Latest News and Comment from Education

Friday, December 27, 2013

12-27-13 Seattle Schools Community Forum

Seattle Schools Community Forum:




Talking about Teaching Math
First, a link to a great interview in the NY Times with Liping Ma, a former teacher and principal in China, who writes about the differences in how China and the US teach math.  Important reading if you care about math instruction (thanks to reader Dan Dempsey).The writing below is from a member of the SPS math committee who does not want to be named but wanted to give input on what is happening w

Friday Open Thread
Interesting news about the necessity of dental X-rays for kids from the Los Angeles Times. The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that Chicago Public Schools is making computer science a core subject.   In the next three years, every high school will offer a foundational computer science course, and within five years, CPS plans to be the first urban district offering kindergarten through eighth-grade
Fighting the Good Fight
It's nice to see that more and more people - especially educators - are rising up to fight back against ed reform that does not work.John Kuhn, is the superintendent of Perrin-Whitt School district in Texas, and gave a rousing speech - back in 2011 - that's a bit of a foretelling of what educators are finally understanding. From the speech:The poorest Americans need equity, but our nation offers t
12-24-13 Seattle Schools Community Forum
Seattle Schools Community Forum: U.S. Government Reports on Santa ClausFor all American kids:NORAD, the Northern American Aerospace Defense Command, has this Santa tracker.  Santa IS on his way (apparently over Mount Everest at this time - thank goodness he dresses for the weather).From Wiki: NORAD Tracks Santa is an annual Christmas-themed entertainment program, which has existed since 1955,[1] p