3 common misconceptions that thwart school improvement
Misconceptions are dangerous things. They shackle our visions of what’s possible and doom us to consequences we do not expect. For example, a student who believes her genes…
education reform
5 school areas that desperately need student voices
As a graduate journalism student over 20 years ago, I worked on a thesis project centered on education reform news reporting. I was analyzing how often education reporters…
What is Obama’s K-12 education legacy?
Common Core, Race to the Top, and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)—just a few top-down, often-controversial, metrics-heavy K-12 reform initiatives favored by the Obama Administration that seemed…
Accountability without autonomy is tyranny
When educational research reaches the public through the corporate media, the consequences are often dire, explains P.L. Thomas for the Daily Kos.
Ending education reform to reimagine what’s possible
According to a recent PEW Research Study, 66 percent of Americans say either that the education system in this country needs to be completely rebuilt or that it…
Duncan: U.S. failing ‘core responsibilities’ on education
[Editor’s note: In a Sept. 30 speech at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Education Secretary Arne Duncan urged education stakeholders to move “beyond the Beltway Bubble”…
Why it’s time for a reset of education reform
The end of another school year is leaving a bad taste in many people's mouths, The Washington Post reports.
A different kind of ‘flipped’ learning: Students teaching students
As a teacher at Granby Elementary School in Columbus, Ohio, I've orchestrated a more interactive style of instruction, in which students teach each other. This approach has raised…
Do school reformers use threats to drive agenda?
Education reformers haven’t been able to persuade everybody to their point of view, so increasingly, they use threats, the Washington Post reports.
Three federal education policy updates
As Congress nears a deadline to form a compromise and avoid sequestration, education stakeholders are hoping to avoid devastating school funding cuts that could put an end to…