ICYMI: Groundhog Day Edition (2/2)
Years ago, I went to Punxsutawney for a workshop of some sort. Stayed in the historic (aka "old") hotel across the square from the library where, at the time, Phil enjoyed some luxurious quarters in the basement. It's very much a small Pennsylvania town (the movie was shot mostly in Illinois). I also remember Groundhog Day as the day Sam Harrison, my geology professor and the trumpet player in our faculty-student college jazz band, would send out his version of a Christmas card. He passed away last year. Happy Groundhog Day to you, Sam.
Let's look at the reading for the week.
In Edtech, You Either Bet On Teachers Or You Have To Build One
A very excellent, clear-eyed view of one of the central problems of AI ed tech. Somebody-- or something--has to do the teacher job, which, spoiler alert, is a lot more than saying "Here's some practice for this fact. Learn it." Dan Meyer blogs.
Jennifer Berkshire blogs about Pete Hegseth's plans for the Department of Defense schools, the most successful schools that we have. But their secret sauce is wokeness, so here comes the hammer.
Sue Kingery Woltanski went to a summit thrown by one of the outfits trying to establish itself as a far right school boards association, and she learned many things about upcoming talking points. Less "woke." More of that old standard "Our schools are failing!"
The president’s education order: Trump wants to indoctrinate, too
Jonathan Zimmerman at The Hill points out the obvious-- indoctrination is okay, even required, if it's for Dear Leader's preferred values.
Trump should stay out of what students learn in school
Checker Finn, honcho emeritus of the Fordham Institution, is plenty conservative, but he's conservative enough to remember that the law says DC can't tell districts what to teach.
Trump’s Education Agenda Is a Big Vulnerability
Jennifer Berkshire in Jacobin, pointing out that if there were a party willing and able to oppose Trump and the GOP, education would be a great issue on which to attack them.
In the Wild West of School Voucher Expansions, States Rely on Untested Companies, With Mixed Results
School voucher programs require an organization to handle all the money, and as Alec MacGillis reports for ProPublica, when it comes to finding a company that really knows what it's doing, the pickings are slim.
Thomas Ultican takes a look at California's special fiscal crisis team and shows how it really operates. One more example of how takeover models fail.
Nancy Flanagan experiences the inevitable NAEP-related flare up of reading wars.
And Five Hours Later, I Might Have One Single Lesson Plan…
Eduhonesty with an excellent example of how a lesson plan protocol can result in a terrible process.
Did OK’s controversial education chief introduce PragerU to SC schools?
Did Ryan Walters help the faux educators of Prager get into South Carolina? Steve Nuzum considers the question.
Resisting AI Mania in Schools - Part I
Anne Lutz Fernandez is cataloging the top AI sales pitch points, and providing explanations of how to push back. Part II is here.
Sal Khan and AI Reimagined Schools: Questions and ConcernsNancy Bailey looks at Sal Khan's attempt to algorithm his way to educating students.
How One Professor Deals with Student GPT-Generated Essays
Larry Cuban shares some very practical techniques from one college professor who deals with student AI use. Applicable in high school, I'd say.
Burn! (as That 70s Show Used to Say)
Gregory Sampson on what parents really care about
Ben Riley looks at the unveiling of Chinese AI. Some good insights and warnings (and this was even before it turned out that the Chinese model was built on the back of OpenAI'a work-- double irony that every creative whose work was stolen to train OpenAI's product was quick to point out).
The Invisible Hand: How Dark Money Is Inventing Prestige for Right-Wing Academics
From the blog Important Context, a report on an "Academy" that exists just to make right wing bunk look like it has academic cred.
Well, now, A working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests that the baby bust is over (and Covid may be one reason).
Some Notes About Joy Amid The Tyranny
Jose Luis Vilson just had a birthday, and in reflecting on that, he offers some thoughts about how to move forward through the years ahead.
This week at the Bucks County Beacon, I talked about another report showing Pennsylvania's big cyber school and its creative use of taxpayer dollars.
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Your work is invaluable Peter. Keep up this good work.
Thanks for the nod to Sam. He was a good man.