Highlighted Posts for Monday, August 5th:

Four Questions Every New Superintendent Should Ask  

How you use these resources says a lot about your vision for your district; it will also provide insight into the problems you are trying to solve and how your investments may need to change to address them.

Inequality in America: The Data Is Sobering

The problem is that weaving modest policy proposals through the tiny spaces allowed by the nation's partisan stalemate is unlikely to bear much fruit. A better strategy might be to articulate - forcefully - the nature of the problem and build a political consensus that would ultimately lead to long-delayed changes to American society. 

Five Messages About Public Education That Don't Sell  

I think I learned more that day than I did the rest of my second-grade year. I leaned that public schools are where our nation's grossest injustices - the poverty, neglect, and malnutrition of children - are first exposed to the light of day. That's why we have to keep schools public. Otherwise those injustices will be covered over or swept into a corner. 

House of Cards is a series of short videos created to bring to the forefront the key players in the corporate reform movement. Each week a new player will be featured along with information concerning their words and actions that have been aimed at the destruction of our public schools.  

The Charitable-Industrial Complex by Peter Buffett

Nearly every time someone feels better by doing good, on the other side of the world (or street), someone else is further locked into a system that will not allow the true flourishing of his or her nature or the opportunity to live a joyful and fulfilled life. 

Seven Ways to Promote Public Schools  

Public school officials rank among the most trusted sources for news and information about public education, outranking pundits, bloggers, editorialists, business CEOs, foundation executives, and politicians. 

Poverty and Education: Finding the Way Forward  

One aim of this report is to review the relationship between poverty and educational and other important life outcomes and to provide a clearer and more nuanced picture of poverty in America, as well as an understanding of how government attempts to address poverty - particularly from an educational perspective. 

High marks for standardized tests

Members of this burgeoning anti-test movement fail to grasp testing's valuable role in motivating and guiding students and teachers. Preparing young Americans for success in the global economy will require our schools to improve, not abolish, academic standards. 

A Review of School Climate Research 

There is extensive research that shows that school climate has a profound impact on students' mental and physical health. School climate has been shown to affect middle school students' self-esteem.

The Intricate Plot That Is Common Core  by Mona McDermott

If anyone tells you that Common Core (CCSS) is a "state-led" effort, "developed by teachers," that person is either misinformed or attempting to deceive you.

Mona McDermott of United Opt Out has mapped the organizations behind CCSS. She presents discussion of their interwoven involvements in this 9-minute youtube presentation.

Three Dubious Uses of Technology in Education by Diane Ravitch

I have seen teachers doing amazing things with the Internet. I have gone to conferences where thousands of teachers were learning how to use technology creatively. I know that technology.  But it is in my nature to look at questions from all angles. That is what is known as critical thinking.

 What Happens to Finland's Well-Educated Young People?  

. . . what happens to these well-educated Finnish students after they complete their nine years of compulsory school. Are they all college graduates who settle nicely into careers? 

Defining/Undermining True Professionalism for our Times: Two Competing Narratives  by Janine S. Davis 

This commentary discusses a common conception of professionalism and the means of conveying it to preservice teachers in teacher education programs. Suggestions for change based on the literature are provided. 

More interesting articles and videos (Good information that I wanted to share this week.) 

Corporate De'Form of Education in America - The Silencing of A Nation (video)  

RSA Animate - Changing Education Paradigms 

Can an algorithm ID high-school dropouts in first grade? 

The Time That ALEC Got It Right    

The disturbing shift underway in early childhood classrooms  

Day of Reckoning Has Come: Is Corporate Reform Far Behind?  

Teach for America Apostates: a Primer of Alumni Resistance  

How Will Privatization Improve Education? 

On another topic, your health!

Water Anyone?  

How many friends do you know who say they don't want to drink anything before going to bed because they'll have to get up during the night?