Interesting paper from Bridgespan on next generation learning initiatives. Tom Friedman hearts Waiting for Superman. And an op-ed from the President of Strayer lays out the contours of the debate over for-profit higher education and accountability. If nothing else that debate is going to finance the college tuition of a lot of lobbyists’ children.
Plus Gallup/PDK poll v. Ed Next poll (pdf) again this year. Release event for Gallup/PDK today, it’s improving a lot to their credit and has the Gallup brand but Ed Next still has the mojo.
Update: More on the polls. First, while Gallup/PDK find low-approval for President Obama on education and a drop in support it does not seem keyed to his policies. Why? When Gallup/PDK or Ed Next digs down on a host of those you find bipartisan support. Rather, the education approval numbers seem to be referred pain from his overall low-approval numbers. If you only look at the (in my view badly worded) question on turnarounds of course it will look different. Update: Unfair to only pick on Ed Week, others bit on this, too.
Second, although the number has remained roughly consistent over time, about 4 in 10 public school parents say they’d change schools if they could. From a pure loyalty and market share perspective that should be a troubling number for the public school establishment but instead they take comfort from the 60 percent.
Third, my friends in the charter world are gaga over the record high support for charters in the PDK/Gallup poll. But I wouldn’t pop the champagne just yet, that support seems fragile. Indeed, check out Ed Next’s poll and some other polls that are out there. The public may like charters but it’s unclear they have any idea what one is! In Ed Next even 1 in 4 teachers said charters charge tuition.
Bob Somersby rips into Thomas Friedman’s column
phillipmarlowe:
Did your linked article really ask, “Does Tom Friedman care about black kids?” And yet you’re still implying it is a good response to Friedman’s article? It’s a revealing article for other reasons than I think you intended.
Chris Smyr Says:
August 25th, 2010 at 2:31 pm
phillipmarlowe:
Did your linked article really ask, “Does Tom Friedman care about black kids?”
You read it didn’t you?
I thought the ability to read was required for grad school.
Maybe not all.
Chris, could you elaborate? I am curious as to what you think the article reveals.
I read it as condemnation of Friedman and journalists who don’t think much before they write.
You read it correctly, TFT.
Bob Somersby, who writes the Daily Howler, is very hard on lazy journalists.
He has a companion site about what he dubs the War On Gore, which details the way journalists got things seriously wrong about Gore, whether it be from laziness or malice. Journalists like Ceci Connelly of the Post, Kit Seelye of the NYT, and those who laughed and jeered at Gore during the presindetial debate with Bush back in the fall of 2000.
He also goes after journalists who are very sloppy when it comes to discussing the education of poor minority children in urban areas:
Charlie Rose allows Wendy Kopp to utter banalities much like what Thomas Friedman wrote.
Jay Mathews highlights test scores at Maury Elementary and gets things wrong.
Bob taught minority children in an urban area. He taught in Baltimore back in the late 1960s and early 70s. He still lives in the Baltimore area.
You can search on his site for more details.
phillipmarlowe:
You linked to an article that, as often done here, initially brings up a stupid question about the supposed interests of someone you disagree with. Does Friedman hate black kids? That is such a great question, and it of course adds greatly to the Daily Howler’s credibility and reputation for objective analysis.
Your quoted passage also gives us a bearing on the usefulness of the article in addressing Friedman’s article, which is about as useful as had the article not been written at all. The article raises lots of points of discussion but fails to deliver on any of them, and instead tosses about a bunch of horseshit claims about how these people and those people don’t care about kids.
Do you have something you could perhaps add to your comment, about why Friedman is wrong? I would suggest not linking to the Daily Howler.
“Horseshit” is your elaboration, Chris?
People who care about kids try to help them–and not for just 2 years.
Many have dedicated their lives to helping kids.
You could give it a go! You even have a tiny bit of experience to get you started!
TFT,
I think Chris was avoiding elaborating because it was difficult.
Or, maybe he didn’t like Somersby’s highlighting Wendy Kopp’s banalities on the Charlie Rose Show.
And we should be careful talking about people who teach for just two years. Some people may take it as an argumentum ad hominem.
invado pacis
TFT and phillipmarlowe:
You both are being annoyingly childish about this. If you want to discuss the topics that the Daily Howler tries to address, do so (or try to do so). It would give your potential arguments some credit if you were to refrain from linking to articles that question whether an official “cares about black kids” or not. The article could even address some of the topics that it attempts to bring up.
Chris,
Just add us to list of commentators that you find not serious or annoyingly childish; eg linda, billy, ed, melody, and skip over us when you read, click and respond.
That way you won’t waste time that would be better spent on your grad studies.
Problem solved.
World makes sense again.
phillipmarlowe:
Or in other words, “Stop trying to critique our disingenuous postings and faulty thinking”?
How about no.
interesting how the debate is shaded by one’s bias. I wasn’t sure what to think. I had to set aside my preconceptions and re read it seveal times
Still not sure where i’ll end up on this issue