politics

Teachers Can Do Harm

By Dan Brown

6/18/12

I spent time over the weekend with a recent graduate from an Ivy League university. He’s a brilliant, articulate, cosmopolitan guy who I am confident will rise to the top of his field (international relations). We started to talk about teaching— particularly Teach For America (TFA), which several of his peers were joining— and I started to get upset.

“Isn’t it a good idea to get the top people in there?” he asked, echoing a compelling talking point.

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Can Teachers Be Like Doctors?

By Dan Brown

5/30/12

The teaching profession is in the early stages of a massive overhaul, and many advocates are looking to the medical profession for a model of how to improve the quality and respect for teachers.

It’s been just over a century since the Flexner Report revolutionized and dramatically improved the training of doctors. Here is a Wikipedia summary of its legacy:

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The Best Idea in Education: Developing Families Center in Washington, D.C.

By Dan Brown

5/27/12

The longer I work with 11th and 12th graders (this is my 5th year), the clearer it becomes to me that education really begins when a child is in the womb-- or even before. Lost time is rarely made up.

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Policymakers Walking in Teachers’ Shoes: A Brilliant, Replicable Idea

By Dan Brown

5/16/12

Last week, 50 employees— mostly senior staff— of the U.S. Department of Education spent their Wednesday shadowing teachers in D.C.-area schools. “ED Goes Back to School” is the first program that I know of in which senior policymakers systematically spend quality one-on-one time in teachers’ shoes. I think it’s brilliant; this type of program can and should be replicated in states and districts across the country.

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The MetLife Data is Compelling: Fear is a Defining Element in American Schools

By Dan Brown

3/8/12

This week’s release of the MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Teachers, Parents, and the Economy illustrates just how fear-plagued our schools have become. The whole report is worth reading, but check out this data (interspersed with my commentary):

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School Communities Wrecked by "Value-Added": Two Must-Reads

By Dan Brown

3/7/12

Two must-reads on the fallout from the value-added movement:

“‘Creative… Motivating’ and Fired”

Top-notch reporter Bill Turque at the Washington Post dropped this barnburner article today about Sarah Wysocki, a DCPS teacher who received praise from everyone she worked with… and then got fired over test scores. The whole article is a must-read, but the thing that leaped most off the page to me was how likely it seems that Wysocki, a fifth grade teacher, was the victim of a sinister consequence of high-stakes testing: cheating. Turque writes:

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Common Core Is a Golden Opportunity--- Don’t Throw in the Towel Now!

By Dan Brown

2/20/12

Last week the Brookings Institution released a report by Tom Loveless declaring the Common Core standards to be a big waste— two years before they even go into effect. The top highlight listed on the report’s website lays it bare:

“Predicting the Effect of the Common Core State Standards on Student Achievement: The Common Core will have little to no effect on student achievement.”

Bummer.

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Obama Says "No Dropping Out Until Age 18" ...But Here’s How We Make It Work

By Dan Brown

1/25/12

Last night in the State of the Union address, President Obama directly addressed the dropout crisis:

We also know that when students aren’t allowed to walk away from their education, more of them walk the stage to get their diploma. So tonight, I call on every State to require that all students stay in high school until they graduate or turn eighteen.

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Priority Number One in 2012: Unite to Realize the Vision of the CETT Report

By Dan Brown

12/31/11

The NEA has come a long way. Last year, the largest union in America assembled an all-star team of educators for its Commission on Effective Teaching and Teachers (CETT), provided them with all the resources they needed, and provided no editorial guidance. I had the privilege of lunching with some of the commissioners at the NEA convention in July, and they are definitely some of the most impressive teachers I've met.

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Shame in Georgia: More Evidence that High-Stakes Testing Invites Widespread Corruption

By Dan Brown

12/20/11

Georgia may still be reeling from the eye-popping cheating scandal uncovered this year in Atlanta, but things are getting worse.

The governor’s Special Investigations division has just released a bombshell report detailing systemic corruption in the administration of the state exans, I’ve reprinted most of the overview below. Check out the whole crazy thing here and here.

How can anyone say with a straight face that these are just bad apples and this high-stakes testing regime is the right thing for kids?

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