My blog post today is simply to refer you to this thought-provoking article in Newsweek. Please post your thoughts, especially if you’re a teacher.~Zoe Weil
Author of The Power and Promise of Humane Education
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2 comments:
I was so disappointed with this article! As a Texas public school teacher, I am keenly aware of the problems facing our system. How could these journalists formulate their entire argument without reflecting in any way upon a very large system in our country which does not offer teacher tenure (one of the authors' big evils) and which has had teachers' held individually accountable for student test performance for many years (another major point in the article). Surely if these two factors are so vital to saving American education the authors should have considered our relative success or failure. NAEP statistices can be viewed here: http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/statecomparisons/withinyear.aspx?usrSelections=0%2cRED%2c4%2c1%2cwithin%2c0%2c0 and these seem to indicate that Texas falls somewhere in the middle.
Which leaves me with these questions...
Did they just not notice that Texas already plays by those rules (and has for quite some time - we're a "right to work" state, etc., and we practically invented The Test with a Capital T)?
Did they neglect to consider Texas because we still have so many of the same problems, and therefore complicate their arguments?
I'd also like to ask one more question. The article includes the statement, "KIPP schools don't cherry-pick -- they take anyone who will sign a contract to play by the rules, which require some parental involvement." How is that NOT cherry-picking when parental involvement and parents' level of education have been shown to be the two most significant factors predicting a child's success in school? Who is going to be teaching the remaining children who missed out on cherry-picking their parents in the system Thomas and Wingert propose?
(Here's a link to the ERIC resources for my last point:
http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED315199&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED315199 )
Excellent points Laura! Thanks so much for your thoughtful and thought-provoking comments!
Zoe
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