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Category Archives: Schools and Politics
Schools and Politics: The Focus on Income Inequality Is Good News for School Reform
Summary: The rising political focus on income inequality brings renewed scrutiny to the role of school reform for low income students, and a cautious opening to political consensus. Many low income students I encountered as a high school counselor confounded … Continue reading
School Reform and the Greening of Teachers’ Unions
Summary: Announcement that the National Education Association will engage dissident teachers in dialogue is a welcome step toward improving teachers’ union real involvement in school change. The apparent dearth of reform themes emanating from the union side in bargaining talks … Continue reading
School Reform and the Confusion of Labels
Summary: Who are the school reformers, and how do we tell them apart? And what do traditional labels such as “liberal” and “conservative” mean in this context? Who are the reformers in American education? Honestly, in my time in schools, … Continue reading
School Reform and Politics: Teach for America and Its Political Identity
Summary: Has Teach for America been hijacked by conservative and market ideology? Teach for America has become a political lightning rod in the struggle over reform in American education. The organization was originally conceived as an avenue through which to … Continue reading
School Reform and Politics: The Inflammatory and the Misperception Across the School Reform Divide
Summary: An op ed piece from the Washington Policy Center is examined for its “non-partisan” view on the Washington Education Association and school reform in Washington State. School reform is a highly complex enterprise, with streaming from the surrounding culture … Continue reading
Schools and Culture: The NRA Wants Guns in the Schoolhouse — Say What?
Gotta hand it to the NRA. Back to the Newtown wall, they come out guns blazing, as though there is not insanity in the wash of weapons in our culture, but for sure the solution is in further armament. We … Continue reading
School Reform: The Education of a Reformer
Summary: In an echo of assertions in recent posts that school district leaders need to listen deeply into the ranks in their effort to reform failing schools, we take a look at the current arrival point of the career of … Continue reading
Posted in School Bureaucracy, School Reform, Schools and Politics
Tagged administrative style, communication in schools, empowering teachers, flat oranizations, Michelle Rhee, relationships in schools, school leadership, school reform, StudentsFirst, superintendent style, teachers' unions
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Schools and At Risk Kids: Early Intervention Redux
Summary: The President’s State of the Union message unexpectedly highlighted early childhood intervention, and has stimulated further discussion of the issue. Is there a whiff of bipartisanship in the air? In my post of February 5 I displayed my pessimism … Continue reading
Schools, Bureaucracy, and Politics: Parent Power and Teacher Professionalism
Summary: Restiveness by parents in Los Angeles and teachers in Seattle reflects the tendency of educational bureaucracies to ignore voices from the grass roots level. Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles is poster child to the desperate academic struggle in … Continue reading
Posted in School Bureaucracy, School Reform, Schools and Politics
Tagged administrative style, at risk students, communication in schools, Crenshaw High School, empowering teachers, Garfield High School teacher boycott, low-income students, MAP testing, parent power, school reform, teacher morale, teacher professionalism
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