Schools send parents to debt-collectors

I just read a story in a UK paper about private schools sending parents to debt-collectors for unpaid fees. I can 't find anything about this in the US so I don't know if it is happening here. Predictably several commentators are clutching their pearls but I must say that in general, I agree with the schools.

Another justification for standards-based education

Possibly the major challenge in education is that of people talking past one another, and by that I mean people using the same terms but meaning different things. The solution is of course to agree on terms and definitions before any discussion, but, well, you know ... My point today concerns standards-based education, ie defining a standard, preparing students to meet or to exceed that standard and then assessing whether they do, (ie pass / fail) or by how much (ie grades). This prompts the question, "what is a standard?".

When this happens at a school, the school itself is guilty of bullying

A UK newspaper reports that a student hid in a bathroom for three days to escape his tormentors, and that this was only discovered when the school reported him to his parents for truancy. That this happened, that it took the school three days to act and that the school's response was to text the parents makes the school the aggressor and more culpable than the victim's attackers.

When a Board member gets it wrong

Two reports from former colleagues at two different schools, both dealing with something similar : a Board member sharing confidential information. Both cases were intentional, and both led to highly effective principals leaving and to years of problems and declines for the schools.

Is for-profit education always bad?

This of course is a trick question. You see, it mixes up "for-profit" with education and to be able to answer the question, and in order even to discuss the question, you must first define your terms.

Public v private space

The US Justice Department has just ruled that New Mexico "pandemic-related limits on classroom capacity at private schools in New Mexico [are] more restrictive than public school guidelines". It is unclear what effect this will have, but I agree with the principle underlying the Department's decision.

A clash in values

"Christian secretary, 44, sues school ... after she was ... sacked for opposing compulsory sex education and the rise of 'transgender ideology' in schools" reads the first paragraph in a story out of the UK. Kristie Higgs was working in a grant-maintained school which is like a US charter school, except that it is religious in nature and so able to have a religious mission and to teach religion-themed classes up to a certain percentage of the program.

No such thing as dyslexia

I have just read this article in The Guardian which quotes British researcher Joe Elliott as saying that dyslexia does not exist, "there is essentially no difference between a person who struggles to read and write and a person with dyslexia ... Dyslexia is such a broad term, he argues, that it is effectively meaningless [and] we should stop using the word dyslexia."

A cheap way to school improvement

 A few years ago I was approached by a student at the local college of education who wanted a group of stufents to complete a survey of some type. I immediately agreed as I believe that we as teachers have a professional responsibility to help form the next generation(s) of teachers. But this gave me a great idea - how to improve my school's program and its teaching with targetted interventions, for free!

One size fits all does not

Regular readers will know that I believe in developmentally appropriate teaching and learning which has a direct effect on grade or class placement. I disagree with putting children in classes based on random dates of birth which are unrelated to what a child can do and/or for whcih s/he is ready, leads to gaming the system through red-shirting and is a recipe for disaffection and a lack of engagement when a child is placed too "low" or too "high". So what is better?