Making a Buck Off Reading

 by Susan Ohanian

 

                                                                                        MARCH IS

                                                                       NATIONAL READING MONTH

 

Sound the trumpets! An e-mail announcement from the Orlando Sentinel invites me to Celebrate National Reading Month with them--and get "Up to 25% Off Select Books." A few minutes later I receive the same announcement from the Chicago Tribune, proof that I get mail from too many newspapers. 

Maybe I'm being petty to complain that I find it odd that this Celebration of Reading features a cookbook. I like cookbooks as much as the next person but I see them as something one noses around in--while in the kitchen. I've never thought of taking one to the sofa in front of the fireplace for two hours of reading. The book trumpeted by the Tribune media group happens to be a collection of columns by a Tribune columnist--and copyrighted by the Tribune.

Each paper in the Tribune media group also offers a book or two on a local theme: For Orlando, it's Purple Reign: Orlando City's Inaugural 2015 Major League Soccer Season and The Dolphins at 50. Of course they published both. For Chicago, it's a book about the Black Hawks and an e-book by Clarence Page, copyrighted by the Tribune. A Baltimore Sun Newspaper Book, Iron Man: Cal Ripken Jr's Historic Career comes in at $39.99, discounted from $59,99, Somewhat pricey for 89 pages. But the Newspaper Books offered by the Chicago Tribune cost even more.

The Baltimore Sun is unique in offering a few books one might find on conventional reading lists: There's a thriller and a story set in Raj India--both by former newspaper staffers (who even hold the copyrights--so there's no extra lucre here for the newspaper). The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood is set in Baltimore and was a New York Times book of the year--in 1998. There's also a book by Baltimore native Tom Clancy and a classic by another author with Baltimore connections, Zora Neal Hurston. One can only wonder why, having taken this approach the paper didn't give a nod to Baltimore transplant Ann Tyler. And H. L. Mencken is still worth reading. 

But hats off to someone at the Baltimore Sun who made an actual effort, small as it may be, to connect a celebration of reading with the city. 

Books fall to the wayside in an onslaught of other merchandise expressing enthusiasm for reading: sandstone coasters, tote bags, bomber hats, plush hats, sweatshirts, T-shirts galore. A hoodie will set you back $52 + tax and shipping. These newspapers, as well as their kissing kin at the Los Angeles Times, also offer coffee mugs in white, yellow, maroon, green, and black--all with the slogan "Books Better Than People." A set of mugs in the same colors declares "Go Away, I'm Reading!" 

Yes, the Tribune media group is eager to celebrate reading--if there's a chance to  make a buck or two off the enterprise.

Interviewed by Doug Storm on "Interchange" at WFHB

Get the audio here:

Interchange – “No Excuses” Schools: Broken Windows Theory Goes to School
March 1, 2016    Interchange, News, Public Affairs

I’m joined by author and educator Jim Horn to discuss his latest book, Work Hard, Be Hard: Journeys Through No Excuses Teaching. Horn explores the ideological contexts for the creation and spread of “no excuses” charter schools with a primary focus on the Knowledge Is Power Program or KIPP.

“No Excuses” means schooling that focuses on psychological interventions aimed to alter children’s neurological and behavioral schemas in order to affect socio-cultural values and behaviors. In corporate charter world it also means No Oversight.

Work Hard, Be Hard, examines the convergence of neoliberal politics and the aggressive activities of the business and philanthropic communities in modern education reform. Horn also explores Teach for America as the corollary organization supplying the labor force required to deal with the high levels of teacher attrition in these schools.

GUEST
Jim Horn is Professor of Educational Leadership at Cambridge College, Cambridge, MA. He has published widely on theoretical and practical issues related to education, and with co-author, Denise Wilburn, he published The Mismeasure of Education in 2013. He also has been an education blogger at Schools Matter since 2005. Jim joins us via Skype this evening.

MUSIC
“The Headmaster Ritual” by the Smiths
“Gwan a School” by Sister Nancy
“We Do What We’re Told (Milgram’s 37)” by Peter Gabriel
“Starfish and Coffee” by Prince

Play
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 59:12 — 54.2MB)

States Rights and ESSA

by Ken Derstine
March 3, 2016
Also blogged at Defend Public Education!

President Obama signing the Every Child Succeeds Act

There is an aspect of ESSA that I fear is being overlooked by those examining this complex bill, but is the thief in the night that will advance the corporate reform agenda. That is the aggressive promotion of states rights in ESSA. This is a special project of Senator Lamar Alexander as the article linked below details.
 
States rights has historically been the most reactionary aspect of the U.S. Constitution. The authors of the Constitution needed the slaveocracy to support the new Constitution, so they instituted the "Three-Fifths Compromise" which gave the slave states the power to continue slavery and count slaves as part of their state representation. This gave the slave states a third more seats in Congress and dominance of the Supreme Court for a century.

