For some time I have been writing about high-stakes testing and the standards-based corporate movement which are creating havoc with our schools. One of the principal writers on the critique of testing and standards has been Anthony Cody, a 24 year veteran teacher in Oakland. For 18 years he was a science teacher, and is a National Board certified teacher, and now leads workshops on Project Based Learning. His weblog, Living in Dialogue, can...
Education reform in education seen through the lens of writers and teachers appears as repetitions of innovative ideas that claimed to change and improve schooling as we know it. In a post at Education Week, Anthony Weiner suggests that education reform of any age simply offers more of the same. In particular, he sees education reform over many decades focusing on the same themes: privatization and choice, as well as standards-based testing and accountability. Over...
The equation above can also be expressed as follows: The No Child Left Behind Act + the Race to the Top Fund = More of the Same NCLB & Race to the Top In an edweek.org newsletter there was a No Child Left Behind Alert that I found interesting, and provided the starting point for this post. The forum discussion (a question is posed, and you can submit a response joining you to the...
Science As Inquiry, a construct developed in a recent publication, weaves together ideas about science teaching and inquiry that were developed over many years of work with practicing science teachers in the context of seminars conducted around the U.S.A, in school district staff development seminars, and courses that I taught at Georgia State University. Science As Inquiry provides the practical tools, based on theory and research, that science teachers use in their classrooms to...
An article on Education Week reported that the National Council of Teachers of English considered proposals about high-stakes testing and the use of standards in public schools. According to the authors of the report: the decision unfolded at the organization’s annual convention this past weekend in Chicago. As it does every year, the group accepts proposed resolutions from members, which are then debated at the annual meeting and considered for adoption by its resolutions...
The No Child Left Behind Act is linked to the data that shows schools in California are teaching less science because teachers are pressured to prepare students for the required math and English high-stakes tests. Valerie Strauss writes that Virginia is moving to require that students would only be required to take tests in math and English. Students would not take tests in science and social studies. On the one hand, this is a...
I read on the Schools Matter weblog site that the National Council of Teachers of English will consider a resolution to oppose the use of the Common Core State Standards, and national testing. What about science teachers? What about the National Science Teachers Association? In their resolution, they directly show that the claims that the common core movement and national testing uses included: The American educational system is broken. Education must be improved to...
