Perverse Incentives
Comments (0) “Perverse incentives” is a phrase I seem to use quite often, lately. We create (or accept) the perverse incentives that create the perverse outcomes we detest. Read more »
Category: Education
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The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education
After reading some very positive reviews, I was quite disappointed with this book (The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education, by Diane Ravitch). While there are many good ideas in the book, it’s excruciatingly repetitive, poorly organized, and fails to persuade. Read more »
Merit Pay and High-Stakes Testing: A Huge Mistake
The folly of high-stakes testing, test-score-based merit pay for teachers, and other misguided concepts behind “No Child Left Behind” (and other recent and current educational misadventures) are the subject of Dave Ellison’s column today (April 26) in the Daily Review (Hayward, CA). (The same column is also posted on Ellison’s blog, “A Teacher’s Marks.”) Read it.
Ellison writes about a new book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education, by Diane Ravitch, who was once a fervent advocate of these concepts, but who now rejects them as unwise, based on years of data. Read more »
Hayward Teachers’ Strike: School District MismanagementTrea
April 3, 2007 – I was just notified that the Hayward Education Association (the teacher’s union) has delivered its “48-hour notice” letter to the Hayward Unified School District, informing the district that if no settlement is reached, teachers will strike on Thursday, April 5, 2007. Read more »
Thoughts on NOT becoming a teacher
April 3, 2007 — Why did I decide not to become a teacher? Read more »
Receiving Criticism: My First Editor
It was 1978. I was so proud of myself: I was a Real Writer. Read more »
Considering a Career Change: Thoughts on Becoming a Teacher
PLEASE NOTE: This is the first of two articles; in the second article, I describe why I chose NOT to become a teacher. Read more »
And Still We Rise (by Miles Corwin)
April 12, 2002 — Over the years, I’ve read a number of well-written books about children, education, and juvenile justice, and always I am left with a strong feeling of frustration and despair. This week, I read a very different book, one I strongly recommend you read. Read more »
