2008 May 14 Archive at The Core Knowledge Blog

Archive for May 14th, 2008

Unforgiven

Published by Robert Pondiscio on May 14, 2008 in Education Leadership and Research and Reports. 0 Comments

Nothing like a little blog-on-blog violence to liven things up. Over at Flypaper the other day, Mike Petrilli advised the Association Council of the American Educational Research Association to dump Bill Ayers, who was elected as AERA’s Vice President-Elect of Curriculum Studies in March.

“The Council might consider whether it’s prudent to allow a former terrorist to join its ranks—particularly a man who said as late as 2001 that ‘I don’t regret setting bombs; I feel we didn’t do enough,’ wrote Petrilli, who noted the Council has the authority to strip anyone’s association membership, and suggested AERA do so to Ayers.

Eduwonkette, while not defending Ayers per se, isn’t exactly throwing him under a bus. “Bill Ayers was democratically elected, and the right of professional associations to self-govern should be respected,” she writes. “Mike believes that Ayers’ presence reflects badly on the whole association, but guilt by association is a shaky principle.”

I’d gladly take a bullet for the talented Ms. Kette, but I’m with Petrilli on this one. It’s not a question of guilt by association but poor judgment. A vote for Ayers may not be a vote for terrorism, but apparently it’s not a disqualifying factor, which reflects badly on the profession, to say the least. A commenter in Eduwonkette’s thread offers that Ayers was never convicted of terrorism, which is true. But having pronounced himself “guilty as hell and free as a bird,” the issue of his guilt or innocence is not in dispute. Ayers, having acted in his Weathermen days as judge, jury and (at the very least attempted) executioner also makes his legal standing a curious standard by which to judge him.

The mildest thing one can say is that the AERA, in overlooking the unrepentant Mr. Ayers past, is not exactly crowning itself in glory. Like Petrilli, I’m not an AERA member either. But I am an educator, and have a hard time rationalizing my profession’s warm association with Mr. Ayers.

Standards for Dummies

Published by Robert Pondiscio on May 14, 2008 in Curriculum and Education Practice. 0 Comments

What’s worse than low standards? Standards that are confusing, misleading, or get in the way of understanding. A Michigan math standard, courtesy of The Elementary Educator:

“N.FL.05.14 Add and subtract fractions with unlike denominators through 12 and/or 100, using the common denominator that is the product of the denominators of the 2 fractions, e.g., 3/8 + 7/10: use 80 as the common denominator.“

So in Michigan, 3/4 + 1/8 = 28/32. Reducing fractions is a 6th grade standard. No kidding.

Resistance is Futile

Published by Robert Pondiscio on May 14, 2008 in Teacher Training and Teaching. 0 Comments

Applications to Teach for America from graduating college seniors continues to surge —up more than a third this year from about 18,000 to nearly 25,000, reports BusinessWeek. “Of those, about 3,700 are expected to step up to the blackboard as new teachers this fall. That’s up more than 25 percent from the 2,900 who did so last year.” The New York Times also weighs in on TFA.

New and Improved! School!

Published by Robert Pondiscio on May 14, 2008 in Education Leadership and Teaching. 0 Comments

Most of us in education probably think of marketing, brand building and customer relations as beneath our dignity. We’re educators, after all. We’re not selling soap or soft drinks. Food for thought then, courtesy of Scott McLeod at the Techlearning blog, who notes that every interaction is at heart a marketing transaction representing “an opportunity for us to build or erode our brand, a chance to increase or decrease the trust and goodwill of the people with whom we are interacting.”

“What’s this mean for schools? Well, it means that every time a parent walks away unhappy from an encounter at school, that’s a marketing interaction. Every time a teacher has yet another boring lesson, that’s a marketing interaction. Every time a school board member puts her personal agenda ahead of what’s best for students, that’s a marketing interaction. Every time a member of the community walks through an uninviting building, that’s a marketing interaction. And every time an administrator squanders an opportunity to be a leader rather than a manager, that’s a marketing interaction.”

Schools do a host of wonderful things,” McLeod concludes. “But they also engage in a number of individual and organizational behaviors that chip away at the trust and goodwill of their internal and external communities.”

Smart stuff. And worth reflecting on, as McLeod notes, next time someone complains about problems with student engagement, parental support and community involvement.