Schools and real estate: Continuing the Grift in Education

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Tuesday August 12, 2014 · 10:51 AM PDT

2014/08/12 · 10:51

Although New Jersey schools have seen significant positive growth in student outcomes over the past decade, Newark Public Schools within the state is not immune from the powerful grift in U.S. education. According to Owen Davis, of Truth Out,

"real estate concerns and facilities funding increasingly drive neighborhood school closings and the expansion of privately managed charter schools. By allocating millions of dollars in little-known bonds exclusively to charters while imposing austerity on public facilities, the state has quietly stacked the deck for charters, leaving neighborhood schools to molder in decline."

Owen makes the salient point that while 51% of parents have chosen charters, there are 49% of parents who have not. They have chosen to stay with their public school, but such is choice is largely ignored, especially when there is money to be made. Read More

Poor kids never had a chance

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Thursday August 07, 2014 · 10:19 AM PDT

2014/08/07 · 10:19

When the standardized tests are built by the textbook companies and the textbooks aren't available to all students, those without (read attending a high-poverty school) have little chance to compete for "proficiency." In The Atlantic, Meredith Broussard shows the connection between the big three textbook companies (CTB McGraw Hill, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and Pearson) and standardized tests. Basically, her investigation shows that the textbook companies write the standardized tests used in Pennsylvania and that for many students access to these textbooks is non-existent.

Now, one could easily argue that if the students new how to do the math that was being tested, it shouldn't make a difference what access they have to textbooks and which company produces the test. Unfortunately, the tests are very specific to the textbook. It's as if they are testing what's in the book not specific standards.

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Tuesday May 20, 2014 · 6:52 PM PDT

2014/05/20 · 18:52

In Huffington Post, education powerhouses, Linda Darling-Hammond and Randi Weingarten, argue that the problem with Common Core is not Common Core but instead how we assess. The Common Core Standards, which was at first eagerly embraced, has seen wilting support over the past few months. For those unfamiliar with them, Linda Darling-Hammond is a professor at Stanford University with a long history in education and Randi Weingarten is the president of the American Federation of Teachers, the national teachers' union. The two education thinkers make some important points, mostly, that assessment cannot happen just at the end of each year through a standardized, multiple-choice test the outcomes of which are held over school districts with a giant stick. Read More

Segregation in Schools: Still a problem

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Sunday May 18, 2014 · 7:12 PM PDT

2014/05/18 · 19:12

The landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education (1957) stated that separate was not equal and paved the wave for integrating schools. In the late 1960s and 1970s, court-ordered school integration occurred across the United States. Yet fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, many schools are as segregated as the schools in the 1950s. Segregation by race, class and language remains a salient issue in America's schools. This is somehow less surprising than I would like to admit. Read More

Me and a Bookstore

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Thursday March 20, 2014 · 10:34 AM PDT

2014/03/20 · 10:34

The Boulder Bookstore located on the West end of the Pearl Street Mall Nov. 11, 2008. (CU Independent file/ Sam Hall)

There is a reason we enjoy books and movies that feature bookstores; among my favorite books Julia Glass' Three Junes and Allegra Goodman's The Cookbook Collector. And while I have no scientific proof, my own belief is that those of us who read these books and see these movies already have a passion for the bookstores. Bookstores are among my favorite places in the world, and I often seek them out in new cities. And while I have yet to find one bookstore that fits my ideal, for me a great bookstore encompasses some of the following: Read More

In search of good books

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Wednesday March 05, 2014 · 5:25 PM PST

2014/03/05 · 17:25

I love a good independent bookstore, and after several moves and lots of travel, I've come across some favorites. Here's a brief share:

Hicklebees, San Jose, CA: this modest children's bookstore (they have adult books, too) in the Willow Glen community of San Jose boasts great author event and an excellent book selection. If you go, look for the author signatures on the wall including J.K. Rowling. Children love reading in the bathtub filled with pillows.

Vroman's, Pasadena, CA. Vroman's is huge and has a great selection of books no matter what your preference and a decent cafe attached. The staff are friendly and knowlegeable. For those with young kids (or those young at heart) Vroman's has the best storytime I've heard, hands down, and I have been to more than most. If you go, ask for a telling ofRead to Tiger; it's a must hear.

