Recommended: The Burden of Academic Success

Please consider this new book from a colleague at Furman University:

The Burden of Academic Success: Managing Working-Class Identities in College

By Allison Hurst

Association of Working Class Academics

A colleague just made me aware of this organization:

Association of Working Class Academics

16 March 2010 Op-Ed in The State

A smart way to focus educational dollars

Piece accepted for Souls

I have been devoting a good bit of time to confronting deficit perspectives in education and am excited about a new acceptance of an article to appear in Souls:

Thomas, P. L. (2010, July/September). The Payne of addressing race and poverty in public education: Utopian accountability and deficit assumptions of middle class America. Souls, 12(3). TBD.

Accountability, Health, Poverty, and Achievement

The growing call to close the achievement gap and to link teacher pay with student achievement is often blind to the reality of the many powerful influences on the lives of children, including how they perform in school.

See this important study: Basch, C.E. (2010). Healthier Students Are Better Learners: A Missing Link in Efforts to Close the Achievement Gap. Equity Matters: Research Review No. 6. New York: The Campaign for Educational Equity.

Historical Perspectives and Addressing Poverty and Racism

Americans are harsh and idealistic. . .prone to crisis rhetoric and nostalgia. . .

And these weaknesses, I believe, disproportionately impact negatively our poor in this country. . .especially the children who are both poor and voiceless in a democracy (republic). . .

While we rant and slander Obama. . .what was it like in those golden days of yore. . .The Reagan Years. . .

Toward the end of Reagan's second term, his approval rating was 35%. . .And the graph of Reagan's approval ratings looks similar to Clinton's. . .

In 1986, a poll revealed that 56% of African-Americans believed Reagan to be a racist. . .

No one, especially the poor and disenfranchised/marginalized in our society, benefits from partisan rhetoric aimed at gaining political ground. . .

Whether it is health care or the terribly flawed education agenda under Obama, we need to set aside our patterns of discourse and seek action that matches the needs of those who need action the most. . .

Call for Choice to Support Equity Unsupported

Scott, J. (2010). Review of "Expanding Choice in Elementary and Secondary Education: A Report on Rethinking the Federal Role in Education," Boulder and Tempe: Education and the Public Interest Center & Education Policy Research Unit. Retrieved [date] from http://epicpolicy.org/thinktank/review-expanding-choice