What's in your wallet - update

Regular readers will know that I am boycotting Capital One and why. Well, there's news.

Hiring couples

A conversation at my weekly get-together over coffee with a former colleague turned to a problematic situation at a friend of a friend's school. This school had hired a wonderful new deputy principal. However he had come with a spouse who was not so wonderful and therein lies the problem.

School jenga

Current protests about and against public school boards bring two things to mind. Firstly, these are all public district schools which is of course the root of the problem. Public schools must by definition (and by law) be all things to all people, so including "a" will upset the supporters of "b" and excluding "c" will ignite the followers of "d". The second is the jenga-like nature of schools: it is rarely possible to change just one thing.

Teachers and porn

I recently had news of someone I knew vaguely at high school and then at college. He was a few years older than me, but I knew who he was and we bumped shoulders at various times. Ten or so years ago he lost his position as a school principal because a district-wide IT update lead to the discovery of porn on his school computer. He claimed innocence, hired an investigator, found it was so, and received both compensation and an apology payment for the lack of due process and reputational damage. Now he is in the news again, this time for porn on his cellphone.

A problem with transcripts

I was speaking with a friend yesterday who has encountered something of a problem. She is the dean of a large "college" at a local state university and last week was sent the list of all professorial and teaching staff associated with her college. This was the official list generated by the university's central human resources department, and clearly it has been some time since this was done since she had not received such a list previously. The problem? Roughly 50% of the records were substantively incorrect.

Reaping what you sow; facing consequences

I heard an interview the other day with lawyer Sidney Powell. While I am not commenting on the rights or wrongs of what she said and did, I was struck by a comment she made. I am paraphrasing, but in summary, she felt it was wrong that she was being sued for what she had said about a company and/or its people. Her comment was that there should be no followup from the aggrieved parties and that she should be able to say whatsoever she wants about whomsoever she wants without any consequence.

Is Pre-School expensive?

Recently the press has devoted much time and many column inches to the federal budget proposal on childcare fees. Amongst this wall-to-wall coverage, we hear (read?) again and again about how unaffordable childcare is, and tisis frequently framed as being wrong, unjustifiable, excessive profit-taking and capitalism gone. Is it? I not seen (heard?) any explanation of childcare pricing; again, things are not what they seem.

Old News

I have spent several hours going through one box of many resources accumulated over a lifetime of teaching and administration. One box, taken from a bedroom and a shedful of boxes. This particular box was a collection of carefully collected, collated, organized and filed newspaper articles, commentaries, editorials and so on.  Each piece had been careully cut and trimmed, pasted onto a piece of paper as a background and labelled with date and the name of the publication to produce a photocopiable master. Some were accompanied by ditto masters, some by OHP transparencies. Thousands of hours of work, all on its way to the recycling bin.

Update to my comment on mediocre hires

I wrote earlier about a national organization hiring into senior positions two people I knew and who I knew to be mediocre. Well, there is an update. Two really. The first concerns their performance, the second concerns me.

We need schools

I had dinner last night with a former parent. When I say former, he is still a parent but his children are no longer my students. He is a self-described "conservative" so of course I had to ask. What does that mean in terms of school? His first response was that education is a private family matter and so schools should either be fee-paying for-profit or not-for-profit, or free provided by charities or religious organizations. He argued there should be no public schools and therefore no taxes to pay for them. I disagreed.

Schools and choosing cookies

The other day I saw a meme. I don't remember the exact wording, but the metaphor represented stuck in my mind. In essence, at a school PTA meeting (for example) a plate of cookies has been placed by the door. One parent takes one cookie, in case the cookies run out. Another parent takes three cookies, in case the cookies run out. The next day our local Costco imposed limits on certain items.

What's wrong with multiple-choice assessment?

Not much (I am assuming that you read the headline). What's wrong with the use of multiple-choice assessment? Plenty. It's typically not fit for purpose, and it's generally misunderstood and/or over-valued.

Children have been harmed by the covid pandemic

I was just sent this article from the Guardian which compels me to put pen to paper, as it were, before i have finished my coffee. The findings are troubling, while the source of the findings heat my blood to the point of ebullition. IQ is a dangerous term and the concept should have been discarded in 1904. 

Promotion, appropriateness and placement

Regular readers and colleagues will know that I believe in developmentally-appropriate programming and am against birthday-based class assignments. Other than in some large cities, and the independent school sector, the typical approach is the latter which precludes the former. So for many families, the best option for "advanced" students, formerly known as "Gifted and Talented" and today often called "curious" (I kid you not!), is acceleration or skipping a grade. However, a recent study suggests that this is not without risk. 

To be (masked) or not to be

The current debates on schools and/or district requiring students and staff to wear masks involve two important considerations. The first concerns the value or efficacy of masks and I leave that to experts in the field. I am not a doctor, epidemiologist or maskologist. The second concerns the authority of the school and/or district to make and apply its own rules and here we are on a slippery slope. In this sense, I worry that we are careening towards a cliff.

Who's your daddy?

An odd situation at a former colleague's school, and the result of mixed-families and changing family definition. One of his students has four fathers. What is a school to do?

Too many educational materials are just not very good

I saw an advertisement today for an "instructional design expert and consultant" who was marketing her plans, activities and strategies. Intrigued, I followed the link and visited her site. Oh dear. While I commend her entrepreneurial zeal, I do hope that if anyone purchases any of her services,  they do so with copious bags of salt. Hopefully no does, but given her LinkedIn profile shows seven years at this, I rather fear that people do. Accordingly, children and learning will have suffered.