Powell's, Portland, OR. Of course no independent bookseller list would be complete without including Powell's, the largest independent bookstore in the US. It's a bit of a maze, but if you want it, they got it. For bargain seekers, they have some used books as well. It's always on my itinerary when I'm in town. Read More

Made me smile

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Tuesday March 04, 2014 · 7:31 AM PST

2014/03/04 · 07:31

I heard a story yesterday on NPR about using yoga with disadvantaged youth that just made me smile. There are some researchers out of Stanford University who are working with kids in an east Palo Alto school to use yoga to cope with stresses. The principal characterized the student body by stating:

"We have, by the 2010 census, as many as 50 percent of students who are homeless.
There are some very concrete things, like a telephone, a mattress, a refrigerator with food in it, an address that you are in charge — when I say children are under stress and duress, it’s the little things.

It is the little things, and the goal of the Stanford program is to use yoga and mindfulness to help students focus when they are under stress, as most of these kids are.

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Monday March 03, 2014 · 5:43 PM PST

2014/03/03 · 17:43

The use of technology in classrooms has never been a smooth ride.In 2013 the Los Angeles Unified School District announced a $1 billion initiative to put iPad in every student's hand only to have student's hack the tablet and use it for several non-academic tasks during class time. The Obama administration announced $400 million for companies such as Adobe who will donate their software to schools. And the latest players in the "technology education revolution" are the publishing companies, who are rolling out all digital curriculums. McGraw Hill, a textbook publisher, is partnering with StudySync to offer an all digital English curriculum. The policy makers and companies tout these all digital curriculums as revolutionizing the way education is done. But much like the goal of a computer in every classroom will have much of an impact. Read More

College: A good value for your buck?

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Tuesday February 25, 2014 · 12:34 PM PST

2014/02/25 · 12:34

It's college acceptance season, the time of year when high school seniors await thick envelopes inviting them into the college experience. So, it is timely that the Urban Institute released a report of findings from a studythat asked about the potential benefits of obtaining a college degree. The study, which focuses primarily on earnings potential, reinforces some of what we already know: those with bachelor's degrees tend to earn more than high school graduates and tend to have lower rates of unemployment. The value of the college degree has been under fire recently, particularly in light of the rising cost of college (Find out the cost of colleges by name here).
The more interesting part of the study is the nuances it captures. Read More

Independent Bookstores Get Boost

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Thursday February 20, 2014 · 7:09 PM PST

2014/02/20 · 19:09

I had to share this story. Author James Patterson, whom I had never heard of until yesterday, announced that he is launching a program to give $1 million of his money to dozens of independent book stores. The money, which will help stores address needs such as updating computer systems and remodels, will start flowing into independent book stores all across the United States next week. I hope this move helps out independent bookstores and more importantly makes people think and act differently about where they buy books. Read More

Poll

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Where do you buy most of your books?

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Where do you buy most of your books?

Amazon

5 votes

Independent bookstores

16 votes

Barnes & Noble

2 votes

Other

6 votes

The wilting common core

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Wednesday February 19, 2014 · 11:54 AM PST

2014/02/19 · 11:54

More bad news for support for the Common Core standards, a voluntary policy that 48 states have adopted to create common standards for United States students. Proponents of the Common Core, including the Obama administration, believe these universal standards will address the great disparity between standards set by states. But, with the implementation of the standards and the accompanying assessments, researchers, parents, andeducators are protesting the fallacy of the standards. In New York, an early adopter of the standards, tensions over the standards are mounting. So, what's all the fuss? Read More

The Week in Education: Let's Grade the Teachers

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Sunday February 16, 2014 · 5:46 AM PST

2014/02/16 · 05:46

The hot topic in education this past week was how we grade the teachers:

o Principals say they aren't ready to evaluate teachers under new systems: States and the federal department of education are demanding teacher evaluations be more rigorous but principals fight back that they have very little support for this in terms of both training and resources to implement.
o Governor of New York says let's grade teachers regardless of preparation for Common Core. It's good to know that state boards are still independent, or are they? In New York the Board of Regents who had proposed putting aside teacher evaluations that are connected to student scores on the new Common Core Standards. But Governor Cuomo bullies them to stop. So, even if we haven’t trained the teachers and their jobs depend on these evaluations, in part, on student performance on brand new tests, teachers still should be punished, so says Cuomo.

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Schools and real estate: Continuing the Grift in Education

Poor kids never had a chance

It's the assessment - so say education powerhouses

Segregation in Schools: Still a problem

Me and a Bookstore

In search of good books

Made me smile

Technology- not the education revolution

College: A good value for your buck?

Independent Bookstores Get Boost

The wilting common core

The Week in Education: Let's Grade the Teachers