Though the Civil War and the 13th and 14th Amendments ended the slavocracy, states rights was the main method of continuing slavery under another name through the maintaining of Jim Crow segregation and opposition to the federal government enforcing civil rights.

So it is disturbing to see states rights being a central plank of ESSA. Thirty years of neo-liberal federal education policy, especially promoted by Bill Clinton, has made people think that, most recently, the legacy of Arne Duncan, to be continued by John King, means we must return to state control of education. The corporate reform agenda promoted by the federal Department of Education will now be promoted in each states' Department of Education.

Look at this article in Ed Week last week:

NGA Organizes Coalition of Education Groups to Monitor ESSA Implementation | State EdWatch - Ed Week

The Coalition listed in the article includes:

In addition to the NGA, the network is made up of the National Association of State Boards of Education, the National School Boards Association, AASA, the School Superintendents Association, the National Association of Elementary School Principals, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association, and the National PTA. 

President Obama shaking Randi Weingarten's hand at the signing of ESSA.

Lamar Alexander is behind Obama.

Why are the AFT and NEA joining with the National Governors Association and the anti-Opt Out National PTA among others in promoting this reactionary policy? This gives the corporate privatizers unregulated powers within states to privatize public education through such organizations as ALEC. This can be seen in Chicago where the Chicago Public Schools Board is being blocked by the Illinois State Charter School Commission from closing three charter schools.

CPS, CTU unlikely allies against state charter commission | Chicago Sun Times

The abolition of the Department of Education has long been the goal of the extreme right in America precisely over the issue of states rights. What needs to be changed is the political leadership at all levels of government. The neo-liberal agenda has been the wolf in sheep's clothing which has taken us backward.

We need a federal Department of Education free of all corporate interests and headed by experienced educators and academics with knowledge in child psychology and pedagogy which will advance the development of a democratic society.


Also see:

Lamar Alexander's ESSA: Room for John King, but not Opting Out
duetch29 - March 2, 2016

WARNING Connecticut–They are coming for your schools and your democratic rights!
Wait What? | March 6, 2016
If you think states rights means more local control, read this!

My Chief Concerns about ESSA
deutsch29 - March 7, 2016

Cashing in on Kids: 172  ALEC Education Bills Push Privatization in 2015
Truthout - March 9, 2016

This is where right-wing radicalism is festering: While the nation watches the presidential race, there are scary things happening at state legislatures
Salon - March 13, 2016

On Line...All the Time?
Educationalalchemy - March 15, 2016
Morna McDermott on how ALEC is promoting CBE in state legislatures.

Non-Transparent Delaware
Exceptional Delaware - March 17, 2016
Delaware is another example that the states rights provisions of ESSA are a reactionary attack on education.

ESSA is Designed to Quell Opting Out. It Won't Work.
deutsch29 - March 18, 2016

Pearson: ESSA Won't Hurt Us a Bit (But Karma Might): AFT, Pearson, and Karma
Curmudgation - March 21, 2016 



With Friends Like These... | Defend Public Education! - July 20, 2015

With Friends Like These... redux | Defend Public Education! - August 3, 2015

Philadelphia charters show the way to CBE

A report on a Philadelphia TV news show about what is in the works with Competency Based Education. Since there is greatly reduced whole class instruction, there is no collaboration, no debate, no critical thinking. It's like farm factories which engineer their plants and animals to create the desired product for the market. The Philadelphia School Partnership has a portfolio of schools that are experimenting with CBE.

Philadelphia charter hands over tracking student progress to Mission Control | CBS Philly

Also see:
Netflix Billionaire Reed Hastings' Crusade to Replace Public School Teachers With Computers | Alternet

Why the push for nonfiction.

Reed Hastings has said that "software was best for teaching 'subjects with correct answers,' but 'it will take 5 to 10 years of hard work to figure out' how to use it to teach an interpretive subject like history or literature. 
Correct. And this, I assume, is why there has been such an emphasis on non-fiction and less encouragement of fiction in recent years, despite overwhelming evidence that fiction is highly beneficial in many ways (see eg http://skrashen.blogspot.com/2015/10/fiction-hottest-topic-of-all.html  for a short review).  More teaching using computers > more profits for technology companies.

Posted as a comment on:
http://www.alternet.org/comments/education/netflix-billionaire-reed-hastings-crusade-replace-public-school-teachers-computers#disqus_thread

Levine and Danielson to Open New CBE Franchise

 The academy for teaching and learning is backed by more than $7 million, including $2 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, $3 million from the Amgen Foundation, and $2 million from the Wilson foundation. Mr. Levine said he hoped to eventually raise $30 million for the effort.

