EducationNews Commentaries and Reports

The Declaration of Independence
When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

Prepare Students for the World, Not Just the Test
By Mary M. Jessie
Guest Columnist EducationNews.org 
It is a fact: Students in Georgia and the nation do not measure up to their peers in other countries known to provide a world-class education. While the debate continues over who’s to blame and policy-makers pay lip service to preparing students for the 21st century – here for almost a decade already – the U.S. education system muddles on as a 19th-century model.

This Summer, Leave the TV and Video Games Behind
by Dorothy Rich
Columnist EducationNews.org
Cars are being packed, and in many there is a new item going along. It’s the TV/DVD for the kids in the back seat. A growing number of parents and children swear by them. As an educator, I swear at them.

Theodore "Teddy" Smith Wins His NY State Supreme Court Appeal To Overturn Arbitrator Howard Edelman's 3020a Decision and Award
NYC public school teacher Teddy Smith has fought City Hall since 2004 and has won a small but precedent-setting battle against Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Joel Klein, Richard Condon, and New York media who blindly follow the directives of the Special Commissioner and publish false information in order to "get" someone. Anyone. It could be you, next time.

When Is Student Failure The Teacher’s Fault?
Bill Page
Increased student achievement requires a corresponding improvement in classroom instruction. While there are several ways to achieve instructional excellence, a practical step individual classroom teachers can take immediately is to critique their own teaching procedures. One question that has helped me critique myself meaningfully is this: “When is student failure my fault?”

Come Study La Raza - Grievance and Distortion 101
By Liam Julian
The name of the nation’s most visible, self-defined Latino civil-rights organization, the National Council of La Raza, translates as the National Council of The Race. The official website denies it, of course, but we have dictionaries. That controversial term — La Raza — is gaining currency: Some K-12 public schools now teach something called “Raza Studies.”

NEA Doesn't Represent All Teachers
By Lindsey Burke
Today, the National Education Association opens its annual convention in Washington, D.C. For teachers across the country, the gathering is sure to offer a lesson in how the NEA is out of step with the views of many of the members it claims to represent.

Literacy in the Struggle for Independence and Freedom in the United States
Tom Sticht
Columnist EducationNews.org
International Consultant in Adult Education
Adult literacy education has been a mainstay in the struggle for independence and freedom in the United States since the Revolutionary War when General George Washington was Commander in Chief. The historian Harry Emerson Wildes, in his 1938 book entitled Valley Forge, reported that following the drastic winter at Valley Forge, when spring arrived, the health of men improved to the point that a hospital was turned into a camp school.

Theodore "Teddy" Smith Wins His NY State Supreme Court Appeal To Overturn Arbitrator Howard Edelman's 3020a Decision and Award
NYC public school teacher Teddy Smith has fought City Hall since 2004 and has won a small but precedent-setting battle against Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Joel Klein, Richard Condon, and New York media who blindly follow the directives of the Special Commissioner and publish false information in order to "get" someone. Anyone. It could be you, next time.

Open letter to Barack Obama from John Dewey
I am very distressed to learn about your selection of Jeanne Century as one of your education advisors. She is director of the science program of University of Chicago's Center for Elementary Mathematics and Science Education (CEMSE), an organization which has been heavily involved with a horrificly lacking mathematics program called Everyday Mathematics—in fact, one of the co-directors of CEMSE was one of the developers of the program.

In Defense of Testing Series: MEASUREMENT SPECIALISTS LOOK TO THE FUTURE
Ronald K. Hambleton, University of Massachusetts Amherst
For the recent meeting of AERA and NCME in New York, Kristen Huff and Linda Cook suggested that we bring together six prominent measurement specialists and have each of them talk about one or two problems that they felt were timely for research in the next few years. All of the speakers were enthusiastic about their choice of topics.

An Interview with Terry Grier: On New Endeavors
Michael F. Shaughnessy
Senior Columnist EducationNews.org
Eastern New Mexico University
Terry, you have just taken over as Superintendent of San Diego Public School. How did this come about? Late last year, I was conducted by the search firm conducing the San Diego Unified School District's Superintendent search to determine my interest. I had served as Superintendent of the 71,000 student Guilford County School District, Greensboro, NC, for the past eight years. I was in 'good standing' with the GCS school board, enjoyed my job, and had many friends in the Guilford County community.

An Interview with Janie Feinberg and Delia Stafford: On-going research stresses that the single most important factor in the classroom is the quality
Michael F. Shaughnessy
Senior Columnist EducationNews.org
Eastern New Mexico University
On-going research stresses that the single most important factor in the classroom is the quality of the teacher. Teachers being the most important variable, have a major impact on a student’s success or their failure. Delia Stafford and Janie Feinberg have spent the majority of their professional lives ensuring that students get the best teachers. Ms. Stafford, president of the Haberman Educational Foundation, teaches research-based strategies to assist school districts identify teachers and principals of excellence. Ms. Feinberg, president of JP Associates, provides ongoing staff support in classrooms to assist teachers via her exemplary coaching strategies. In this interview, they respond to a number of questions about teacher quality, teacher evaluation and alternative certification.

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