Let’s all answer what teachers call an essential question. The answer reveals core moral values and political judgments. Should every child in the United States have access to the same level of high-quality education resources? “Yes,” means bringing every public school up to the standards of class size, teaching effectiveness, curriculum […]
Tag Archives: Schools and Poverty
The Strange and Bitter Fruit of Education Policy
In New York City, one of the most diverse yet segregated school systems in America, privileged parents routinely object to, resist, manipulate, and scheme to avoid sending their children to school with others whom they deem undesirable. It is easy to condemn these white, upper-middle-class resistors to school integration and de-tracking […]
Care is What Matters. Assessment is the Tell
Speaking glibly against high-stakes testing is easy but their effects are like residual pesticides. They linger in systems long after their application. The ideas that prompted their widespread use persist even among those who might disavow over-testing. Sometimes detection of toxic testing residuals can be tricky. Standing in front […]
We Are All Values Voters
We are all values voters. As George Lakoff has consistently argued, people vote their values first, not policy positions. What, then brought the United States to the point when, according to recent polls, a significant majority of Americans think the country “is going in the wrong direction.” Let’s start by discarding […]
Privatize Schools? Look for Evidence, But Not at First.
Want to know whether charter schools and education vouchers are good ideas? Don’t look for evidence– at least not at first. I am a science educator. Evidence is at the core of the practice of science. Science educators teach their students that a claim about how the natural world […]
Why We Should Care About The Education Of Other People’s Children
It is time to care about the education of other people’s children. Other people’s children are or will be our neighbors. Other people’s children – from almost anywhere in the United States and beyond – could end up as our coworkers. Other people’s children are tomorrow’s potential voters. How, what, and with whom they learn […]
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