The 5 Most Persuasive Words in the English Language…

How I Replaced Shakespeare

I was not worried about the American education system until after I started writing a column, because that's when I found out there are English teachers who assign my column as reading material. I regularly get e-mails from students asking about my use of anastrophe, metonymy, thesis…

Try teaching 95 children in a room for 40. That is how it was in Ethiopia when I first came in 2003. I visited primary schools in Hosanna, a rural town 240 Kilometers south of the capitol Addis Ababa. The largest primary school, Alemu Woldehanna Primary School, had 4,524 students, of courses in 2 shifts. I even saw a first grade classroom with 163 children. They were sitting in the aisles, standing in the back and 6 in a bench for 4, lucky they were small. Teachers in grades 1 to 4 had 10th…

Try teaching 95 children in a room for 40. That is how it was in Ethiopia when I first came in 2003. I visited primary schools in Hosanna, a rural town 240 Kilometers south of the capitol Addis Ababa. The largest primary school, Alemu Woldehanna Primary School, had 4,524 students, of courses in 2 shifts. I even saw a first grade classroom with 163 children. They were sitting in the aisles, standing in the back and 6 in a bench for 4, lucky they were small. Teachers in grades 1 to 4 had 10th…

 A forum designed to give perspective and help with math curriculum choices. http://www.nychold.com

Bar exams for teachers?

By Chester E. Finn, Jr.

As President of the AFT, the late Albert Shanker was instrumental in creating the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) and much else in the education-reform world. Now Randi Weingarten is trying—earnestly and imaginatively—to return the organization and its (present) leader to the pantheon of real reformers.

Their new and much-ballyhooed proposal, contained in a report…

Getting real about the Common Core

By Checker E. Finn, Jr. / December 6, 2012

A foundation staffer I think well of posed these vexing questions the other day:

With the transition to the new Common Core assessments, states will have a number of decisions around how they use the new tests. Some of the most consequential are around possible use of the tests for high school exit or grade promotion. These are obviously sticky subjects. Should we be…

Is Favoritism Wrong?

In this thoughtful Chronicle of Higher Education article, philosophy professor Stephen Asma (Columbia College/Chicago) says the opposite of fairness is not selfishness. But that’s the way it seems when we hear children complain, “That’s not fair!” It’s easy for parents and teachers to see this as a thinly disguised attempt to get one’s way. “Kids learn early that an honest declaration of ‘I’m not…

Inspiring Others

We’re No. 1

By David Warlick on December 4th, 2012…

More on Problems with Value-Added Evaluation of Teachers

Why is there such a push to evaluate teachers using value-added analysis? asks Michael Marder (University of Texas/Austin) in this Kappa Delta Pi Record article. Because many governors, state education commissioners, and federal legislators have embraced these points:

• Teachers are the single most important in-school factor in student…

Common Core: Sound Education Practice or Bad Gamble?