okay, you don’t have to “prove” anything to me (we never use the term “prove” in science, particularly the social sciences such as psychology, education, etc.). But at 9:53 you suggested that I needed to learn about multiple intelligences. I have studied cognition and multiple intelligences, specifically, a good bit and know the hypothesis to lack empirical support, so I would counter that you are actually the one who needs to learn about the research, or lack of, behind the hypothesis. Since you brought the topic up, then I think it’s reasonable for me to ask for you to provide some evidence from experimental studies to support your claim. I provided you with one study to support mine. If you cannot provide even a single study, then I must assume that you were talking about something you know little about.
You seem to fall back on the fact that you teach special education as a source to validate your claims. That’s not going to work either. You provide anecdotal stories essentially with a sample size of one (N = 1) to justify your point of view, but I’m sorry, that doesn’t work as evidence in science and education, it won’t convince me of the validity of your claims, and it shouldn’t convince any educators worth their salt. And while I hope you are a good teacher for your students’ sake, there are many poor and under-educated teachers in the field, so just being a teacher is not enough to lend you credibility on the matter. The fact that you’re a proponent of multiple intelligences, a common educational myth, does suggest you are misinformed to some degree and likely waste your students’ time, to some extent, on learning strategies that have not been shown to be effective in increasing students’ learning.
So my hope is that you examine some of the research literature on your own or get into a graduate program that will usher you through the research process so that you can identify more effective strategies for your students. Or if you can actually provide some evidence for your earlier claims about the multiple intelligence hypothesis I would love to review those studies.
Batgirl
July 23rd, 2012
11:32 am
@EduKtr, 3:03 p.m.–If you know how I can sign up for a monthly stipend to post on behalf of my “union”, please let me know. I could use a little extra cash!!!
NONPC
July 23rd, 2012
11:41 am
I went to Elementary/Middle/High Schools that were as much as 30 years old. But you know, that did not matter because 1) I paid attention in school and did my work 2) my parents expected excellent grades and school work 3) I had excellent teachers in mathematics, science, English. We did not have air conditioning in school until my Junior year in H.S.
There are some who think that the surroundings of the student have a major impact on the learning process. I disagree. For over 200 years, schools did not have the amenities that most schools have today, and yet our scores from 30 years ago have not improved significantly even with the latest amenities, courses, etc.
In short: It’s not the building. It’s the people. Take all the same people (administration, teachers, students, parents) out of one building and put them in another building and nothing will change with respect to student performance. If anything, they will come away with wrong ideas… having been rewarded for poor performance with a new school.
Tired of Teaching
July 23rd, 2012
11:41 am
No matter how much you try reform, there will ALWAYS be children that are not successful…and that can be for any number of reasons – from ability (remember abilities do fall on a bell curve) to home situations. And the main reason they won’t be successful is because you can’t reform their PARENTS!
Ron F.
July 23rd, 2012
12:23 pm
““Ron F” and “teacher&mom” (and “Dunwoody Mom”?), by the way, are all from the same source … someone either using proxy IP address or teacher union resources. But of course he/she never fails to agree with your anti-parental choice stand and so are free to post.”
Prove it Don…I mean, Eduktr. Show the IP address that is “common”. I’d bet my entire retirement account you can’t because it doesn’t exist. It’s easy to make accusations, and it only undercuts your influence here. to update a favorite quote of mine, “Better to be thought a fool than to constantly post and remove all doubt”
Dr. John Trotter
July 23rd, 2012
1:36 pm
My problem with charter schools: Although they make a real effort and pretense of randomly selecting students from the same basic population that the regular public schools are assigned students, their students, as a whole, magically are kids who are more motivated (or at least their parents are more motivated) and more equipped for academic success. The interviewing process, the need to furnish your own transportation (in most cases), etc., tend to winnow out the less motivated. And, let’s face it: motivation to learn is the key.
