Things I should have blogged about…
Eighteen blogs, a couple of wikis I’m supposed to contribute to regularly, a Twitter account, a wife, a dog, and the grass that keeps growing in my yard often conspire together to prevent me from commenting on everything that comes through my Google Reader. Here’s a small list of things I should have blogged about…
- The Washington Post reported last week on the rise of Rep. John P. Kline (R-Minn.) to the position of ranking Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee. They called it “a watershed” because Kline wasn’t in Congress when No Child Left Behnd was passed in 2002. He does not fully back the rigorous accountability requirements of NCLB.
- Philly.Com published an article early this month on a Rand Corp report on charter schools in eight states. That report seemed to indicate that charter schools were no better than public schools at the elementary level. I’ve always had two basic problems with the charter model. First, there’s usually some minimum population requirement for “at risk” students in a charter school. That might be an advance in large school districts with lots of resources; but in rural Appalachia almost every child is at risk. Second, the resources for a charter school are usually drawn from within the district they serve – a burden in poor districts, making charter schools a luxury that only larger, relatively wealthy districts can afford.
- Dr. John Lloyd (Curry School at University of Virginia) pointed out an article this week in Education and Urban Society that seems to show that all day preschool produces reading gains in first grade.
- Dr. Lloyd also pointed out a study in Science that seems to indicate that dyslexia can be prevented.
- My Facebook Friend David Warick put out two polls last week. One asked whether you could be a good teacher without using technology. I voted “no” but 68% of his readers said “yes.” The second poll asked if a teacher who doesn’t use technology is doing their job. And 88% of his readers said “no” to that. Interesting blog post.
- Dr. Scott McLeod at Iowa State University (another Facebook friend) published a list of questions to ask yourself about technology at your school.
- Teacher Magazine reported that former WV Governor Bob Wise is now chair of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
- Tracy Rosen (a Canadian teacher and Facebook friend) took a look at an interesting updated version of Bloom’s taxonomy.
