TeacherJay's EduBlog » testing

The Obama Effect

teacherjay — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 19:22:26 +0000

There has been some preliminary research done on how having a black president as a role model for African-Americans may be affecting their education, or at least the way in which they show it. The phenomenon, nick-named “the Obama effect” may be evidence that African-American students are changing their perceptions of what it means to be [...]

History Lessons

teacherjay — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 21:06:24 +0000

It is fascinating to read about events such as the American Revolution in a French textbook ... 1) History becomes compartmentalized into an abstract string of facts that is not relevant to the world in which we live today. 2) It fosters a seperationist attitude in American students which will become increasingly damaging as the world grows more and more globally connected ... So what should be done about this? [...]

Bush Calls for Resolve on NCLB Renewal

teacherjay — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:23:27 +0000

While education may be dear to President Bush's heart some questions still linger about this legislation. 1) Why does NCLB not fund schools to make necessary changes to personnel and curriculum? 2) Why are schools that show improvement still punished? 3) Why are "failing" schools closed and re-opened by private schools using public funds? 4) Why are there no consistent guidelines from between states, or even between districts on how to measure progress? 5) Why does the law equate testing with teaching? ... this law was designed to punish our schools, not to improve them. [...]