News and Views: March 9, 2010
| News and Views |
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Fridays
by Executive Director George Wood |
 This past week I was in Washington to talk with colleagues and friends about the upcoming debates over NCLB. While I enjoy the city and my friends, it was great to get back to my school just in time for Friday-one of my favorite days. And it has nothing to do with it being the day before the weekend.Every other Friday my staff and I meet for what we call 'planning period meetings'. Since we are on a semester schedule with long periods this means we have about an hour to talk about our shared work. During the first semester of the year we read a book together and discuss it. In the second semester we take on a protocol called 'looking at student work.' The task is simple; a teacher presents work from one of his or her classes to colleagues and asks us to discuss a question generated by the assignment. Usually this involves student work that is not what the teacher had hoped s/he would get. So we examine the lesson, the strategies used, and the student work and try to find ideas that will improve the work of students. This past Friday lived up to our usual expectations. Read more |
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Save the Date!
The First Symposium of the Deborah Meier Institute: Remapping Progressive Education Saturday, April 17, 2010 8:30am - 3:30pm The Julia Richman Education Complex, 317 East 67th Street, NY, NY |
 Join Forum Conveners Pedro Noguera, George Wood, Larry Myatt, and Deb Meier at the First Symposium of the Meier Institute, "Remapping Progressive Education." The Institute is a joint project of dozens of progressive schools and educators. This first Institute will feature workshops, concerts, and speeches, all focused on the central mission public education plays in protecting and expanding democracy. The Meier Institute Symposium is presented in collaboration with Harmony Education Center and Indiana University.Registration details to be released soon! For questions, email meiersymposium@gmail.com. |
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Featured Resource
The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education |
by Diane Ravitch In The Death and Life of the Great American School System, Diane Ravitch examines her career in education reform, and repudiates positions that she once fiercely defended. Evaluating broadly popular ideas for restructuring schools, she explains why they have had no positive impact on the quality of American education. Ravitch reconsiders the evolution of her own views on key issues and reveals her skepticism regarding charter schools, privatization, accountability, and the philanthropists who are trying to control school reform using business models for school planning. Drawing on over forty years of research and observation on education, Ravitch also offers prescriptions for improving our schools. A passionate plea to promote the survival of public education, The Death and Life of the Great American School System represents a radical change of heart from one of America's best-known education experts. It is a must-read for anyone-teachers, parents, administrators, and bureaucrats-invested in the future of our schools. To learn more, click here. |