Outliers — accounting for otherworldly achievement
Ever since reading Steven Pinker’s scathing review of Malcolm Gladwell’s latest efforts last November, I’ve hesitated to read Gladwell’s third book, Outliers: The Story of Success (2008). But as a teacher, I’ve always wondered about outliers. I’m curious less about why some of my students are so amazing and others aren’t – a phenomenon that […]
Pulling out all stops to win Race to the Top, Round Two
At 11:30 am this past Monday, I was slated to meet with John King, deputy commissioner of education for New York State, in midtown Manhattan. At 10:40 am, his secretary called and canceled. Something important had unexpectedly come up, she said. That “something” turned out to be a major agreement between the New York Department […]
Michigan to drop Algebra II requirement?
The Detroit Free Press had a short but interesting story on Friday about the state’s intention to drop Algebra II as a high school graduation requirement. Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat, has supported such a requirement in the past. Some state legislators and educators fear it drives up the dropout rate, however, and thus they’d like […]
U cant spel? Who cares!
Every now and then I am reminded that standardized spelling is a relatively recent phenomenon. We tend to take it for granted now, but the world was not always so. In fact, William Shakespeare himself is rumored to have spelled his last name numerous ways, as did others during his lifetime. “Shakespeare” was the most common […]
College, Inc. — a television documentary about for-profit colleges
In a recent article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Goldie Blumenstyk provides a balanced and in-depth look at the TV documentary College, Inc., which aired last night on PBS. Those who missed it on Tuesday can watch it online here. The for-profit college industry, at $18 billion annually, is garnering lots of media attention, not least because of its size […]
A terrible time to be a teacher?
One of my favorite opinion columnists, Gail Collins of The New York Times, had some interesting remarks yesterday on the teaching profession in a piece about Governor Charlie Crist of Florida. Crist, having failed to win the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, is now hoping to prevail in this fall’s general election as an Independent. (This […]
Where’s Your Teacher?
In just its third day of producing a “Greater New York” section — meant to give The New York Times a run for its money — The Wall Street Journal saw it fit to feature an education story on the first page. The article, entitled “Teacher Absences Plague City Schools,” begins thus: “One-fifth of New […]
Ed School & Med School: Training Teachers Like We Train Doctors?
NPR’s Claudio Sanchez had an interesting story on Thursday about the Boston Teacher Residency (BTR) program, which seeks to provide would-be teachers with the kind of intensive field preparation that would-be doctors receive during medical school rounds. The former superintendent of the Boston Public Schools, Tom Payzant, founded the program in 2003. Seventy-five “residents” go […]
Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse…
A new report from the Manhattan Institute and the Foundation for Educational Choice, “Underfunded Teacher Pension Plans: It’s Worse Than You Think,” is receiving a lot of media attention. Stories about the report have appeared in many outlets, including Education Week, USA Today, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Business Week. Co-authored by Josh Barro and Stuart Buck, the report […]
Goodbye to “first in, last out”? Change is in the air
That we live in tough economic times is something we hear and read every day. What people once hesitated to call a recession — for even the act of naming it tends to erode consumer confidence further — is now being called “the Great Recession.” State revenues are not expected to recover before 2014 or 2015, meaning that […]
