Kevin Huffman and Matt Barnum debate education policy and the Department of Education.
You’re at a dinner party and the topic of education comes up. Everyone near you is white, college educated, and has 2.5 children. They are on the vanguard of gentrification and appreciate cosmetic diversity. Over the past year they have made a contribution to either Hillary or Bernie.
You know schools are complex and can’t be expressed through shorthand. Congratulations on being a thinking person, but that won’t work in this circle.
Let me help you. Say this….
“We have to stop these Neoliberal corporate reformers from using standardized testing to test and punish our students (and teachers) so that hedge fund billionaires can privatize education by turning a public good into a profitable market.”
Now, you’re brilliant. Everyone shakes their head in agreement because you sound educated.
Except, it’s all bullshit. The number of errors in that trope should make you a subject for psychiatry, not praise.
Clint Bolick – a leading education lawyer and advocate and libertarian leaning thinker appointed to the AZ Supreme Court.
Today in our insane Common Core debate:
SAP’s Jason Zimba, a Common Core architect, makes the common sense points that (a) even if you’re not strong in math (or have a full schedule) you can still make sure your kids are getting their work done and help that way and (b) their teachers are there to, you know, teach:
The most important rule as a parent is to make sure it gets done. I may not have time to do an impromptu lesson on math but I can make sure everything is completed,” said Jason Zimba, one of the three lead writers of Common Core’s math standards and founding partner of Student Achievement Partners, a group that helps teachers with the standards. “It’s about managing work load and learning accountability.”
Although the father of two gives his children, ages 6 and 8, math tutorials on Saturday mornings, he says a parent doesn’t have to be a numbers whiz when it comes to homework.
“The math instruction on the part of parents should be low. The teacher is there to explain the curriculum,” said Zimba.
And then on cue conservative media goes bat. Zimba could voice over a weather forecast and it would be seen by the anti-Common Core folks as some sort of affront.
Art of Policymaking is updated and being re-realeased. This is a very good primer on how it all works. Great for teaching, organizations, or just learning.
Here’s a primer on Friedrichs. This St. George’s situation is a mess. Bill Gates on Kentucky. Also here. Melinda Gates here with students. Hillary Clinton ideas on autism. Are open offices a bad idea? Education implications. (We use open space at Bellwether but couple it with a very flexible work policy so people can be where they need to be in order to be most productive and balance life and work as a way to mitigate some of the issues – which are real in my view).
Andrei Agassi takes a big stake in a learning company aimed at the early learning market.