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Jack Hassard

Jack Hassard is a writer, a former high school science teacher and Professor Emeritus of Science Education, Georgia State University. His most recent book is Science as Inquiry, 2nd Edition.

http://www.artofteachingscience.org

School Closings: What’s the Lesson Here?

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March 29, 2013

In the last post on this blog, in which I argued it was a mistake for large districts like Chicago to carry out mass school closings, readers expressed strong opinions on the issue of closure. The post was also published on Anthony Cody’s blog, Living in Dialog over on Education Week, and you can read all the comments there.  Dialog is important, and its important to listen to each other’s points of view.… Read more


School Closings in Our Cities: A Deep Ecological Problem

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March 23, 2013

In this post I am going to argue that it is a mistake for large school districts such as Chicago, New York, and Atlanta to close schools on the basis of achievement and cost effectiveness.  The Chicago School District announced that they plan to close 61 schools which is 13% of the total schools in the district.  This will be the largest mass school closings in U.S.… Read more


Why Don’t Our Elected Representatives Write Their Own Legislation?

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March 19, 2013

Update 3.22.2013: EmpowerEd Georgia reported that the Parent Trigger legislation in Georgia was tabled for this legislative session. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution story, the bill was pulled because it didn’t have the votes needed in the senate for passage.

Today, a committee in Georgia Senate will discuss the Parent Trigger Bill which has already passed the House. The bill will enable disgruntled parents of low performing school to fire the teaching and administrative staff and turn the school over to a for-profit charter management company paid with school district money.… Read more


Special Delivery: NGSS Adoption Workbooks

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March 17, 2013

Yesterday, I discovered a new organization, the U.S. Education Delivery Institute (EDi). When I saw the name, I first thought it was part of the U.S. Department of Education, or the United States Postal Service. I was wrong on both counts. The EDi, formed in 2010 is another Washington D.C. non-profit founded by Sir Michael Barber, former head of the U.K.… Read more


Parent Revolution in Georgia’s HB 123?: I Don’t Think So

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March 16, 2013

Today I received a letter from Ryan Donohue, Deputy Director Advocacy Director of  Parent Revolution informing that the Georgia House of Representatives passed HB 123, the “Parent & Teacher Empowerment Act.”  It is actually the Parent Trigger bill that you have all heard about, especially if you saw or read about the movie Won’t Back Down.  The letter I received said that this was a great first step for Georgia parents because they got a seat at the decision-making table for their children’s education.  I called the local board of education, and asked if they would reserve my seat at the decision-making table!… Read more


Boxed In: How the NGSS Impedes Science Teaching

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March 12, 2013

The major journals of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) have published articles featuring and explaining to science teachers the nature of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).  The journals include The Science Teacher, Science Scope and Science and Children.  For the past several issues, each journal has published articles that deal with different aspects of the NGSS, including what students should know about earth science, life science, and physical science, when they should know it, and why these standards will “help all learners in the nation develop the science and engineering understanding they need to live successful, informed, and productive lives, and that will help them create a sustainable planet for future generations.” (Krajcik 2013, p.… Read more


Online Communities of Practice: Lessons from Yahoo

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March 8, 2013

No doubt you’ve read the news reports telling us that Marissa Mayer, the CEO of Yahoo, informed all Yahoo employees that they could no longer work at home. There were many people who felt that Mayer did not understand the value of having employees work at home. Some employees were outraged that they could no longer work at home. Yahoo is a very large Internet-based company, why in the world would the CEO order everyone back to work?… Read more


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