Sunday, February 27, 2011
27 February 2011 Commentary @ The Daily Censored
27 February 2011 Commentary @ The Daily Censored: "Celebrity “Common Sense” Reform for Education–Legend of the Fall pt. VI"
Friday, February 25, 2011
Social reform to support whole life of children (U...
Palmetto Educators Network: Social reform to support whole life of children (U...: "Response to the UK Government's Tackling Child Poverty and Improving Life Chances: Consulting on a New Approach from the Joseph Rowntree Fo..."
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Commentary on The Control Freaks @ The Daily Censored
P. L. Thomas, Publications & Scholarship: Commentary on The Control Freaks @ The Daily Censo...: "The Great Accountability and “World-Class Workforce” Scam"
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
"It Takes a Village, Not a Tiger," Pollitt (The Nation)
It Takes a Village, Not a Tiger
Excerpt:
"Inconveniently, though, the poor and near poor, whom we don’t care about, come attached to children, for whom we supposedly have some concern. So how are the kids doing?
"Some facts from the National Center for Children in Poverty: one in five families is food-insecure, i.e., they don’t have enough food for everyone in the family at least some of the time. Health? Poor children are far more at risk than better-off kids: from secondhand smoke (32 percent vs. 12 percent of nonpoor children), low or moderate levels of lead in their blood (30 percent vs. 15 percent), lack of health insurance (16 percent vs. 8 percent) and lack of dental care (18 percent of poor kids hadn’t seen a dentist in the past year vs. 11 percent of nonpoor children, which is bad enough). Poor children are more likely to have asthma (18 percent vs. 13 percent). They are more likely to have missed five or more days of school for health-related reasons (20 percent vs. 15 percent). Twice as many poor parents report that their child has “definite or severe” emotional, behavioral or social problems (10 percent vs. 5 percent). Poor kids are also more likely to be obese, to get insufficient exercise, to be diagnosed with ADHD or other learning disabilities and to have mothers who are in poor health themselves. No wonder they are less likely to be described by their parents as being in very good or excellent health (71 percent vs. 87 percent)."
Excerpt:
"Inconveniently, though, the poor and near poor, whom we don’t care about, come attached to children, for whom we supposedly have some concern. So how are the kids doing?
"Some facts from the National Center for Children in Poverty: one in five families is food-insecure, i.e., they don’t have enough food for everyone in the family at least some of the time. Health? Poor children are far more at risk than better-off kids: from secondhand smoke (32 percent vs. 12 percent of nonpoor children), low or moderate levels of lead in their blood (30 percent vs. 15 percent), lack of health insurance (16 percent vs. 8 percent) and lack of dental care (18 percent of poor kids hadn’t seen a dentist in the past year vs. 11 percent of nonpoor children, which is bad enough). Poor children are more likely to have asthma (18 percent vs. 13 percent). They are more likely to have missed five or more days of school for health-related reasons (20 percent vs. 15 percent). Twice as many poor parents report that their child has “definite or severe” emotional, behavioral or social problems (10 percent vs. 5 percent). Poor kids are also more likely to be obese, to get insufficient exercise, to be diagnosed with ADHD or other learning disabilities and to have mothers who are in poor health themselves. No wonder they are less likely to be described by their parents as being in very good or excellent health (71 percent vs. 87 percent)."
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Inequity all around. . .so schools can do miracles alone?
The education debate is mired in a Utopian view of education that is paired with a stubborn refusal to admit that students live in a world outside of schools. The students most often marginalized once they enter schools face a triple assault that corporate and political leaders refuse to acknowledge, much less address.
Consider the evidence of students' lives before they enter schools (and as they live when not in schools), what occurs in schools, and what faces them once they leave—especially if the child is poor, especially if the child is of color, especially if the child has a home language other than English:
• The U.S. has one of the highest childhood poverty rates in the world, approximately 21-22% (see 2005 report and 2007 report).
• Once they enter schools, students most likely to struggle because of the conditions of their lives are also most likely to sit in large classrooms with inexperienced teachers who are un- and under-qualified (see Peske and Haycock).
• While the body of evidence shows that 80-90% of student achievement is linked to out-of-school factors (see study from UK, commentary by Rothstein, and report from Berliner), when the students are subjected to narrow and misleading tests (PISA) and ranked against the world, political leaders, corporate leaders, and the media falsely claim the schools, teachers, and students are failure—ignoring that the tests reveal the corrosive power of poverty, not failed schools or children.
• But the inequity doesn't stop here. A new study shows that the same students living under the weight of inequity in their lives and often finding the same inequity in their educations are faced with tremendous inequity once they graduate and enter the workforce.
Simplistic faith in Utopian expectations for schools fails us all since the idealism blinds those in power and the public to the need to address inequity in all aspects of society—not just our schools.
Consider the evidence of students' lives before they enter schools (and as they live when not in schools), what occurs in schools, and what faces them once they leave—especially if the child is poor, especially if the child is of color, especially if the child has a home language other than English:
• The U.S. has one of the highest childhood poverty rates in the world, approximately 21-22% (see 2005 report and 2007 report).
• Once they enter schools, students most likely to struggle because of the conditions of their lives are also most likely to sit in large classrooms with inexperienced teachers who are un- and under-qualified (see Peske and Haycock).
• While the body of evidence shows that 80-90% of student achievement is linked to out-of-school factors (see study from UK, commentary by Rothstein, and report from Berliner), when the students are subjected to narrow and misleading tests (PISA) and ranked against the world, political leaders, corporate leaders, and the media falsely claim the schools, teachers, and students are failure—ignoring that the tests reveal the corrosive power of poverty, not failed schools or children.
• But the inequity doesn't stop here. A new study shows that the same students living under the weight of inequity in their lives and often finding the same inequity in their educations are faced with tremendous inequity once they graduate and enter the workforce.
Simplistic faith in Utopian expectations for schools fails us all since the idealism blinds those in power and the public to the need to address inequity in all aspects of society—not just our schools.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
3 February 2011 Op-Ed in The State (Columbia, SC)
Thursday, Feb. 03, 2011
Thomas: Smarter ways to spend education dollars
Thomas: Smarter ways to spend education dollars
Wonderful proposal to NCTE from Krashen/Ohanian
This proposal includes an apt nod to Kurt Vonnegut. . .
A Suggestion for NCTE: Ensure that Our Children Aren't Hungry or Cold or Illiterate or Scared to Death
A Suggestion for NCTE: Ensure that Our Children Aren't Hungry or Cold or Illiterate or Scared to Death
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