Art Levine has been a shill for corporate efficiency in educational leadership preparation for a long time, but with a new federal pot of gold about to be cracked open by ESSA, he and Charlotte Danielson, with the help of Bill Gates and some other vulture philanthropists, have staked their own claim on some of the teacher education territory that has been set aside for fattening the next generation's children of the poor.

Levine's scam will be centered at MIT, nonetheless, with some of the world's most geeky tech wizards keeping his kitchens humming.  As a direct competitor of Relay, Levine hope to trim the edges from Doug Lemov's square patty and add some a delicious breading and garnish provided by Charlotte Danielson's kitchen. Otherwise, Levin's new store promises to be the same pre-packaged fare that no one with an option for a real education would ever go for.  As with other fast fare, however, these products will be dirt cheap and readily available in poor communities where other sources of educational nutrition are not found or affordable.

And despite Levine's insistence that his kitchens will be trying out new recipes and sharing them around the country, his ingredients, outcomes, and methods are prescribed by those funding his kitchens.  Good luck, Art, Charlotte, and Bill. You'll need it.

Do take the 12 minutes required to hear Levine lay it all out.  From June 2015:

It could get worse.

Published in the Philadelphia Inquirer, March 3, 2016

The opt-out movement has had a real impact, with more parents refusing the tests for their children (“As testing increases, so do calls for an end,” Sunday). Even President Obama has spoken out about the negative impact of over-testing.
  But the testing industry is striking back: The new plan is to replace end-of-year standardized tests with what could be daily testing. The core of education will consist of modules of programmed instruction that students will work through online and be tested on, which will drastically diminish the role of teachers and increase profits of technology companies. The new federal K-12 education law that ends No Child Left Behind announced grants for the development of these teach-and-test machines.
  The National Governor’s Association has admitted that there is little evidence supporting this major shift to what they call “competency-based education,” yet has enthusiastically supported it.
Stephen Krashen
Professor Emeritus
University of Southern California

original article: http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20160228_As_protests_rise_over_high-stakes_tests__more_students_likely_to_opt_out.html

Sources:
National Governor's Association: "Although an emerging research base suggests that CBE is a promising model, it includes only a few rigorous evaluations and analyses of current and ongoing CBE pilots and similar programs" (p. 6).  From:  "Expanding Student Success: A Primer on Competency-Based Education from Kindergarten Through Higher Education.  www.nga.org. 

Additional sources:
McDermott, M. 2015a. Reading between The Lines: Obama’s “Testing Action Plan”  http://educationalchemy.com/2015/10/25/reading-between-the-lines-obamas-testing-action-plan/
McDermott, M. 2015b. Common core and corporate colonization: the big picture. http://educationalchemy.com/2015/10/30/common-core-and-corporate-colonization-the-big-picture/
Robertson, P. 2015a. U.S. Dept. of Ed. and Educational Warfare. http://www.pegwithpen.com/2015/10/us-dept-of-ed-and-educational-warfare.html
Robertson, P. 2015b. Opt out revolution: the next wave. http://www.pegwithpen.com/2015/10/opt-out-revolution-next-wave.html
Talmage, E. 2015a. Dear Mark. http://emilytalmage.com/2015/11/14/dear-mark/
Talmage, E. 2015b. What is proficiency-based learning? http://emilytalmage.com/2015/04/26/save-maine-schools/

Corporate Tool, Margaret Spellings, Is Met with Walkouts on First Day

North Carolina students will never allow the Koch Brothers to destroy their university system:

On Margaret Spellings’ first day in office, hundreds of students and faculty members opted for a less traditional style of education — by walking out of their classes. The walkout — protesting UNC-system President Margaret Spellings’ first day on the job — was organized by the UNC-Chapel Hill BOG Democracy Coalition and Faculty Forward, among other organizations. 

 Protesters took to the steps of Wilson Library, wielding signs while select protesters spoke out about Spellings and her public record. Madeleine Scanlon, a UNC senior arrested at a Board of Governors meeting earlier this year, said the main goal of the walkout was to educate students across the UNC system about Spellings and the board. 

 “People don’t know who the Board of Governors are — they don’t understand why Margaret Spellings needs to go,” Scanlon said. Other walkouts were coordinated with other UNC-system schools. According to Ignite NC, a progressive grassroots organization, more than 5,000 students protested across six campuses. The UNC-Chapel Hill walkout focused on Spellings’ role in implementing No Child Left Behind, her tenure on the board of directors at the Apollo Education Group, Inc. — the parent company of the for-profit University of Phoenix — as well as her stance on LGBT issues and recent board policies affecting historically black colleges and universities.

