ICYMI: Easter 2025 Edition (4/20)
It's a beloved holiday here at the institute, so if you celebrate Easter, a happy day to you. And if you do not, also a happy day to you, because we can all use some happy days. It's been kind of a scrambly week here, so here's your scrambly reading list.Yet another expensive high-tech school opening in NYC - now with the promise of AI learning
The Prices have brought their Two Hour Learning model to the Big Apple as a private school with Big Tuition (just two hours of computerized learning a day gets you a full education). Leonie Haimson is here to remind you of the many failures of the education-via-screens model in the past.
Greg Abbott finally threw enough money at vouchers to drag them through the legislature. Jennifer Berkshire says he hasn't even begun to pay the cost for that victory.
Children Are the Future: Authoritarianism, Culture War, and Making Model Citizens
Alan Elrod at Liberal Currents looks at the MAGA goal of remaking a new generation in their own image.
Nancy Bailey looks at some of the problematic applications of CTE.
The controversial anti-poverty solution coming to public schools
The oft-debunked "success sequence" is popular again, and some right wing folks would like to make every teen learn it. Rachel Cohen at Vox.
John Warner talks to Mary Anne Franks about how to get past bad faith propaganda in arguments about higher ed and academic freedom.
Adrian Neibauer offers a nuanced and honest look at the issue of opting out of the Big Standardized Test when you are a parent and a teacher.
Teachers, parents give West Ada school board an earful over classroom sign
The Idaho Statesman and Rose Evans continue to follow the story of West Ada, the district where a teacher got in trouble for a "Everyone is welcome here" poster. The story is both encouraging and depressing-- some folks are quite direct about supporting a message of diversity and inclusion and some... aren't.
Military Brats Slap Pete Hegseth With a Lawsuit Over Book Removals
From the Daily Beast, so it lacks a little balance, but here's an account of the students fighting back against the order to banish books from DOD schools.
The Biggest Threat to Public Education Is Coming From an Unexpected Place
Politico looks at two upcoming SCOTUS cases that threaten to blast public education as we know it.
Schools Are Already Seeing Higher Prices Due to Trump’s Tariffs
At EdWeek, Mark Lieberman and Caitlynn Peetz note one side effect of the Trump tariffs-- higher prices for school supplies.
Who’s In and Who’s Out at the Naval Academy’s Library?
The list of books purged from the Naval Academy was alarming enough, but someone at the New York Times had John Ismay compare that list to the list of books still in the library, and yikes! I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings is out, and Mein Kampf is in.
How to Control the Electorate 101
Dan Rather and his crew take a look at Greg Abbott's steamrolling of Texas on vouchers.
Failing Charter School Will Continue To Operate
Carl Petersen with a case study of a Los Angeles charter that should have been closed-- and wasn't. Petersen has the receipts.
The South's Long War on Black Literacy
You should have picked up a copy of Derek Black's Dangerous Learning by now, but if you need more convincing, here's a look by Thomas Ultican.
A Veteran Teacher’s Thoughts about ADHD
Nancy Flanagan was a band director, and that for a different set of interactions with ADHD students.
Maine's lady governor hurt Trump's tender feelings, so of course he sicced the Attorney General on the state. Now we'll see how well his upside-down version of civil rights plays out. Jan Resseger explains.
Cold As Ice: Update #3, The Posse
Gregory Sampson continues to look at the details of Florida's ICE-friendly student-unfriendly initiatives.
Yes, Trump's proposed budget apparently axes Head Start. Here is some information about Head Start from Chad de Guzman at Time-- you can use it when you call your Congressperson to say, "What the hell!?"
Two-Sigma Tutoring: Separating Science Fiction from Science Fact
I covered this article in a post this week, but I want to make sure you don't miss it, because it contains most of what you need to enter a conversation about Two Sigma tutoring and why claims that AI can provide it are bunk. Paul T. von Hippel at Education Next.
Scott McLeod illustrates the AI circle for education. Short but bittersweet.
As ‘Bot’ Students Continue to Flood In, Community Colleges Struggle to Respond
In a fun new scam, community colleges are being swarmed with AI bots masquerading as students just long enough to score some student aid dollars. It's creative. Jakob McWhinney reports for the Voice of San Diego.
A Scanning Error Created a Fake Science Term—Now AI Won’t Let It Die
And here's one of the deep questions of the AI age-- once something that's just wrong gets folded into the sludge of AI product, can anyone get it out?
Have some Eleanor Powell and Fred Astaire
This week at Forbes.com I ran a piece about a new survey of attitudes about civics education.
Mr. Greene, thank you for including my recent reflection in your ICYMI edition!