Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America's Public Schools
We need to change the terms of the national conversation. Public education is not failing. Our society is failing. At 23%, we have the highest child poverty rate in the world among advanced nations and we ought to be embarrassed by that. There is a direct correlation between poverty and achievement. To deny that is to deny reality.
"There is one certain conclusion that can be drawn from studies of education achievement: poverty has a negative effect on student learning. On every test, whether in reading or in mathematics, the results are stratified by family income. Students from the wealthiest families tend to have the highest scores, and students from the poorest families tend to have the lowest scores. Every standardized test produces these results, whether it is the SAT, the ACT, state tests, the National Assessment of Education Progress, or international tests."
Children Need the Arts
I don't think this is referring to drawing bubbles on a standardized achievement test...
Standardized Tests
When you give standardized tests to children who are too young to hold a pencil well enough to fill in the bubbles there's something seriously wrong.
Standardized tests have their purpose, but it's not for
- evaluating teachers
- evaluating schools
- evaluating school systems
- making high stakes decisions which affect students
Standardized Tests don't belong in a teacher's evaluation.
Corporate Reform's Vision
The corporate view of what education should be...
TV
The Connection Between TV and School Scores
The greatest academic damage done may not be from the shows viewed but by what is not being done during those many hours each week of sitting passively in front of the TV: games not played, chores not done, drawings not drawn, hobbies not worked, friends not made or played with, homework not done, bikes or skateboards not ridden, balls not caught, books not read, and conversations not held. I hear parents call it “my babysitter”—but if there were a babysitter who deprived your child of all those activities, you’d ban her from your home, wouldn’t you?
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All who envision a more just, progressive and fair society cannot ignore the battle for our nation’s educational future. Principals fighting for better schools, teachers fighting for better classrooms, students fighting for greater opportunities, parents fighting for a future worthy of their child’s promise: their fight is our fight. We must all join in.
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Stop the Testing Insanity!
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