Education

Today was a very productive “writing” day, although no formal “writing” happened.  I realized that in order to go forward with the chapter that I’m working on I needed to go backward and think about and face...
Today was a very productive “writing” day, although no formal “writing” happened.  I realized that in order to go forward with the chapter that I’m working on I needed to go backward and think about and face the book-as-a-whole.  I’ve been avoiding facing “the book-as-a-whole.” My first book, which emerged out of my dissertation, was a much “tighter” project, even though the shape of it in some ways looks similar to the shape of this one.  Ultimately, I had a very narrow scope for what I was trying to achieve, and so I knew where I was going pretty much from the very beginning.  Yes, there were “discoveries” throughout the process – threads that I pulled together – but ultimately, in composing each chapter, I was mapping a particular theory onto a particular literary text in order to arrive at an interpretation of what was, really, a very limited thing.  And so it wasn’t, actually, scary to look at the project as One Big Thing.  I knew what I would find when I did that. With this book project, my process has been less deliberate and a hell of a lot messier.  Now, part of this has to do with the fact that I now understand, in a way that I did not in writing my dissertation/book what a “book” really is.  I’ve read a lot more critical books from beginning to end, for one thing, and I also have been through the process of bringing my own book to publication.  Another part of why this process has been different is because other than when I first began, during my sabbatical, I’ve had to squeeze the book into my other professional obligations piecemeal: I haven’t had the luxury of time that I had during graduate school, and I haven’t had the luxury of the kind of single-minded focus that one has during one’s graduate training.  Let me note, I’m not at all complaining about this: I think it makes my ideas richer, in some ways, that I’m not so imbedded in my original field of specialization, and I think that working in this way is actually allowing me to do more interesting work (at least I have hope that this is the case) than I did in my dissertation/book. But because I’m trying to work on the “first” chapter, I sort of need to know where I’m going to end up in the “last” chapter, if I’m writing the book I want to write, which I don’t want merely to be a a loose collection of disparate chapters around a general idea, but really a work of theoretically oriented criticism that hangs together as a cohesive and coherent whole. And because the project has been evolving since I first pitched the topic (having done no work on the topic prior to said pitching) in my application for sabbatical in 2009, I needed to reckon with the fact that what I’ve been writing, and the ideas that I’m most interested in throughout what I’ve been writing, don’t really match what I initially had set out to do.  I mean, there is a relationship – this isn’t a completely different book – but it’s not the book I’d initially thought I would write, and probably nobody but me could see clearly how the book I’m apparently writing has emerged from the idea that I originally had. But so anyway, I faced that particular scary task, and I was able to a) write a paragraph in which I was able to articulate the three linked objectives of the book-as-a-whole, b) articulate – again in writing – the major theoretical apparatuses that I’m engaging in order to flesh out those objectives (and this was tricky as the theories I’m engaging wouldn’t necessarily seem like obvious choices to bring together), c) discover that I’m going to jettison one particular set of ideas, which are super-interesting to somebody, but which don’t actually fit with the objectives that I outlined that I am trying to
about 2 hours ago
“By the company it keeps.” Andy Smarick talks to Tim Daly about baseball, his football coaching brother, and The New Teacher Project’s new Leap Year—a study that looks at a teacher’s early progress. (Flypaper) Spending less on students. ...
“By the company it keeps.” Andy Smarick talks to Tim Daly about baseball, his football coaching brother, and The New Teacher Project’s new Leap Year—a study that looks at a teacher’s early progress. (Flypaper) Spending less on students. Public education spending has fallen for the first time in nearly 40 years. The country spent $10,560 per student in 2011, which is 0.04% less than the previous year. (Houston Chronicle) It’s never too late. A large chunk of college students in America are more than 30-years-old and are looking for a degree to get them the job they want. Allison Linn talked to several students to get their perspective on college life after the age of 30, including Sharon Anne Nowlin who was a homeless veteran living in a shelter and is now getting a bachelor’s of science. (NBC News) Education is a right that is why we have to fight. At a school closing protest in Chicago, nine-year-old Asean Johnson addresses the crowd and tells them “we are not going down with a fight!” (YouTube)
about 4 hours ago
Today's as good a day as any to share with you the draft report I heard about a couple of weeks back when last discussing the issue of how to assess reform advocacy efforts. As you may recall, the question keeps coming up if and how fun...
