Kate Pennington on teacher shortages.
Bellwarians reflect on gym. Jason Weeby on ten lessons from “Eight Cities.” Ashley LiBetti on The Times’ early ed coverage.
Denver teachers strike. Of course. There was never not going to be a strike and if you’re a teachers union and you’re not rattling the cage to strike then you’re doing it wrong in 2019. What’s concerning is that while ProComp is hardly perfect it’s driven some real progress in Denver on equity. That’s at risk. Here’s fiscal context from Chad Aldeman.
We are in a period of societal and political realignment. But part of any process like that is various actors trying to get their marks down or to shape the narrative – in sometimes ahistorical ways. For instance in the Atlantic outgoing Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel gets on education reformers for ignoring the role of principal autonomy. Nevermind that reformers like Paul Hill were hammering on this issue back when Rham himself was a student, one of the first education reform crown jewels was called, “New Leaders for New Schools.” I’ve been doing this long enough to remember when the reformers were not paying attention to principals, paying too much attention to principals at the expense of other issues, and I’m sure there was probably one blessed day when everyone paid just the right amount.
I also don’t get the part about how reformers don’t honor good public schools? Literally, multiple books have been written about this from various parts of the reform world and it spawned a whole cottage industry of debunking them or arguing why such schools were unicorns. Seriously.
In any event, Rahm makes a good point about conservatives and wrap-around services (the gaps between do as I do and do as I say in education are quite wide!) but leaves out the part that most affluent elites on the political left, very much including the anti-reform crowd, would never let their own kids anywhere near a Chicago public school despite the progress made there on Rham’s watch and before it. And Chicago still doesn’t have some of the basic things, like keeping kids safe, down yet – nor do most districts. Plenty of work to do without all the revisionist history we’re getting lately.
Here’s Alliance College-Ready Public Schools on to and through college efforts.
Here’s a blast from the past on both autonomy and Denver.
James Foreman Jr. on school choice, empowerment, and history.
This PDK look at the views of parents on diversity in schools has some interesting nuggets in it.
Obviously I like this take that when colleges say they don’t quite know how to support first-gen and other students at risk of not graduating they’re often ignoring lessons from their own athletic departments.
High school math teacher is quietly a gaming hero.
Not to join the cottage industry of debunking the claims of mayors, but…
1. The HS grad rate claims are mostly faux “credit recovery” not “earned from regular teachers giving passing grades in courses.”
2. The large increase in college enrollment has led to just 2% increase in college graduation. This means a number of kids enroll, take on debt that they cannot easily get rid of, and then drop out.
Not going to argue with you on #2, big issue. On #1, you think mostly or partially? I’d more in the latter camp. There is clearly some gaming but also some real legit work by educators to graduate more kids because this became such a priority. I don’t think it’s mostly a mirage.