Reading material

There is so much to read over at the NYC Parents blog. Here's the most recent posts:

Correction needed for Times article on charter school construction: "The NY Times misreports yet another important education issue, this time as regards charter school construction . . ."

"Effective Teacher" as Defined by the Obama Dept of Ed — which gives their definitions of that term, "student growth" and "student achievement"

Obama Education Grant Criteria Excludes Parents as Stakeholders — "While the administration has a long list of stakeholders (see below), parents are not on it. Charter schools, teachers unions and the foundations are deemed to be important stakeholders but not parents."

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The NEA has just come out with a critique of Obama/Duncan's "Race to the Top," and this letter is being circulated in ed circles.

I urge you to review the National Education Association's (NEA) 24-page critique of Race to the Top. As Jim Crawford notes, it "is surprisingly strong and well documented by research." It also addresses the "need for professional development focused on the needs of poor and/or culturally and linguistically diverse students and the need to develop “Adequacy and Equity Plans.”

— Luis O. Reyes

Mr Reyes provides a link where you can download a copy of the NEA's critique.

And Norm Scott draws our attention to this article by Susan Ohanian: "The Gorilla in the Room". Excerpt:

Arne Duncan and his Race to the Top minions could not see the gorilla in the classroom if it sat on their Blackberries. They are so busy counting things—and demanding that teachers count things—that they haven't a clue of what classrooms are about, what kids need, or what teachers' real jobs might look like.

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Lastly, this from Diane Ravitch in the Huffington Post: "Obama's Awful Education Plan":

Now that President Obama and Secretary Arne Duncan have become the standard-bearer for the privatization and testing agenda, we hear nothing more about ditching NCLB, except perhaps changing its name. The fundamental features of NCLB remain intact regardless of what they call it.