Today's as good a day as any to share with you the draft report I heard about a couple of weeks back when last discussing the issue of how to assess reform advocacy efforts. As you may recall, the question keeps coming up if and how funders are going to assess the impact of their advocacy efforts, whether they be grants to nonprofits or direct contributions to campaigns or PACs: "Teachers unions (AFT, NEA) and nonprofits on the other side (Broader/Bolder Alliance, Shanker Institute, and the new Ravitch thing) are actively engaged in advocacy as well, and have to figure out if their spending is making a difference, too."  (What About The Impact?) As with teachers and schools, poor evaluations can lead to poor understanding, however.  It's not so easy to get it right.  Michigan State professor and TWIE contributor Sarah Reckhow took a stern look at several recent recommendations for advocacy evaluation (A Misleading Approach to Assessing Advocacy) This newest report, called a Media Measurement Framework, is funded by Gates and Knight and produced by the SF-based LFA Group: Learning for Action, who tells us that the Knight Foundation is in the process of creating an online, interactive version of this framework. This static version will become a collection of online resources.  No word yet on whether the framework is any good or if any advocacy grantees are using it yet.  That's where you come in. Previous posts: A Misleading Approach to Assessing Advocacy [Reckhow]; So How'd The Advocacy Groups Do?; Gates Shifts Strategy & Schools Get Smaller Share [Reckhow]; EdWeek's Balanced View Of Reform Advocacy
about 4 hours ago
I support teachers unions. But facts are facts. When it comes to the issue of spending to influence voters, teachers unions take a back seat to no one.  Former LAUSD teacher Walt Gardner) in Education Week (Buying School Reform)
I support teachers unions. But facts are facts. When it comes to the issue of spending to influence voters, teachers unions take a back seat to no one.  Former LAUSD teacher Walt Gardner) in Education Week (Buying School Reform)
about 5 hours ago
Bless this woman and her cellulite free ba-donk.
Bless this woman and her cellulite free ba-donk.
about 5 hours ago
...sort of. Today I went to a meeting at a Big Impressive High Ranked University in the midlands. I drove (because three different trains plus a bus each way took a lot longer and had considerable mess-up potential). I hate urban traf...
...sort of. Today I went to a meeting at a Big Impressive High Ranked University in the midlands. I drove (because three different trains plus a bus each way took a lot longer and had considerable mess-up potential). I hate urban traffic, and despite strategically chosen leaving times, got thoroughly mired in it both ways (although perhaps that wasn't actually that BAD and I'd missed the BAD traffic through the strategy, undertaken with local advice. What a horrible thought!). Motorways are boring. And some unprintable parked so close to my car in the carpark of the service area that I had to wait for them to get back and remove theirs before I could get into mine and carry on being bored.The meeting was to discuss a big, exciting grant application. I'm flattered to have been asked to participate... but left wondering how come if we get it none of the persons working on the project will be based at NorthernUni (there are perfectly good reasons for this, I can see that they look rational, but I am irrational sometimes) therefore I will not get much if any credit/work load allowance for it and it won't help me get other things at NorthernUni, yet I'm the only person who can produce the 'OMG Need It Now' pilot data for the application and my contribution is the key link that pulls together several disparate elements and makes them into a single project. Maybe I was too nice again... but it's all perfectly reasonable... and I will learn a lot through the grant writing process, I can see already, as well as if we get the project... but still. And I dropped baked beans down my front at lunch time... orange streak on cream top, not a good look. I hate being busty.So I'm feeling pretty blah - and not just because of having got up at 05-30 to 'beat the traffic', and despite the lovely weather today and the fact that all the people at the meeting are nice people who I like to meet up with, and it was kind of fun to spend a whole day talking science... it's just a pain that my to-do list growed again ::pout:: and I'm no closer to solving my "no group from the end of 2013" issue.
about 5 hours ago
The inspiration for Olga Gomez to obtain her GED started with a simple statement from her youngest son: “Mom I challenge you to finish your GED.” Attaining the GED would be no easy feat for this mother of four who dropped out of school w...
