Comments for Extra Credit

Comment on Teacher Quality and Leo Casey by Anthony V. Manzo, Ph.D.

Anthony V. Manzo, Ph.D. — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:28:23 +0000

With all due respect we may be asking the wrong, in the sense of a non-generative question when we continue to ask I I How long the school day should be and what our learning standards should be, more to the point we may have many more answers nested in current methodology than is realized.

The lack of an answer – or even a set of protocols – for determining which are our Best Methods leaves us without the most substantive seeds of content from which most all practical science proceeds. Logically it also leaves us without a core curriculum in basic pedagogy; in effect we have no grounds on which to claim that we are even capable of providing Teacher Education. Apart from a few very broad and somewhat ambiguous statements there can be, and is, a very great variation in what teachers are being taught about teaching from campus to campus and even classroom to classroom. I have been trying for many years to bring some greater level of awareness to the need for us to work collaboratively toward something of a dynamic algorithm that any and all can participate in for identifying Good, Better and Best Practices, and as importantly, the shaping of the means by which these determinations would be made generically and in specific situations. Progress in Professional Education should proceed at light speed from this point forward, for once all stakeholders – teachers, professors, school leadership, state and Federal Departments – will share some common referents. A new and real authority will exist, KNOWLEDGE.

Please consider my cobbled together, and admittedly relatively personalized, effort as a mere example of what is possible and necessary. It has provisions for empiricism, choice, situation and most importantly for putting the best methods now available in the hands of millions of teachers, K-16. It is not a one-size-fits-all equation but rather one that is a contract between project directors and teachers to better regulate a currently unregulated market, namely, identification and choice of teaching methodology. Here is a URL and opening page…

http://bestmethodsofinstruction.com/
14,073 Visits Since 01/01/2008
Best Methods of Instruction
Beta Site for the Teaching Optimization Rubric & Choice (TORC) System: a Reflective Model for Identifying and Classifying Good, Better, Best Practices in Classroom Based Instruction

Comment on Education and Incarceration by School of Social Work

School of Social Work — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:55:41 +0000

I agree that this is very serious problem.
But, I want to know which kind of steps should be taken ?

Comment on Can a Lawsuit Change a School System? by thevoiceforschoolchoice

thevoiceforschoolchoice — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:42:16 +0000

public schools in south carolina are among the nation’s worst.
just 1-in-5 have met this year’s AYP performance goals.
and some politicians like state superintendent Jim Rex want to a big dollar lawsuit and constitutional word change to bring even more money to the $11,480 per student schools!
http://thevoiceforschoolchoice.wordpress.com/2008/09/30/feds-80-of-south-carolina-public-schools-failing/

Comment on Obama’s Speech on Education by Bobbie Hausherr

Bobbie Hausherr — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 23:38:50 +0000

As a Florida teacher, I can assure you that NCLB is not working!
Of course, it sounds great to the general public. After all, who doesn’t want to “leave no child behind.” As you stated, there are some positives. We are disaggregating data to take a closer look at the achievement of all subgroups. The problem is that all we do is test! We have our FCAT tests and constantly have to take practice tests. The AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) target goals continue to rise each year, so the majority of our Title I schools in this state can’t meet these goals. By 2013, all of our students are expected to be at grade level, including Exceptional Ed students and ESOL (speakers of other languages.) The authors of NCLB had to know that these expections are virtually impossible to meet. I am a believer in high expectations … just not unreasonable expectations. Every year we don’t make AYP, more of our Title I dollars are pumped into the private sector to private tutoring companies, many of which were formed just to take advantage of the chance to cash in on this money.
I truly believe that the real goal of NCLB was to funnel the money from Title I into the private sector. More privatization from the Repubs!

Comment on Obama, Vouchers, and Inter-District Public School Choice by doazic

doazic — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 01:28:57 +0000

It may be a function of my boy-crush on Obama, but I fear vouchers are just a religious right-wing Trojan horse. Just look at what Jay writes:

“Perhaps if we respected the desires of parents maybe, just maybe, there would be less call for that other choice.”

