Monthly Archive for April, 2010

Is Teacher Tenure Still Necessary?

Published on April 30, 2010 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

teacherBy Alan Greenblatt, on NPR

Tenure is under attack. The century-old system of protecting experienced teachers from arbitrary dismissal — long viewed as sacred — has triggered hot political debates in several states.

“Teacher effectiveness” has emerged as the biggest buzz phrase in education policy circles. Because teachers have such potential for affecting the quality of children’s education, some people are starting to argue that it must become easier to get bad teachers out of the classroom.

“There seems to be a lot of drive to do away with tenure,” says Sandy Kress, who helped write federal and state education laws as an adviser to George W. Bush and other policymakers. “Tenure has proved to be just a horrible barrier to getting rid of that small percentage of teachers who are just not effective.”

To read more…

Recently published in the Learning Journal

Published on April 29, 2010 in Journal and Newsletter. 0 Comments

learning_coverThe latest issue of The International Journal of Learning includes:

Teaching About Web Includes Troublesome Parts

Published on April 26, 2010 in News. 0 Comments

10cyberkids_ca0-articlelargeBy Stephanie Clifford, in The New York Times

Milpitas, Calif. — When Kevin Jenkins wanted to teach his fourth-grade students at Spangler Elementary here how to use the Internet, he created a site where they could post photographs, drawings and surveys.

And they did. But to his dismay, some of his students posted surveys like “Who’s the most popular classmate?” and “Who’s the best-liked?”

Mr. Jenkins’s students “liked being able to express themselves in a place where they’re basically by themselves at a computer,” he said. “They’re not thinking that everyone’s going to see it.”

To read more…

Beyond the Brain

Published on April 24, 2010 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

mind-brain-electrodes_8903_600x450By James Shreeve in National Geographic

The ancient Egyptians thought so little of brain matter they made a practice of scooping it out through the nose of a dead leader before packing the skull with cloth before burial. They believed consciousness resided in the heart, a view shared by Aristotle and a legacy of medieval thinkers. Even when consensus for the locus of thought moved northward into the head, it was not the brain that was believed to be the sine qua non, but the empty spaces within it, called ventricles, where ephemeral spirits swirled about. As late as 1662, philosopher Henry More scoffed that the brain showed “no more capacity for thought than a cake of suet, or a bowl of curds.”

Around the same time, French philosopher René Descartes codified the separation of conscious thought from the physical flesh of the brain. Cartesian “dualism” exerted a powerful influence over Western science for centuries, and while dismissed by most neuroscientists today, still feeds the popular belief in mind as a magical, transcendent quality.

To read more…

Indiana Virtual Public School to Serve Elementary Students

Published on April 23, 2010 in News. 0 Comments

By David Nagel, in The Journal

Elementary and middle school students in Indiana will have an online alternative beginning in the 2010-2011 school year.

Rural Community Academy, in partnership with Connections Academy, is launching a statewide virtual public school that will serve students in grades 1 through 8. Dubbed Indiana Connections Academy Virtual Pilot School (INCA-VPS), the online school will provide a tuition-free education to Indiana students, providing teachers, support staff, and learning coaches for students.

To read more…

The Examined Life, Age 8

Published on April 21, 2010 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

18philosophy-t_ca0-articlelargeFrom Abby Goodnough, in The New York Times

A few times each month, second graders at a charter school in Springfield, Mass., take time from math and reading to engage in philosophical debate. There is no mention of Hegel or Descartes, no study of syllogism or solipsism. Instead, Prof. Thomas E. Wartenberg and his undergraduate students from nearby Mount Holyoke College use classic children’s books to raise philosophical questions, which the young students then dissect with the vigor of the ancient Greeks.

“A lot of people try to make philosophy into an elitist discipline,” says Professor Wartenberg, who has been visiting the school, the Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School of Excellence, since 2007. “But everyone is interested in basic philosophical ideas; they’re the most basic questions we have about the world.”

To read more…

$3.4 Billion is Left in Race to Top Aid

Published on April 20, 2010 in News and Uncategorized. 0 Comments

From Lesli A. Maxwell and Michele McNeil, in Education Week

By selecting just two states as first-round Race to the Top winners, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is leaving $3.4 billion on the table for the remaining states to vie for in round two.

Delaware and Tennessee beat out 14 other finalists last week to win the first grants awarded in the $4 billion Race to the Top Fund competition.

Mr. Duncan praised the two states, which edged out front-runners Florida and Louisiana, for mustering strong district and teachers’-union support for their plans, for having superior data systems, and for submitting comprehensive proposals that touched “every single child” statewide.

To read more…

Latest Learning Journal Papers

Published on April 20, 2010 in Journal and Newsletter. 0 Comments

The latest issue of The International Journal of Learning includes:

Learning Journal: Recently Published

Published on April 14, 2010 in Journal and Newsletter. 0 Comments

learning_cover

The latest issue of The International Journal of Learning includes:

Book Review: Beyond the Grammar War

Published on April 12, 2010 in News. 0 Comments

coverpage

From Routledge Taylor and Francis Group

About the Book

Are there evidence-based answers to the broad question “What explicit knowledge about language in teachers and/or students appears to enhance literacy development in some way”? Distinguished by its global perspective, its currency, and its comprehensiveness, Beyond the Grammar Wars:

  • provides an historical overview of the debates around grammar and English/literacy teaching in four settings: the US, England, Scotland and Australia
  • offers an up-to-date account of what the research is telling (and not telling) us about the effectiveness of certain kinds of grammar-based pedagogies in English/literacy classrooms
  • takes readers into English/literacy classrooms through a range of examples of language/grammar-based pedagogies which have proven to be successful
  • addresses metalinguistic issues related to changes in textual practices in a digital and multimodal age, and explores the challenges for educators who are committed to finding a “usable grammar” to contribute to teaching and learning in relation to these practices.

All of the contributors are acknowledged experts in their field. Activities designed for use in language and literacy education courses actively engage students in reflecting on and applying the content in their own teaching contexts.

For more book reviews…