Mostly Education News Round Up

This is a fairly well-rounded piece about the Common Core ... at least it is attempting to be well-rounded. There is one substantial part of the equation missing: how are schools, districts, states thinking about the ways teachers should be supported through this transition?  As in, what training is being put into place to ensure that this curriculum can be adequately delivered by the teachers?  Oh, and Malcolm Gladwell is considered high quality non-fiction?  Best selling and high quality are not necessarily synonymous.  Just sayin'.

I am still trying to decide how to feel about this piece about a teacher and a district in SC.  Ostensibly, this article is about a superintendent's decision -- to fire or not this teacher for stomping on a flag.  The AP journalists did a pretty good job of uncovering the whys on the teacher's actions -- and some good work on why this is an issue.  Perhaps, though, the most important part of the article is that it tells us what it looks like (for superintendents, principals and teachers) to work in a system where there is no union.

In the same week the news came that the teachers in LA had "approved" the new teacher assessment scheme, this piece played on NPR.  It is about some teachers in Seattle taking a stand against a test that does not help students or teachers to do a better job but is mandated by the district.  Bravo to them for sticking together and getting this story on national news.    I am a rule follower from way back, but I also prescribe to the idea that bad rules should be broken -- publicly and with the intention of demonstrating their flaws.

This is a somewhat confusing story about a "test" for at-risk (not specifically defined) students that teachers have to fill out.  What do you think?

Add Deferred Action policies to the list of seminars needed to prepare California students for college... here is an article by Jill Tucker from the San Francisco Chronicle that plays the roll of reporter and info resource.