Read more: http://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2016/03/as-unc-system-president-margaret-spellings-walks-in-students-walk-out

What Every Urban School Needs: A Nice White Lady

Mathews Reviews His Own Book

When Jay Mathews rushed out a response to his WaPo editors before my book was even on sale, I wasn't surprised that he would disparaging in his assessment of this, or any, book that provides a critique of the segregated corporate KIPP schools.  

What did surprise me, however, is that he would post a picture of his own book, which was published six years ago as a exuberant paean to the "founders," Feinberg and Levin, as they are referred to by their acolytes.  At the end of Part 2 of his review, published yesterday, he invites the reader to read his book, as well as mine, and decide for yourself who is right and who is wrong.  The problem with this proposal is that the two books, with a couple of exceptions that Mathews seizes upon, cover very different terrain and ask very different questions. 

In fact, Jay's book asks no questions at all but, rather, sets out to tell us how, in a wooden sort of fairy tale fashion, how "two inspired teachers created the most promising schools in America." Mathews would have us believe that this sprouting and kudzu paced growth of KIPP resulted from two young geniuses inspired by a "magical" teacher godmother who sprinkled her fairy dust on them and gave them her blessing. 

The facts, however, are a bit more complicated and prosaic.  KIPP sprang from the corporate conceptual ground provided by Teach for America and its market-centered and publicly-fed neoliberal agenda, and it was fertilized and manicured by tons of tax-sheltered cash provided initially by renowned conservative GAP founder, Donald Fisher.  It did not hurt, either, that KIPP was asked to do a skit at the 2000 National Republican Convention.

As for the godmother teacher in Jay's fairy tale, Harriet Ball, her ideas were harvested by the KIPP machine, and she was left unpaid for her intellectual property.  

The questions that I ask in the preface of Work Hard, Be Hard: Journeys through "No Excuses" Teaching are below (from the Preface):

As an antidote to the KIPP Foundation’s marketing and public relations outreach, which can be found in any number of examples from both print and non-print media, this book offers a critical eye and raises serious questions related to public culpability for a punitive type of tax-supported segregated schooling that our dominant culture celebrates only for children who are disenfranchised by poverty and discrimination. 

As one former KIPP teacher wondered aloud near the end of our interview, would such schooling practices that we see at KIPP be allowed for the children of white philanthropists who fund these schools.  Or would KIPP practices be allowed in the private schools attended by the supportive politicians’ children, or for the KIPP administrators and teachers who would never allow their own offspring to be subjected to a harsh, total compliance charter school like KIPP?

            Readers are asked to keep in mind this central question that I try to answer throughout this book: As a result of the spread of the No Excuses charter school teaching model exemplified by KIPP, “who wins and who loses, and by what mechanisms of power?” (Flyvbjerg, 2000).  In addition to trying to answer that core question, this book attempts to unravel a number of conundrums and apparent paradoxes:

1. How did the spread of an unsustainable boutique education intervention like KIPP reach its exemplary status among the advocates of education reform?
2. How did high achievement expectations become exemplified by total compliance enforcements that are applied only to the segregated and economically disadvantaged children?
3. How did economic and social advantages and resources become insignificant factors to school achievement only for those who don’t have such advantages and resources?
4. What rationale is used for insisting that children who are handicapped by poverty and all its attendant problems will achieve equally on standardized measures with children who have every economic and social advantage? 
5. How do the grim and punitive environments of No Excuses schools remain underreported by the media and, otherwise, ignored by policymakers and child welfare advocates?
6. What may serve as more humane, sustainable, diverse, and democratic alternatives to the No Excuses charter school teaching model?

      By presenting the firsthand facts about teaching within total compliance No Excuses schools, this book goes beyond accounts offered in news features, articles, and interviews that focus only on KIPP Model’s test scores and its goals for expanding college opportunities among economically disadvantaged children.  In short, this book offers a naturalistic palliative to the naïve and misleading portrayals of No Excuses schooling that have garnered support among political and economic elites.

      From discipline that crosses over from rigorous intent to abusive practice, and from teacher expectations that go beyond the upper reaches of possibility into the stratosphere of the absurd, this book presents accounts by former teachers who forthrightly share experiences in total compliance schools that have not been heard before and that are not likely to be soon forgotten.

Finally, Work Hard, Be Hard… examines new developments in No Excuses schooling practices that, in addition to academic remediation, now focus on psychological interventions intended to alter children’s neurological schemas in order to effect changes in their emotional and socio-cultural values and behaviors.  Fraught with potential for abuse by non-professionals who remain laser-focused on test performance and grades for “performance character,” these latest developments are explicated and then contrasted with other orientations and practices that acknowledge both the sociological and psychological sides of children’s experiences.  In doing so, I hope to reawaken the virtues of teaching and learning within the expansive boundaries of the science and art of humane pedagogy applied to children who require the most caring, qualified, and experienced teachers.