The Intersection of Literacy and Education "Reform"

In my opinion, the meat of the issue when talking education policy is how changes to our public schools impact the lives of those people in the classroom. If you take it a step further and focus on a very specific topic - say, for instance, early elementary literacy - you're bound to find some very interesting reflections from thoughtful, trained, caring educators.

In the blog post I've linked to below, a teacher with training in literacy studies reflects on her experience in a corporate charter school. Here's a brief introduction (via Mary Ann Reilly's blog):

Guest Blog: This blog post was written by Miss C a former graduate student of mine who spent a year working as a first grade teacher at a charter school in the South Bronx (NYC). Miss C completed a Masters of Professional Studies in Literacy, a graduate program that ironically privileged the arts and situated the study of "literacies" within a sociocultural framework. The charter world that Miss C describes represents a fundamentally different understanding of teaching, learning, children, and developmentally appropriate practices than what she knew and learned at college.

I warn you, I cried reading this narrative--not for Miss C, a talented artist and teacher now working in a public school, but for her 22 first graders still at the charter school.

Do continue reading here. It is well worth your time.