Valerie Strauss – Why school is a ‘confusing mental mish-mash’ for kids

Marion Brady is a veteran educator who has long argued that public education needs a paradigm shift. Here is a new piece in which he explains why schools need a complete transformation in what and how students learn, and why the Common Core State Standards, standardized tests and other elements of corporate-influenced school reform can’t accomplish this. Brady says that …

A growing number of charter school teachers want to unionize, the American Prospect’s Rachel M. Cohen tells Salon – Elias Isquith

When you think of charter schools, there are probably a few people and concepts that come to mind: Michelle Rhee, “grit,” Bill Gates, Eva Moskowitz, KIPP, etc. And if you happen to think of teachers unions at some point during this education policy reverie, you’ll probably have them in the role they’re traditionally assigned by the media — as anti-charter …

College readiness declines when school’s focus is improving test scores, study finds

Education reform policies that penalize struggling schools for poor standardized test scores may hinder — not improve — students’ college readiness, if a school’s instructional focus becomes improving its test scores, suggests a new study that explored efforts to promote a college-going culture at one Texas high school. Published recently in The High School Journal, the case study reveals the unintended …

Revisiting A Progressive Education Agenda: What’s Happened Since?

It’s been nearly two years since the Education Opportunity Network, with the Opportunity to Learn campaign and the Campaign for America’s Future, published the Education Declaration to Rebuild America. As The Washington Post reported at the time, “The document offers a progressive approach to school reform.” What makes the document truly “progressive,” is that it advocates “equity of opportunity” and …