Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Today's Hot Links: Doofus Duncan and John Merrow too

August 25, 2010
 
There is so much valuable info coming in. Check Gotham's Rise and Shine, but they can't do it all.

From Susan Ohanian's daily posts. Yes, she does this every day. And her comments to go with the articles are spot on.

So many great links, so little time. I highlighted the ones I am most interested in. Doofus Duncan, the NY Mag article on testing and the Seattle parents on Gates. And I always love it when John Merrow, who applauded the LA Times for publishing teacher names and scores, gets taken down. I can't resist a few comments on Merrow:

* Deborah Meier: "Shocking, awful, embarrassing–especially since I have long admired you both--Grant and, John. I often thought Grant's thinking cool/cold/logic without the common human touch, but I also respected the insights that flowed from his logic. I just can't believe you and he wrote that junk, John. What do you think it does to kids, families, human beings--even if the test evaluations were a good measure. Nobody in the field of testing would argue for it--as you surely know."

* Diane Ravitch: "The naming of names based on dubious measures is truly disgraceful. I am disappointed and shocked to see you endorsing this approach."

I'm shocked that Meier admires Merrow and Diane is shocked. Merrow is a long-time ed deformer and I've gone after him a bunch of times. (See after burn below for a selection of my hits on him.)
 
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Can Our Schools Run on Duncan?
David Moberg
In These Times
2010-08-23
http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_atrocities.php?id=4029

This article gives a good rundown on how Secretary of Education Arne Duncan 
pushes Chicago's ineffective reforms on America's children.
Wishful Testing

New York Magazine
2010-08-20
http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_atrocities.php?id=4031

New York Magazine takes a look at Mayor Bloomberg's school reform.
 
The Lines of Influence in Education Reform
Dora Taylor
Seatle Education 2010
2010-08-23
http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=9450

A Seattle parent connects some dots on Gates money.
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Taking Note of John Merrow and Grant Wiggins
Joe Bower
For the love of learning blog
2010-08-22
http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=737

MORE if you have time

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Carvers Bay enlists ninth grade: Freshmen all put in JROTC
By Gina Vasselli
The SunNews.com
2010-08-23
http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=9449

The entire freshman class at Carvers Bay High School has been automatically 
enrolled in the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps, a military-sponsored 
program that trains high school students in military discipline and concepts.

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To the editor
Don Perl
Washington Post
2010-08-24
http://susanohanian.org/show_letter.php?id=1252

Don Perl rebuts Podesta's dangerous rhetoric.

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Personal to the Los Angeles Teachers Union
Sam Smith
Undernews
2010-08-23
http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=738


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Uniting 4 Kids
Uniting 4 Kids
Facebook
0000-00-00
http://susanohanian.org/show_yahoo.php?id=575

Take a look at Uniting 4 Kids.


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What some teachers don't want you to learn
John Diaz
San Francisco Chronicle
2010-08-22
http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_atrocities.php?id=4030

The editorial page editor of the San Francisco Chronicle gives an enthusiastic 
thumbs up to the Los Angeles Times. He invites reader comments.
After Burn
Aug 07, 2008
Merrow chaired an online conference this week on what to do about NCLB. Lots of familiar faces: Sol Stern, Randi, Ravitch, Cerf, Finn, Hess (American Enterprise Institute) and lots of others- Alexander Russo's TWIE has pics of them here ...
 
May 12, 2008
...would overlook Merrow's one-sided coverage of education on the News Hour With Jim Lehrer. (What other news are they doing one-sided reporting on?) A supposed non-commercial station, which always pleads for money because they claim to ...
 
Aug 11, 2008
I post a few snippets from this discussion on NCLB, narrated by pbs's John Merrow, Education Correspondent for The newshour with Jim Lehrer and President of Learning Matters Incorporated, as a warning. Should you wish to inflict more ...
 
Feb 27, 2008
Are the Merrow reports and podcasts fair and balanced? He's based in NYC. When will he take on the bloomklein story or is that too delicate in that he might have to actually hear the voices on these listserves? ...
 

1 comment:

Michael Fiorillo said...

A quick search of John Merrow's PBS ed deform vehicle, Learning Matters, shows that it is funded by The Annenberg, Carnegie, Hewlett, Wallace, Kellogg, Gates and Sergey and Anne Wojicki Foundations.

Those who pay the piper...