The establishment clause

I just had coffee with a former colleague who had read my comments on First Amendment rights and she brought up the establishment clause. This is of course the language which reads that the US government cannot create and enforce a national religion. Her observation was that this is often re-phrased as "freedom of religion" which is only half the story.

The problem with (and for) first amendmenters

We keep hearing claims that the First Amendment allows x or the prevention of y is a violation of someone's First Amendment rights.Yet again and again, whatever happened was not and this prompts the twin questions of does the claimant not know or does s/he know and is consciously misrepresenting those rights. Both have educational implications.

Redlining and Heat Islands

I read something last night as I surfed the web that historical redlining caused and/or contributes to the heat island effect. I find this assertion curious. Let me explain, but first I must define the terms.

What happened to the Florida condo can happen to you

Something in the news about the horrific condo collapse in Florida reminded me of a similar experience. I too own a condo.

Criticism or attempt at destruction?

Several people have sent me reports and commentaries on a clash between parents and an Ohio non-public school. Given the nature of the reporting (and the commentaries), it is clear that this is being seen as a political issue rather than in terms of the underlying issues which are much more important.

Judging children by their date of birth

I have written before, or if I haven't I should have, about the craziness of placing children in classes according to their birthdates. I have been known to call this practice "birthday-based apartheid". It is ludicrous. anti-educational and anti-child. 

Has the US effectively (and unknowingly) re-created its school system?

I've been thinking about this for a while, and I think the answer is "yes". School in the US today is not what is was.

Truth or dare (to tell a lie)

Reading and listening to this morning's news reminded me of a discussion in which I have participated several times. What is a "lie" and how should schools approach this definition? 

Cameras are not the holy grail

The current debate over police bodycams reminds me of a time when a prospective parent demanded we place cameras in preschool spaces so that she could check in on her child at any time. I said no.

So much Published Educational "Research" is just not good

There. I've said it. It's true and it's concerning. Let me explain.

What happens to whistleblowing teachers?

I have just had an interesting offline discussion prompted by my reflections in "Failing up". The former teacher does not want to go public, but has said I can tell his story. Joe was a Head of Department in a large school, responsible for a department with eleven other teachers, and all Language Arts programs for almost 1000 students. He also had a Principal who had failed up.

Close Distancing

Over the last few weeks. I have noticed something a little odd. I have seen lines of people waiting outside a bank, a drugstore, a school. I am sure that these lines indicate well-meaning, public health motivated measures so why is this odd? 

Bad Science

Regular readers will know that I once founded a school, and when doing so, I made a program decision that Preschool and Elementary teachers would be generalists, ie they would teach all the core subjects, and that Middle and High School teachers would be specialists, ie they would teach one or two subjects only. I also implemented an Elementary program where the core subjects were all integrated, and "science" or "geography" as such did not exist. Things went well, very well in fact.

What's in your wallet? Not Capital One.

I was listening to the radio this morning and a commercial caught my ear. It reminded me why I will not go near Capital One.

Advocates say students should never be expelled

A report of a discussion about student exclusion in the UK, aka "expulsion", noted that the position being debated was that students should never be expelled, and that any expulsion is a mark of failure for that school. I beg to differ.

Addressing teachers

How should teachers be addressed? Sir? MIss? Ma'am? Teacher? Jo? Ms Brown? 

Does it matter?

Paying teachers 100,000 - too much or not enough?

A recent report that teachers in some English non-public schools received salaries above GBP 100,000 (USD 140,000) provoked some outrage. Whether real or a posture, the response and the stated reason for it are concerning and should be challenged in their own right.

Gifted, possibly not, but why can´t public school meet her needs?

UK parents claim that their child is gifted, that the public system cannot meet her needs and that their only option is to go to the private sector. This raises so many questions.

Failing up

Apparently my earlier posts on mediocre hires in education and the re-appearing of poor teachers may have hit a nerve. Today, I was sent a somewhat academic discussion of the phenomenon in the real world.

Teachers are people too

From the "do teachers have free speech?" and "does teacher appearance matter?" files : do teachers have private lives? Well, once again, it depends.

Teacher fired for being "old"

A UK teacher was recently awarded compensation for age-related discrimination in her dismissal. This seems like the right outcome, but as always, things are more complicated.

Why I left one of the top schools in the country

When I was new-ish to the profession, I lucked into a position at one of the top schools in the country. I did not know that at the time, in fact I really only realized this after I left. I needed a job, it was an experimental school with a great program and they wanted me. So why did I leave?

Recycling Poor Performance

After my post on mediocre hires, I received the following comment. Mediocre, poorly-performing and bad teachers keep re-appearing and that is not good for schools, our children or our future

What do mediocre hires say about an organisation?

I was just sent a "did you hear about x?" email about two people I know who have just been hired by the same large for-profit charter school group. What was interesting is that each now has the title "National Director : abc". What was more interesting is that each is on the incompetent side of the performance spectrum. Hiring one says something about the organisation. Hiring both speaks volumes.

Sent home to change into a shorter skirt

A UK academy (equivalent to a US charter school) sent home a student for non-compliance with its uniform rule. The school says she must wear the official skirt or trousers or stay home. She says this is a matter of religious freedom.

Students "free speech" outside school

The Supreme Court is soon to hear a case concerning a student using profanity about her school and one of its programs for which she was suspended from the program for twelve months. The issue is that this occurred on social media, outside the school's campus and outside the school day. This two-pronged problem, whether her speech is protected or not and whether the school can act or not, puts any school in an impossible position.