The inspiration for Olga Gomez to obtain her GED started with a simple statement from her youngest son: “Mom I challenge you to finish your GED.” Attaining the GED would be no easy feat for this mother of four who dropped out of school when she was sixteen. Fortunately for Olga, her children stepped up and volunteered to tutor her in preparation for the exam. Today, Olga Gomez is a proud GED  recipient but most importantly, she’s an inspiration to her children, just as much as they are an inspiration to her. Gomez is one of eleven adult learners who recently met with Secretary Arne Duncan and Assistant Secretary for Vocational and Adult Education Brenda Dann-Messier at the Department of Education (ED) to share their stories and make recommendations on how ED can improve services offered to adult learners. Dann-Messier acknowledged that these adults face many barriers to success in the labor market. Some of the barriers she cited were: a lack of a high school diploma, no postsecondary degree or training, and an inability to speak, read, and write English well. Each of the adult learners at our recent meeting displayed a tremendous amount of courage in order to overcome the odds associated with returning to school as adults, but what is more laudable is the strength they found in their families and in support organizations. “I was an honor roll student in high school, but I just kind of lost my way,” said Shamika Hall, the state vice-president for the Delaware Career Association. Hall lost her sister to an act of senseless gun violence, a devastating tragedy that altered her life’s course. She credits her family and the James H. Grove Adult High School in Wilmington, Del., for helping her get back on track. Watch Hall tell her story below: Click here for an alternate version of the video with an accessible player. Secretary Duncan said that he was inspired by each of the adult learners resilience and tenacity. “It’s pretty remarkable to hear not just where you’ve been but how far you’ve come, and most importantly, where each of you are going,” he said. Before the meeting concluded, Reuben Holguin, an ex-gang member and convicted felon, showed Secretary Duncan his inmate ID. He said that even though he acquired his GED, completed college courses and changed his life around, he will always carry his inmate ID with him to remind him just how far he’s come. The adult learners who stopped by ED were in town to attend VALUEUSA’s National Adult Learner Leadership Institute, and Dann-Messier thanked VALUEUSA, the only national literacy organization governed and operated by current and former adult learners for helping to organize the meeting with Secretary Duncan. This fall, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development will release the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). The goal of PIAAC is to assess and compare the basic skills and the broad range of competencies of adults ages 16-65 around the world. PIAAC covers 23 countries, including the United States. OECD will also release a country report specific to the U.S. to accompany the data release. The report will identify policy implications for improving the skills of adults in the U.S. De’Rell Bonner works in ED’s Office of Communications and Outreach
about 6 hours ago
Ship! Ship! Ship! Amazon knows that most of us spend NaNoWriMo writing extensive fan fiction a…
Ship! Ship! Ship! Amazon knows that most of us spend NaNoWriMo writing extensive fan fiction a…
about 7 hours ago
With last week's decision by the Christina school district in Delaware to stop fighting for the rest of its Race to the Top funding, a key urban district has dropped out of the state's education reform plans. Christina and the state w...
With last week's decision by the Christina school district in Delaware to stop fighting for the rest of its Race to the Top funding, a key urban district has dropped out of the state's education reform plans. Christina and the state were at odds over its compliance (or lack thereof) with Delaware's Race to the Top plan. Delaware wants the district to use money for large teacher bonuses for the most-effective teachers, which was part of the promises the state made when it won its $120 million federal grant. Christina disagreed, sparking a months-long feud that has finally ended. The district is no longer participating in Race to the Top, and loses $2.3 million in remaining federal grant money. (The district was to receive about $10 million in total.) Remember, half of the $4 billion in Race to the Top grants went directly to states, and the other half to participating districts. The fallout in Delaware comes a couple months after several districts in Ohio were poised to drop out of that state's grant because they decided that the costs just weren't worth any federal grant money. Are these isolated, state-specific incidences or part of a broader, worrisome trend? Right now, it seems they are isolated, sporadic events. Recently, I asked the other Race to the Top states how their district participation was faring—and they all said they are on very solid ground. (I didn't bother with the District of Columbia and Hawaii, which operate a single state-run each. Tennessee did not respond to my email.) North Carolina had seven of its 33 charter schools drop out (but all 115 traditional districts remain). Massachusetts lost 42 districts just after it won the grant, but has kept the remaining 234 since then. The other states have kept their participating districts on board. That said, the very difficult implementation work in Race to the Top states is ongoing, from common core to teacher evaluations tied to test scores. More than halfway through the grant period, district participation in the coming year will be worth keeping an eye on. - Michele McNeil
about 8 hours ago
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about 8 hours ago