A round up of educational articles
Since today was the first day of school for my two co-contributors, I thought a look at some of the recent educational articles and blog posts I've found on the web.First off is the offering from the Seattle Times. Education fever — catch it! It is a throw-down to public school teachers to quit whining and to teach. Yet, at the same time, it wants teachers to encourage students to learn on their own and to explore topics they might find interesting. I'd like to have my cake and eat it, too.
Then there is the headline that Connecticut challanges NCLB because of the unfunded mandate to improve schools and the hard punishments on bad schools. Connecticut has one of the biggest disparities between rich and poor student achievement.
But they aren't the only one. Over here in London, the Labour government is getting tough on schools that are failing the testing here. In fact, those with chronic problems are getting a one-year warning for weak schools. They will be closed and potentially reopened as an Academy - the British equivalent of charter schools.
But all is not bad on the standardized test front. In Washington State, they are rising to the challenge of the WASL
Charter Schools are in the news because the New York Times ran an article that shows charter schools are underfunded, but often achieve better standardized test scores than standard public schools.
Eduwonk wants everyone to take away one point from that article... "Punchline: charters generally receive a lot less [funding]."
And for those opting out of public schooling completely, the NewsObserver is reporting that home schools stay the course. I bet homeschoolers are glad to be told something they already know. ;-)
Here's to another wonderful school year. May you be smarter, wiser and more mature in a year from now.
posted by Expat Teacher @ 5:16 PM
