By Allan Alach
Term 3 is about to commence in New Zealand, and we wait, not
particularly enthusiastically, to see what our government has in store for
schooling this term. They’ve found, to no one’s surprise except their own, that
the system for collection and analysing ‘achievement data’ is unworkable.
However we can expect attempts to collate this in some form, either by the
Ministry of Education, or the media, so that league tables can be published.
Watch this space.
I welcome suggested articles, so if you come across a gem, email it
to me at allan.alach@ihug.co.nz.
This week’s homework!
Education
Under Attack
(What Schools Can and Cannot Do and How
Popular Reforms Hurt Them)
Here is the link to an ebook on this topic.
While written for the USA, there is much of value here. Don’t try to read it
all at once!
Why Should We Reform Education Using Microsoft's Failed
Ranking Policies?
Bill Gates has set
himself up as the expert in reforming education, especially via the teacher
effectiveness model, performance pay, and so on. This article about the work culture at
Microsoft speaks for itself.
District
Announces Value-Added Bazaar
Value Added Measurement (VAM) of teacher
performance is a developing meme, as part of the attack on education. Here’s a
light hearted look at an ultimate version!
Is Khan Academy a real ‘education solution’?
Education
deformers, such as Bill Gates, are promoting the Khan Academy as the future of
education. Never heard of this? More homework for you then! Khan produces
online educational videos on a wide range of topics. These are delivered, as
you would expect, in a lecture style. Note that Khan is not a teacher, just someone
who thinks he has found a niche. The danger of this is that deformers will see
online tutoring as a way to dispense with teachers, and in fact this is one of
the agendas being developed by Murdoch, Pearson Group, McGraw Hill, and not
forgetting Bill Gates.
No
teacher, no problem
Canadian teacher Joe Bower is an articulate
commentator on all things GERM. In this article he discusses the ‘robo -
grader’ being trialled in New York. This device is meant to be able to grade
written language. No further comment needed!
Singapore
Wants Creativity, not Cramming
US anti-GERM
campaigner Diane Ravitch is possibly the most powerful voice in this battle,
given extra credence because she was once on the other side, before realising
the error of her ways. This blog article is about Singapore, which, along with
Finland, will prove to be the antidote to GERM.
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