The plight of the over-scheduled, over-tested, stressed out student has become the subject of much hand-wringing.  We need to understand how the pervasive myth of the meritocracy traps them in it.

As the instant classic 2009 film,  Race to Nowhere , and its 2015 sequel, Beyond Measure, expose, middle-class youth feel overwhelmed with pressure to achieve academically, artistically and athletically to gain admission to top colleges; poor students, meanwhile, worry that they won't even be able to pass the culturally biased high school exit exam.  ( Read more.)

  Bradshaw explains that her love of teaching led her to eventually obtain a doctoral degree in education, dedicate her free time to reading the latest research in the field and work tirelessly with students, parents and fellow teachers to help children thrive. 

Referring to the increasing emphasis on standardized testing, Bradshaw says, "Like many other teachers across the nation, I have become more and more disturbed by the misguided reforms taking place which are robbing my students of a developmentally appropriate education." She then posits her research-based claim, "[T]he new reforms not only disregard this research, they are actively forcing teachers to engage in practices which are not only ineffective but actively harmful to child development and the learning process."  ( Read more.)

5 Tips to Properly Argue Your Point by  Rob Furman   on the Huffington Post site.

In the age of blogging and social media, everyone wants to share their opinion. However, it has become abundantly clear to me that many people simply do not or cannot argue a point in a meaningful way. 

If you are going to disagree or debate, there is a wrong way and a right way to present your ideas. I hope these 5 points will help you share your ideas in a more meaningful way.

1. Argue the point, not the person.

2. Use data and research as much as you can.

3. Don't put words in your opponent's mouth.

4. Don't go on a tangent

5. Stay positive, polite, and professional  ( Read more.)

   

The Dismal Failure of Arne Duncan's 'Race to the Top' Program  by Diane Ravitch on the AlterNet site.

For nearly 15 years, Presidents Bush and Obama and the Congress have bet billions of dollars-both federal and state- on a strategy of testing, accountability, and choice. They believed that if every student was tested in reading and mathematics every year from grades 3 to 8, test scores would go up and up. In those schools where test scores did not go up, the principals and teachers would be fired and replaced. Where scores didn't go up for five years in a row, the schools would be closed. Thousands of educators were fired, and thousands of public schools were closed, based on the theory that sticks and carrots, rewards and punishments, would improve education.

But the 2015 NAEP scores released today by the National Assessment Governing Board (a federal agency) showed that Arne Duncan's $4.35 billion Race to the Top program had flopped. It also showed that George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind was as phony as the "Texas education miracle" of 2000, which Bush touted as proof of his education credentials. ( Read more.)

Starting with the gifted-education community in the late 1960s, differentiation didn't get its mojo going until regular educators jumped onto the bandwagon in the 1980s. 

There's only one problem: Differentiation is a failure, a farce, and the ultimate educational joke played on countless educators and students.

* It seeks to determine what students already know and what they still need to learn.

* It allows students to demonstrate what they know through multiple methods.

* It encourages students and teachers to add depth and complexity to the learning/teaching process.

Sounds wonderful, doesn't it? The problem is this: Although fine in theory, differentiation in practice is harder to implement in a heterogeneous classroom than it is to juggle with one arm tied behind your back.  ( Read more.)

by   Dave Zirin on the Nation site.

  Football has never been more popular. And it has never felt less like a game.

Almost a year ago, NBA all-star LeBron James  was asked why he does not allow his young sons to play football, as he did when growing up in Akron, Ohio. LeBron said, "My kids don't need a way out [of poverty]. They're all right. I needed a way out when I was a kid. I tried to do whatever it took to get out. That's my excuse."  The exchange  went viral during an NFL weekend defined by mangled bodies more than anything that could be called a game.   It made one wonder: If this is what's happening to muscles, ligaments, and tendons, what could be ripped and bruised inside a player's skull on every hit?  ( Read more.)

Five years into the biggest transformation of U.S. public education in recent history, Common Core is far from common. Though 45 states initially adopted the shared academic standards in English and math, seven have since repealed or amended them. Among the remaining 38, big disparities remain in what and how students are taught, the materials and technology they use, the preparation of teachers and the tests they are given. A dozen more states are considering revising or abandoning Common Core.

One reason is that Common Core became a  hypercharged political issue , with grass-roots movements pressing elected leaders to back off.  ( Read more.)

Melinda and Bill Gates recently said that attempting to reform the public education system in the United States has been the hardest philanthropic work they've ever done. 

That caught the attention of  Nancy E. Bailey, a longtime special education teacher who left the classroom because of standardized test-based school reforms that she thinks hurt children. ( Read more.)