Taking A Chance With Words
None of my schools issued uniforms. What I did wear was a uniform in my head which kept me in line, out of trouble. It was a suit which had […]
Cover Story
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
NCLB Stalled, but Still Armed and Dangerous
While the bipartisan consensus that passed NCLB in 2001 has splintered, the old, unimproved version of the law is not going away anytime soon.
Kid Nation
CBS goes overboard with this painful exploitation of children.
Wish You Were Here
A University of Nebraska professor takes a satirical look at Education Week’s Quality Counts report, where the Cornhusker state ranked at the bottom.
Public Studies Puncture the Privatization Bubble
Two studies refute the claims made by voucher advocates: private schools are better than public ones, and competition makes public schools better.
Pressuring the Gap
Ohio attempts to close achievement gap by focusing on 9th-grade males
‘Hurricane Vicki’
Portland’s former superintendent gets a big stage with Gates Foundation assignment.
Polar Bears on Mission Street
San Francisco fourth graders learn about global warming and take action to save the polar bears.
Beyond Anthologies
A veteran teacher laments the trend toward mandated curriculum and argues that teachers should choose materials that address students’ lives and social issues.
Acting In and On the World
Oregon students and teachers learn life lessons by participating in the ‘Theater of the Oppressed’.
Raising Money, Raising Consciousness
A writer and mother sifts through the fund-raising business and discovers that products that educate students and consumers and reward workers.
Despair, Hope, and the Future
UCLA professor blunts anti-public school rhetoric with honest insights on education.
Backpedaling Toward Plessy
When the Supreme Court overturned two desegregation plans, the majority opinion was based on a distortion of both programs, and of the history of desegregation in general.
Raised by Women
Building classroom relationships through poetry.
Exit Strategies
Getting us out of the war in Iraq and NCLB requires challenging the premises that got us into these messes in the first place.
Why We Banned Legos
Exploring power, ownership, and equity in an early childhood classroom.
The Tougher Standards Fad Hits Home
In the 1830s, Dr. [Pierre-Charles Alexandre] Louis studied the effect of bloodletting, or bleeding — the standard treatment of the time — on pneumonia.The data showed that bleeding didn’t work…but […]
The Shame of the Nation
I entered the fourth grade of Mr. Endicott, a man in his mid-30s who had arrived here without training as a teacher, one of about 15 teachers in the building […]
Reconstructing Race
“Is Mr. Smith a White Guy?” I then changed the topic, volunteering to be a contemporary example. “OK, so the next question is: Is Mr. Smith a white man? Yes […]
Teaching About Global Warming in Truck Country
Helping kids who’ve grown up in the truck culture” examine climate change.
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Rethinking Agatha Christie
The strange and offensive history of Ten Little Indians” (Hint: They weren’t always called “Indians.”)
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Playing with Gender
Three 4-year-old boys sat in a circle, each with a doll tucked under his shirt. “It’s time to have our babies!” Nicholas* declared. One by one, the boys pulled their […]
Students Galvanize for Immigrant Rights
Viviana, who had only lived in the United States for two years, walked nervously to the speaker’s podium at a press conference on the steps of her high school. Although […]
“Bait and Switch”
Voucher advocates are fast-talking their way around a new report that cast doubts on the value of the program.