Monday, September 13, 2010

Today's Links From Susan Ohanian

Susan does all the work and we just spread the word. She takes a swipe at a piece by Pedro Noguera, who all too  many people consider a saint, with the comment below. Well, if I had read Noguera with his criticism of TFA and other points about RTTT without Susan's insight, I might have said "good stuff." Read on and reap. And maybe weep too. 
Schools vs. Slogans

This is the inaugural essay in a new series of bimonthly pieces on the politics of education byNation editorial board member Pedro Noguera. 
This piece, which is curiously "soft" on Obama/Duncan, reflects the reluctance of progressives to make an out-and-out assault on the Obama/Duncan policy. Instead of offering analysis of how this administration is tied to a corrupt corporate plan to deprofessionalize teachers, to force a nationalized curriculum into the schools, to further segregate the rich from the poor, and so on, Noguera posits his criticism around "failure to use sound research" for its "policy direction."
This suggestion that the "right research" will put Obama/Duncan on the right path would be laughable if it weren't so disingenuous. 
 Rather than suggesting that Obama/Duncan choose different schools as models for "scaling up," Noguera would do well to read Richard Rothstein. If raising test scores is our goal, then get the lead out, fix kids' teeth, and give them an iron fortified breakfast. No matter how many fourth graders pass the standardized test, it won't increase the minimum wage.
Mathematician's Lament is a MUST read. It gets to the core of what education--
in all subjects--is about.
And does this with such grace and wit
Krashen's letter to Time Magazine is also a MUST read because he 
provides a deft summary 
of the issue that you can--and must--use in your own letters.
A belated thank you to the contributor in Sanger, CA.
Susan
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The Overscheduled Child
Jeannette Catsoulis
New York Times
2010-09-10
http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=9459
Kudos to the NY Times for reviewing Race to Nowhere, a must-see film.
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A Mathematician's Lament
Paul Lockhart
2010-09-11
http://susanohanian.org/show_commentary.php?id=837
This is MUST READ.
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Food Sovereignty . . . and Education Sovereignty Too
R. G. Davis, with Ohanian comments
2010-09-04
http://susanohanian.org/show_commentary.php?id=836
R. G. Davis is on the mark and his commentary on food sovereignty  
offers strong parallels with the way so-called education activists divert  
people from doing something to change the crisis we face in the schools.  
I urge you to read this one.
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To the editor
Stephen Krashen
Time Magazine
2009-09-11
http://susanohanian.org/show_letter.php?id=1261
As the media keeps reporting those claims that roll off Standardisto tongues,
we must be grateful to Stephen Krashen, who doesn't let them get away with it.
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Fighting Closure: A Report from William H. Maxwell HS
Seung OK
Ed Notes Online
2010-09-10
http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=753
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Outsiders get a view of Memphis City Schools' vision
Jane Roberts
Commercial Appeal
2010-09-11
http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=752
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Marked absent: Many Oregon students will do without music and art classes
Kimberly Melton
The Oregonian
2010-10-06
http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=751
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Who gets to speaks about what schools need? Race to the Top and  
the Bill Gates Connection
Susan Ohanian
Extra!
2010-09-08
http://susanohanian.org/show_research.php?id=366
Here is an article about who gets quoted in the press.
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Incredibly Sexy Standards Developer Dies, Smothered by Dictionaries
staff
The Eggplant
2010-09-05
http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_news.php?id=833
Not quite a standard obituary.
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The neoliberal bait-and-switch
David Sirota
syndicated column
2010-09-10
http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_atrocities.php?id=4051
Sirota takes a stab at exposing the Great Education Myth promulgated by  
neoliberals.
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Schools vs. Slogans
Pedro Noguera
The Nation
2010-09-27
http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_atrocities.php?id=4050
This suggestion that the right research will put Obama/Duncan on the  
right path would be laughable if it weren't so disingenuous.
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What Passes for School Reform: Value-AddedTeacher Evaluation and  
Other Absurdities
Alfie Kohn
Huffington Post
2010-09-09
http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_atrocities.php?id=0
Alfie calls LA Times and Newsweek unconscionable. And more.

1 comment:

Michael Fiorillo said...

Noguera plays both sides of the fence: he makes tepid criticisms of Bloomberg and Klein, while being a member of the SUNY Charter Commission. In other words, he's complicit in the school invasions and privatization and hostile takeover of the public schools that charters represent.

Typical of The Nation and Huffington Post, and the Trojan Horse of liberal corporatism.