Academic freedom? Same-sex cassrooms?

The dangers of religious control of academia?

Same-sex classrooms in Greenville County

FYI

Teachers more religious than other college grads

Friday September 4

Critics speak out against Obama speaking to schools

Local crticism of Obama talk in The State

What was the outcry like on November 14, 1988?

Laura Bush supports Obama speaking to students

Wed September 2

FYI:

This guy seems right to me: Education problems and solutions

SAT and family income

An interesting unraveling of the SAT chart above

• Groups

• Does competition work in education?

Competition

Alfie Kohn on competition

• Text reading, Pt. 1

(1) Teacher certification

Furman University Department of Education

Teaching Inequality

Does Teacher Preparation Matter?

US Department of Education, Rod Paige, 2002

(2) Board certification

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards

(3) Teacher evaluation (ADEPT)

SC Department of Education—ADEPT

(4) Education unions (NEA, AFT)

NEA

AFT

(5) Teacher pay

What people think about schools, 2009 PDK/Gallup Poll

• Joe Kincheloe and critical pedagogy

• Should we have national standards? This professor says "No"

Monday August 31

Pedagogy of the Oppressed

The Paulo and Nita Freire International Project for Critical Pedagogy

Coldplay, "The Scientist"

Lyrics:

Come up to meet you, tell you Im sorry
You dont know how lovely you are
I had to find you, tell you I need you
Tell you I set you apart
Tell me your secrets, and ask me your questions
Oh lets go back to the start
Running in circles, coming up tails
Heads on a silence apart

Nobody said it was easy
Oh its such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said that it would be this hard
Oh take me back to the start
I was just guessing at numbers and figures
Pulling your puzzles apart
Questions of science, science and progress
Do not speak as loud as my heart
Tell me you love me, come back and haunt me
Oh and I rush to the start
Running in circles, chasing our tails
Coming back as we are

Nobody said it was easy
Oh its such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be so hard
Im going back to the start

Oh ooh ooh ooh ooh ohh (x4)

e. e. cummings, "since feeling is first"

Friday, August 28

• Course Rationale

• Review the assignments (final grade sheet)

• Groups and topics

Disparity in SAT

SAT scores show disparities by race, gender, family income

Welcome to EDU 111!

Here is an introduction to some of your professor's work, and note the discussion online, which reveals how people see and talk about education:

Understanding the "research" about school choice

FINAL EXAM Tuesday, December 16, 8:30-11 am

Submit ALL work on your portfolio/final grade sheet.

Due by 11 am Tuesday, December 16.

Email with questions, etc.

My on-line Op-Ed in The State

Latin and the SAT

Trouble doing your essays?

Maybe this can explain some of the angst experienced with essay assignments:

The Term Paper Artist

On the Radio

I believe I will be a guest on Speaking of Schools this Monday, December 1.

Charter schools failing in Minnesota

A new report shows a serious failure by charter schools in Minnesota, home of the longest running experiment with charter schools.

See this news piece.

See the report here as a PDF.

One more schedule reminder—some small changes

M 11/24: Workshop with Peer Group; SUBMIT ESSAY BEFORE HOLIDAY BREAK

W 11/26: Thanksgiving Holiday

F 11/28: Thanksgiving Holiday

M 12/1: Essay discussion (have your essay available in class, laptop or hardcopy)

W 12/3: Essay discussion (have your essay available in class, laptop or hardcopy)

F 12/5: Virtual School Visits Report

M 12/8: "Choices for Children," Alfie Kohn

T 12/16: 8:30, Final Portfolio/ Exam

High-poverty students with low-knowledge teachers

The Education Trust has yet another study showing that teacher quality is lower for our students in poverty than for our more affluent students. See the full report in PDF version in a link on the right of the press release.