Two Links
On this, the feast day of the Virgin of Guadalupe, patron saint of Mexico and, undoubtedly, the little slice of the 408 in which I work, I offer these electronic linkages after barely being able to navigate my car through the crowds pouring into the church a block from school, after buying some sidewalk tacos and churros, and after disingenuously telling a student, Sure, I'll be right in, when she asked if I was going to mass.
- The Quick and the Ed: Maybe I'm making too big a deal of this, but I'm impressed with Carey's subtle navigation through the it's-the-poverty/ it's-the-schools white-water. I'm impressed also, with his dismissal of Richard Rothstein's argument for the exact reason he ought to be dismissed, a reason I have yet to see gain serious traction. Admirable too, is his framing of NCLB "supporters" within a context of those who believe that the detrimental effects of poverty are surmountable, given a more effective distribution of resources (humancapital humancapital humancapital). This is especially refreshing in the context of this facile rejection of that very argument.
- My First Year: Seven first year 510 teachers blog about the time. While not prolific, or genre-busting, I'm drawn to this because four of the seven found their way into teaching through the alt-route certification programs I either directed or deputy-directed last summer. Man oh man, I used to leave + / ∆ forms in the back of your summer school classroom, and now you're blogging...
posted by Kilian Betlach at 8:13 PM
3 Comments:
The only thing that I would add to Carey's gauntlet-throw is that any alternative to NCLB, especially the wistful why-can't-we-do-Art alternatives, be as clear as NCLB is about what percentage of poor kids are going to be able to read at grade level, and by when. What I am waiting to hear from the folks making the "poverty is darn near insurmountable" and the "these tests are not only inaccurate reflections of student performance, but they force good teachers to do bad things" arguments is whether they are willing to endorse the part of NCLB that compels: all those kids, in all those schools, are expected to know how to read, for real.
Right on, man.
Don't hold your breath.
I can't even get a nibble when I throw out the "how much money would be necessary to fully-fund education" bait and you want someone to tell you what percentage of literates is all society can expect? Dream on.
Post a Comment
<< Home