Saving Public Schools: 23 Issues (At Least) to Ponder for 2024
Happy New Year! Caring for others shines through during the holidays. So, everyone has had time to think about the importance of public education and how we care about all of America’s children. Ten...
View ArticleScience of Reading and EL Education: What is It?
School privatization was born of manufactured crisis, and one of the so-called crises today is reading instruction. Not that reading shouldn’t be debated and improved when it’s called for, especially...
View Article18 Issues for Ed. Secretary Cardona to Better Drive the School Bus
Education Secretary Cardona focuses on reducing absenteeism, tutoring, and after-school programs. And he refers to raising the bar, which sounds like A Nation at Risk talk. Yet there are so many K12...
View Article“Back to Basics” Again! What Does it Mean for Students and Teachers?
Many of our elected officials have virtually handed the keys to our schools over to corporate interests. Presidential commissions on education are commonly chaired by the executives of large companies....
View ArticleStudent Differentiation v. Alignment: Know the Difference and Set Children Free
In a democracy that stresses freedom and individuality, education reformers remade public schools focusing on aligning children to narrow high-stakes standards, even before Common Core State Standards...
View ArticleAmerica’s Need for Immeasurable Outcomes: Valuing the Humanities
In Immeasurable Outcomes: Teaching Shakespeare in the Age of the Algorithm, Gayle Greene, professor emerita at Scripps College, raises serious questions about the loss of the humanities. The problems...
View ArticlePublic Schools: Free, Open to All Students, Owned by the American People
We just wrapped up public school week. A week? Shouldn’t Americans be grateful for free public schooling and a nation that raises children to understand their world? And do they recognize how they own...
View ArticleCan Early Academic Pressure Cause Learning Disabilities?
When children face pressure to learn to read early in kindergarten and run into trouble, will they be diagnosed with learning disabilities when they only need more time? Creating one-size-fits-all,...
View ArticleThe Public Ed Threat Behind the Knowledge Building Curriculum
Knowledge Building is used to market curriculum programs, many of which are online, but what does it mean? It seems that Knowledge Building highlights technology and moves children to a place where...
View ArticleWhere’s the “Evidence” in State-Mandated Science of Reading Programs?
Last I looked, thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia have signed reading laws (Schwartz 2024). Parents, educators, school administrators, and state and local policymakers hear the Science of...
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