Teaching for Joy and Justice
An excerpt from Christensen’s new book, Teaching for Joy and Justice: Re-imagining the Language Arts Classroom.
Cover Story
Boycott!
Los Angeles teachers take on LAUSD’s mandated tests.
Connected to the Community
A look inside I-Teach, an effective model for preparing and retaining teachers.
Izzit Capitalist Propaganda?
DVDs from Izzit.org follow a familiar free-market script.
Educating Heather
First-person narratives about climate change bridge the gap for students between theory and reality.
Teachable Moments Not Just for Kids
When parents avoid connecting, they model for children how not to talk about race and racism.
Marketing American Girlhood
American Girl, makers of high quality dolls, historical fictions, films, and other products for girls, has cornered the market on how to sell American girlhood to the public. Its popularity […]
Arne Duncan and the Chicago Success Story: Myth or Reality?
Yes, he played basketball with the president, but there’s more to know—and be worried about—when it comes to the new secretary of education
Dunking On Arne Duncan
Arne Duncan’s got game on the court, but public education needs somebody better
A Pedagogy for Ecology
Helping students build an ecological identity and a conscious connection to place opens them to a broader bond with the earth.
The Wonder of Nature
A review of The Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, The Sense of Wonder, and A Sand County Almanac.
Rethinking Lunchtime
Lunch is too important to be thought of as the ritual pit stop between classroom and playground.
Bogus Claims About Reading First
When it comes to Reading First, don’t believe the hype
Textbook Scripts, Student Lives
Textbooks
Bonfire of the Disney Princesses
Contrary to their spin machine, Disney’s princesses are far from role models
Underfunded Schools Cut Past Tense from Language Programs
A part of American school curricula for more than 200 years
TV Selfishness and Violence Explode During ‘War On Terror
Six years into the ‘War on Terror
Queer Matters
While we were excited to support the opening of the educational closet
Feeding Two Birds With One Hand
I can’t imagine any teacher union leader or local school board member who wouldn’t welcome a new federal program that would make the issue of healthcare benefits a moot point in bargaining.”
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Building Teacher Solidarity
“I would really like to see a new movement that gives the kind of hope
for change that there was when I came into teaching in the late 1960s.”
Beyond NCLB
A new era requires new thinking
Teaching in Dystopia
The problem is this: Testing is killing education. Not only is it narrowing the curriculum generally
Reading First, Libraries Last
In these bleak NCLB days of regimented
The Scripted Prescription
Testing mania reaches the pre-K classroom. It saddened me to think that my daughter’s first impression of school was based on taking a test and failing it.”
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Editorial Winds of Change
After years of being hushed by rightwing demagogues and a compliant media, teachers, students, parents, and activist are getting loud and proud