Best Of The Blogs

Obama: Democratic Party Line = Teachers Union? EIA
"We should be experimenting with charter schools. We should be experimenting with different ways of compensating teachers."

Limitations of Research and the Headlines that Ignore Them Thoughts On Education Policy
I'm disappointed in the NY Times, and I'm disappointed in everybody else who parroted these results without explaining what they really meant.

It's A Lot More Than Culture, Stupid Kevin Carey
Patashnik is joining George Will in advancing the "what matters in education isn't education" theory of education, which is one of the more damaging conceits held by people who should know better.

Gaming NCLB The CK Blog
Eighty California schools got “out of trouble” with No Child Left Behind in the past two years by changing the way they classify their students, according to an analysis by the Sacramento Bee.

The digital age: Kids learn differently Paul Baker
At a Saturday panel session during the Education Writers Association conference here in Chicago, Mimi Ito, Henry Jenkins, and Connie Yowell discussed how digital tools for making, remaking, mashing, and tinkering are part of students’ everyday lives

No Missing Report Cards, Technology Keeps Parents Connected  ASBJ Blog
The district went even further, giving parents the option of viewing discipline records and daily updates on classroom attendance.

Comments

[john thompson]

Okun's "The Mir"e was excellent. By my count, only about 10% of the commenters would oppose an expansion of alternative schools. And if we invested in humane, holistic, alternative slots, as opposed to warehousing, I believe we would get even more support for that sensible middle ground. Other alternatives by commenters included an expansion of charters and choice or some sort of Social Darwinism.

Alex, I question your distinction between children being killed at school vs. their neighborhood. We lost another 18 year old last night to a gang drive-by. Who cares if our kids are dying in the "hood" or ther school property? Are they any less dead? Does it leave the survivors any less traumatized?

I endured the crack and gangs days of the 1980s, but even then the death of a teen was a shock. But now, we have lost so many that its becoming routine -except for the kids who seem to be holding the pain inside ever more tightly.

Can't we adults step up and take some responsibilty? Alternative schools are "the answer" but they are the only humane alternative that I can figure out. As more and more students get "creamed" into more choice schools, the crtitical mass of traumatized kids in neighborhood schools continues to worsen.

Also, I agree with the comment "Obama 08"

[john thompson]

I meant to say that "alternative schools aren't "the answer" but they are the only humane alternative I can figure out ..."

sorry