About the multiple postings: Although anything that comes from my desktop or laptop comes with my name emblazoned on it. But, in the past, I have known some of my friends and cousins (Earl of Ft. Liqourdale, Cousin Booger, the Rev. Jimmy Jack Bourbon, et al.) to clandestinely get onto my computers and post things under their names. I don’t get too upset because I think that Maureen and other readers understand that their postings are done with my imprimatur.
I think that Diane Ravitch is playing a very key role in the national education debate. I bought one of her books more than, I believe, 10 years ago. (Her recent book is also very good.) It is a great, scholarly tome on the failed attempts of school reform over a century. Dr. John Goodlad of UCLA published “A Place Called School” in 1983. It was a mega study of essentially all of the extant studies (as well as about a thousand additional interviews, if I recall correctly), and he and his team concluded that national efforts at school reform fail miserably. School reform cannot be successfully mandated nationwide, statewide, or ever school system-wide. What matters is an inspirational leader at the local school level and his or her willingness to trust the teachers under his or her charge. This, of course, may be my extrapolation. So, I don’t want to put words in Dr. Goodlad’s mouth. I remember him concluding, though, that, at best, school reform may be able to take place on a local school level under the guidance of an inspirational leader. I don’t think that he advocated for the genre of principal-tyrants that we so routinely see today.
I have tried to deal with these pseudo educational reforms through the years.
http://www.theteachersadvocate.com
Meredith
July 23rd, 2012
2:40 pm
Maureen, it is your blog! I admit, I have posted under a different name, but I have done so because I am a teacher and I must protect myself at times, but not to abuse your blog. The jerks know who they are. We know who they are. How bored and insecure they must be. I say, let them find a new place to be jerks. You forcing the issue by creating a registration process is your right. However, the jerks seem to have a slightly (ok, completely) bent compass when it comes rules, fairness, law, morality, honesty, integrity, fact based opinions, education, politics….I could go on.
Meredith
July 23rd, 2012
3:29 pm
Maureen, will you please post something that once and for all explains the GEORGIA has no real teachers unions. All someone has to do to figure this rubics cube out is too go to any Ga county web page and search for teacher salaries. They can be found in about 10 seconds. Now go and try to find the same with any county or district school in Michigan. Good luck! Teachers in Georgia who move to a union state have to do extensive research just to figure out how to function in a union state. And…when I teacher from Georgia does teach in a union state school, he or she will be hated by the people at the school who only know union mentality because he or she would do more work, stay later, and volunteer more than his her union peers. Georgia teachers don’t understand unions because THERE ARE NO UNIONS IN GEORGIA for teachers.
Prof
July 23rd, 2012
4:09 pm
@ Meredith. Of course you’re right. This has been pointed out ad nauseum (including many times by me) to those paid, peripatetic trolls from out of state who keep proclaiming it over and over. They love to see the real Georgia teachers go kerblooey when they do….it’s so easy!
However, it is also easy to see who is the outside blogger with no knowledge of or interest in Georgia education.
Jerry Eads
July 23rd, 2012
4:58 pm
When I worked downtown, it was with no little uneasiness when I could no longer resist posting here, and therefore did so under an alias. It was with GREAT joy when I took the college faculty position at Georgia Gwinnett that I could start posting under my own name.
I STRONGLY encourage everyone not at risk of being fired or otherwise punished for their views to have the courage to also post under your own name. Those who work for ‘da gummiint’ (including P-12 teachers) who are at risk certainly should be careful. Perhaps it will be a bit easier to ignore the ravings of the nonrational.
Maureen, I am truly awed that there are adults out there so juvenile (or perhaps of questionable emotional stability) to post under multiple aliases just to agree with themselves. Bet they don’t subscribe either
.
Jerry Eads
July 23rd, 2012
5:04 pm
ps – Someone up there was complaining about Ravitch’ views. She is easily one of the very, very best educational historians in the country. She knows more about the underpinnings and complexities of our educational system than perhaps all of us here put together. You most certainly need not agree with her. Just realize that your understanding of education – whoever you are with whatever experience or training – pales in comparison.
