Education Policy

Not the Change I Had in Mind

George Wood — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 00:00:00 -0400

I am still not over the sadness and anger I feel over what happened to my colleague, Joyce Irvine.

Even though I have never met her, I call Ms. Irvine my colleague because of the way her work as principal of Wheeler Elementary School in Burlington, Vermont, has been described. As reported in the New York Times parents are grateful for her leadership, she knows all her students, she has begun innovative programs, her teachers and her superintendent give her high marks, even her U.S. Senator praises her work.

And she has been fired.

The Forum and Rethink Learning Now Release ESEA Toolkit

The Forum — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 00:00:00 -0400

With the Congressional summer recess soon upon us, now is the time to begin planning on meeting with your Senator and/or Representative to let them know what you think should be done with ESEA. While it seems unlikely that a reauthorization attempt will be made in this session of Congress, that does not mean members of Congress are ignoring the issue. Congressional staffers continue to meet to try and hammer out a bill and this summer gives us all the opportunity to make our voices heard when members of Congress travel home.

Wayne's Day

George Wood — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0400

(This blog also appeared in the June 6th edition of the Washington Post's Answer Sheet.)

The Sunday before Memorial Day was Wayne’s day.

It was the day he graduated from our school. A day he did not think would come. But a day he made happen—and we helped.

Wayne came to me last summer and asked could he please come to our school. Eighteen, having been pushed out of his school in northern Ohio, he had moved in with a girl friend in the area.

A New Vision of School Reform

Pedro Antonio Noguera — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0400

(first published on May 27th, 2010 in The Nation)

Before his election President Obama carved out what many regarded as a more progressive and enlightened position on education reform. Recognizing that No Child Left Behind (NCLB) had become widely unpopular because of its overemphasis on standardized tests, he declared, "Don't tell us that the only way to teach a child is to spend too much of the year preparing him to fill out a few bubbles in a standardized test." He pledged to lead the nation in a different direction.

Got Evidence?

Deborah Meier — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0400

Deborah Meier's education advice to Obama

As the Obama administration explores new ways to support a national culture of learning – as opposed to our current national culture of testing – it faces a central dilemma: How to satisfy all of our country’s education stakeholders at once.

Dismantling the School-to-Prison Pipeline

Judith Browne-Dianis — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0400

Now that health care is finally behind the White House and Congress, it’s time to get busy with the rest of the agenda for change – and that means public education.

Most people in this country understand the importance of public education to our society. Schools are the only institution where we prepare the next generation not just for jobs and careers, but also for participation in our democracy. Yet our schools continue to be separate and unequal, and our children’s opportunities to learn are not the same. With graduation rates below 40% in places like Detroit and Cleveland, while national graduation rates for Blacks and Latinos hover around 50%, it’s clear that education is one of the unfinished pieces of our nation’s civil rights agenda.

Blueprint for Change

George Wood — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0400

As a school principal, I read everything about education with an eye towards how it would affect my school and my kids. So it is with the recently released ‘blueprint’ from the Administration on changes in NCLB.

I have approached the upcoming reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) with cautious optimism. During the last campaign season I heard lots of talk about ending the over-reliance upon standardized tests, supporting teachers, and equalizing educational opportunities. I hoped this would mean my school, our teachers and kids, would have something to look forward to.

Reauthorization of ESEA, Our Perspective

The Forum — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:47:17 -0500

by Forum Conveners George Wood and Pedro Noguera

After the President’s State of the Union speech, speculation has begun about what will happen with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), most recently renamed No Child Left Behind. Reports in the national press cite sources that the Obama administration is ready to address some of the most grievous problems in the current law. That will be a good start, but we want to encourage the Administration and Congress to do more than fix a bad law – we want them to invest in public schools in ways that prepare every young person to use his or her mind well.

Testing, Testing

George Wood — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0500

In the Dec. 14 issue of The New Yorker, physician Atul Gawande takes on one of the persistent critiques of the current health care debate:

“We crave sweeping transformation, however all the current bill offers is … pilot programs, a battery of small-scale experiments. The strategy seems hopelessly inadequate to solve a problem of this magnitude. And yet—here’s the interesting thing—history suggests otherwise.”

Approach on Education Needs an Overhaul

George Wood — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:12:41 -0500

(Previously published in the Columbus Dispatch)

The recent release of the Department of Education's Race to the Top application has me anxious and hopeful. On the one hand, we've been through a trying eight years of the failed No Child Left Behind Act. Schools have dumbed-down and narrowed curricula, cutting the arts, physical education and more in the name of prepping for tests. Some kindergartners have forsaken rest time and recess for test prep; field trips have been replaced by worksheets; and some students likely to fail the tests have been pushed out of schools.