Category Archives: Ed Reform
The Promise of Ed Tech
Ed tech companies are, of course, trying to take advantage of the pandemic to sell politicians and administrators on replacing teachers with educational technology. So, thought I would try my hand at writing some ad copy for these companies: Help … Continue reading
Combating Standardized Testing Derangement Syndrome (STDs) in the English Language Arts
The dirty secret of the standardized testing industry is the breathtakingly low quality of the tests themselves. I worked in the educational publishing industry at very high levels for more than twenty years. I have produced materials for all the … Continue reading
How the Common Core Distorted and Dumbed Down Instruction in English
For many decades now, as in any occupied country, the Deformer/Disrupter occupiers of U.S. education–the invasion force that went forward, financed by Gates and Walton dollars, to take over our federal and state governments, has dominated discourse about education in … Continue reading
School Vouchers, or, Coming Soon: Bob’s Real Good Flor-uh-duh Skool and Bob’s Ayahuasca School for Little Cosmic Voyagers
ALERT!!!! PLEASE SHARE. In his 2020 State of the Disunion Address, Don the Con gave Ditzy DeVoid, his Secretary of the Department for the Privatization of U.S. Education, formerly the Department of Education, everything her little walnut-hard heart could have … Continue reading
Reviewing a Review: Annie Murphy Paul on Diane Ravitch’s Slaying Goliath
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? (Who watches the watchers?), Juvenal, Satire VI On January 21, 2020, Annie Murphy Paul’s “review” of Diane Ravitch’s Slaying Goliath appeared in The New York Times. Being reviewed in the Times is a big deal. Such … Continue reading
Espinoza v. Montana
So, the Supreme Court is hearing a case called Espinoa v. Montana Department of Revenue. It’s about whether a state can refuse to provide religious schools with the same per pupil support (typically, seven or eight thousand per student, though … Continue reading
Robert’s Rule
ROBERT’S RULE: If you are wondering whether a new policy, procedure, technology, law, regulation, or system is a good idea, just think of the worst person at the worst time in the future wielding its power. –Robert D. Shepherd Bob’s … Continue reading
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: Notes Introducing a Debate Unit on Transformative Technologies
This is a little backgrounder on Shelley’s Frankenstein that I created for a Powerpoint presentation to a high-school Debate class. We were starting a unit in which students would be debating the merits of various emerging transformative technologies. In preparation … Continue reading
Essential Reading | Book Review
Diane Ravitch’s Slaying Goliath: The Passionate Resistance to Privatization and the Fight to Save America’s Public Schools In these dark days of Trumpism, reasons for optimism are the spars to which the rest of us, the passengers on the … Continue reading