Meredith
July 23rd, 2012
6:10 pm
@prof. You are so right. I should know better than to get caught in the rhetorical games of the bored and stupid. Wow, that would make a great title for a book: Rhetorical Games of the Bored and Stupid. Of course, the truly bored and stupid would see it as a how to and not satire.
A Teacher, 2
July 23rd, 2012
6:38 pm
I have never worked for a principal that did not move out the incompetent and miss-fits as soon as possible. I have a problem with any community that allows incompetence in their school system. I can’t believe that people cannot get together to effect change on a local level, regardless of size of the system. It would be difficult in large metro systems, but it certainly can be done if people get together and vote. Those employees with rights under the fair dismissal law were still moved out. Fair dismissal does not make it impossible to fire someone that is really bad. The documentation required is a small pain, but any competent administrator can make things happen. If the administrators are not competent, the community needs to take care of that, too.
Of course, this requires action, not cynical posts on an anonymous blog!
MB
July 24th, 2012
7:33 am
@Teacher 2: You are indeed fortunate in your principal experiences. Many of us have not had the same luck with administrators willing to do what needed to be done with those incompetents and misfits. Both as parent and educator, I have found administrators who did NOT handle those situations or just moved them out of one position into another where the incompetent was STILL incompetent. Complaints (even in writing) apparently go into the circular file as those people outlast – or drive away – good colleagues.
Taking care of the administrators is another issue. As long as the schools’ overall test scores work,and they’re not in the news for discipline problems, who’s going to bother them? If something IS done, it’s typically a Peter Principle move – send them to central office!
(I do keep trying the action route as it seems if you’re not trying to be part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. But it is VERY disheartening at times..)
Google "NEA" and "union"
July 24th, 2012
1:02 pm
The National Education Association (NEA) is a union. It says so right on its website: http://www.nea.org/home/18469.htm
EVERY member of the Georgia Association of Educators (GAE) belongs to the NEA and pays $168 yearly for this. Here’s what the NEA spends much of that money doing: http://goo.gl/rtJIZ and http://goo.gl/bNdPt
Any questions?
Prof
July 24th, 2012
3:10 pm
@ Google “NEA” and “union.” Every time you post this (as you do, over and over and over and….) you just show that you’re an out-of-state fraud; for everyone in Georgia knows that our Constitution doesn’t allow teachers to belong to unions. The website you keep citing over and over, http://goo.gl/, illustrates your origins, for it’s the site of the right-wing Gallup poll.
Anonmom
July 31st, 2012
9:09 pm
I haven’t had a chance to read all the comments. I just finished reading “Outliers,” which really isn’t meant to be about education — it’s about success. It talks about why it is that over 75% of professional hockey players were born between 1/1 and 3/31 and why the “wizards” of computing were born in the same period of time of the late 50s/early 60s and had access to a particular type of computer in the late 60s/early 70s (that would be Bill Joy/Bill Gates and Steve Jobs) and how the Beatles got to practice for 10,000 hours in Berlin and how that really made a difference in their career — but what I took away from the book was the underlying “culture” that he speaks about throughout the book and how that impacts “success” in each of the industries and success stories he tells — besides those mentioned — there is a chapter on how Eastern European Jews immigrated and took over the garment industry with their 10,0000 hours of prior knowledge of tailoring (because they were precluded from owning land and farming in the old world) and how that impacted, culturally, their children, which then, when coupled with rampant discrimination, led to the absolute success of a number of “big time” Wall Street lawyers in the 1970s and 1980s; how the rice paddies and the amount of very hard work they entailed, absolutely has led the success of Asian students based on the culture ofrice paddie farming; how the culture of Jamaican society and it’s race relations and inter-racial issues and sugar planttions fed into the success of their children … it leads to support the conclusion that the culture of the various cultural groups in America have much more to do with the success of the children in school than any other single factor — as supported by what the author of this book is saying in the research and stories within “Outliers.” It is really very interesting….