by Stuart Singer, The Teacher Leader The test scores for the Washington D.C. schools are in and while they are generally disappointing what is more informative is the fact they clearly demonstrate one of the fundamental causes of low academic performance—poverty. This is not a new or original discovery. Mel Riddile organized data clearly indicating [...]
Posts Tagged ‘collaboration’
Graduation Rates: Mission Impossible
August 5th, 2011
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by Stuart Singer, The Teacher Leader In a recent post, Mel Riddile highlighted several of the shortcomings associated with the latest method for determining graduation rates mandated by the U.S. Department of Education. While the goal of this policy is worthy—standardizing the calculations throughout the nation—the resulting process is flawed, unfair and ultimately inaccurate. The [...]
Brute Force Filtering: Step Up and End It
August 5th, 2011
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Background: Back in 1995, I was teaching an Internet course for our teachers. When I look at the syllabus for that course, I have a good laugh. Sad to say, we could do things in 1995 that would be difficult to pull off today. Yes, we were using ftp and a beta version of Netscape, [...]
Graduation Rates Plummet
July 28th, 2011
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I have been warning colleagues for months that bad news about graduation rates was on the way. Well, that day has arrived. According to a new report, "states are bracing for plummeting high school graduation rates as districts nationwide dump flawed measurement formulas that often undercounted dropouts and produced inflated results." New Formula The drop [...]
Cheap Tests Encourage Cheating, Discourage Thinking
July 27th, 2011
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Master teacher, Sherry Singer, taught Advanced Placement Biology for approximately fourteen years and then switched to International Baccalaureate (IB) Biology for another fourteen years. Sherry taught for much of her career in what National Geographic Magazine called "the most diverse high school in America." When I need an expert teacher’s opinion, Sherry is one of [...]
Every Cause Has Its Effect
July 26th, 2011
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Someone once told me that when the principal "moves the handle six inches, some ninth grader jumps ten feet." "No matter how “big” or “small” the decision is, people are affected by the decisions that leaders make. The key question here is when is the best time for leaders to think about those “ripples” from [...]
Jeopardizing Math Education
July 25th, 2011
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by Stuart Singer, The Teacher Leader I am starting to feel like many educational leaders are approaching the instruction of math as if it were a game of “Jeopardy”. “Bill, it’s your turn to choose.” “Alex, I’d like to move to ‘Math Solutions’ for 200.” “Starting a new category, the answer is…‘8th [...]
Is 8th Grade Algebra All Show, No Go?
July 14th, 2011
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A while back, I was having a conversation with a member of our school community lamenting the fact that no one every bothered to check to see if the school programs in place were actually working for our neediest students. She looked at me quizzically and replied, "Mel, you don’t get it. This is the [...]
School Tech: From “What” to “How”
July 13th, 2011
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"No one is arguing we shouldn’t use technology in education anymore. The question is how."–Chris Lehmann, ISTE 2011 Education Week reports that data released by Project Tomorrow, the Software and Information Industry Association, and technology company CDW-G reveals a "perception gap" or "disconnect" between educators and students and between school-based staff and district staff. Better [...]
How Good Evaluations Go Bad
July 12th, 2011
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by Stuart Singer, The Teacher Leader Evaluation of teachers is one of the hottest topics in the world of education. The conversation ranges from how much testing should count, to finding ways of incorporating it into the pay scale. Everyone knows that what we have is not working and there is pressure to develop a [...]
