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Wednesday, April 2, 2014

The Answer Sheet 4-2-14

The Answer Sheet:








Is testing taking over our schools? An entire faculty answers
Here is an unusual post about resistance to high-stakes standardized testing in one school, co-written by the entire faculty of P.S. 167 – The Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School: John Atorino, Jen Avellino, Robin Baumgarten, Tarin Baxter, Sarah Bever, Randi Bivona, Yazmin Brigido, Matthew Brownstein, Dan Cassagne, Lesley Crawford, Christine DiLapi, Emily Edwards, Alyson Emmett, Amelia […] 

Reader’s response: ‘We’re constantly having to remind the… public about our humanity’
There has been a strong reaction from some to Tuesday’s post titled “So did he apply to Stanford?” Some people liked it. Others thought I was making light of the achievements of two teens of color who were accepted into the Ivy League. I wasn’t. My intention was to draw attention to the obsessive focus […]    


Walton Foundation’s pours $164 million in 2013 education grants. Who won?
The Walton Family Foundation spent more than $164 million in 2013 to promote its corporate-influenced education reform agenda in 2013, according to a new list (see below) of grants that went to dozens of organizations. The foundation’s priorities are evident in who won the biggest amounts. Among the winners are: Teach For America, which got […]    


Why the SAT drives us N.U.T.S.
What is it about the SAT that drives people nuts?  Ned Johnson explains. Johnson is president and self-described tutor geek at Prep Matters, a tutoring and test prep company with offices in Bethesda, Md., McLean, Va., and Washington D.C. By Ned Johnson Did you ever feel a bit of stress when you took the SAT […]    
10 things wrong with what kids learn in school
The debate over the Common Core State Standards overlooks the broad problems inherent in the core curriculum that has been taught in schools for decades. Below Marion Brady explains. Brady has worked as a teacher, administrator, college professor, contributor to academic journals, textbook and professional book author, consultant to publishers and foundations, newspaper columnist. By […]    


The Answer Sheet 4-1-14
The Answer Sheet: Case study: How politicians ignore parents on school reformIf you read this blog regularly, you will be familiar with Carol Burris, an award-winning principal from New York. She has done a remarkable job for well over a year detailing the botched school reform efforts in her state.  (You can read some of her work here, here, here,  here, and here.) Below is a new post from Burris