Is this not the same line of reasoning offered by those who want us to ‘respect’ the views of parents who don’t want us to teach evolution in our public schools?

The voucher problem completely misdiagnoses the problems of disparate achievement rates on a state by state basis. We currently lack Federal Education standards, meaning that states are free to pick and choose how and what to teach to their children. The end result is what we currently see with red states trailing in science and math achievement.

Let’s not ignore the historical arguments against vouchers. Protestants used to oppose the idea of vouchers since it would amount to a subsidy of the Catholic school system (itself a response to the perceived threats of a public school system). Now that Protestants themselves have established High Schools and Colleges they are pushing for the same subsidies they opposed decades ago?

Arguing about the quality of public vs. private schools has always been a red herring.

Comment on Acting White, Part III–One More Look at the Data by Ericka

Ericka — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 03:18:17 +0000

this is sad but not unexpected. most americans want to follow the crowd and the same is so of african americans. if most african americans at a certain school have low gpas then more kids will have friends with lower gpas and the same study habits. this is where encouragement and rewards from teachers and staff come in to further engage student who could do better if they apply themselves. http://www.myspace.com/shonta

Comment on Good News from a Juvenile Detention Facility by JP

JP — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 22:55:14 +0000

That is an excellent program James. It’s refreshing to see a positive side to these for a change.

Comment on Good News from a Juvenile Detention Facility by sweetchuckd

sweetchuckd — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 03:11:11 +0000

Check out http://detentionslip.org for all the latest headlines in public education. It’s one of the leading sources for breaking crazy stories in our schools. (See what kids are heading to juvenile detention!)

Comment on See Forever Chosen to Run School at Oak Hill Juvenile Detention Center–And We are Hiring! by Sarah

Sarah — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 02:45:00 +0000

I’m trying to contact the volunteer coordinator for the Oak Hill Youth Detention Center. I tried your links for “soliciting volunteers” and “our website” and neither worked for me.

Do you know how I can get in touch with the Volunteer Coordinator?

Comment on Acting White–Is it Real? by Marcus S

Marcus S — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:18:30 +0000

For what it’s worth, I believe that what Mr. Obama stated has a basis in fact. This “acting white” phenomenon is not just in our heads. I was ridiculed most of the time by other students (generally Black and Mexican students) if I was recognized for doing a good job on something. In fact, this was even more damaging to my psyche than actually failing a project or test. I know this because I’ve actually missed answers because I didn’t want to endure the taunting and general “picking on” that came with being black and doing well in school. And yes, they actually called me “white boy”. I had a horrible lisp as a child and went to speech classes to correct it when in elementary school. Ever since then, I’ve carefully anunciated when I speak. I use “big” words. This was all frowned upon in junior high and high school by my peers, unless they were studious as well. It’s a very real thing and for those who say their teachers never mentioned it or they never saw it…the teacher is not a black youth and a lot of you were white students who would have been excluded from this kind of talk anyway. So just because you don’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not there.

Also, in response to “marcg” on March 9th:

Obama said, “…and folks will tell you that government alone can’t teach kids to learn. They know that parents have to parent, that children can’t achieve unless we raise their expectations and turn off the television sets and eradicate the slander that says a black youth with a book is acting white.”

Where in that quote do you get that Obama is trying to “psychoanalyze” children?
I am not a parent, but I was a student who received ridicule for this. See above. He is putting the responsibility on the parents by saying “parents need to parent and children can’t acheive unless we…”

Exactly who do you think “WE” refers to in this sentence? He specifically singled out the parents because they are not taking an active role in their child’s academic endeavors.

After reading it a few times I can see why you might think differently on this. Without changing a word or context, it could go both ways, but I don’t believe your interpretation is what he was trying to say.