Monthly Archives: August 2011

Looking for a whistle blower in New Orleans

Posted on August 22, 2011 by garyrubinstein

I heard a rumor today which I can’t confirm, but hope that this post helps confirm or deny it. New Orleans, though it is being hailed as a miracle district after the restructuring after Katrina, seems to be an unregulated … Continue reading →

Posted in Teach For America | 4 Comments

Class Warfare: Fact checking pages 101 through 200

Posted on August 21, 2011 by garyrubinstein

pages 1 to 100 pages 101 to 200 pages 201 to 300 pages 301 to 350 pages 351 to 400 pages 401 to 437 Realizing that many people reading my blog don’t have the book to follow along with, I’m … Continue reading →

Posted in Class Warfare Analysis | 8 Comments

Class Warfare: Fact checking pages 1 through 100

Posted on August 20, 2011 by garyrubinstein

pages 1 to 100 pages 101 to 200 pages 201 to 300 pages 301 to 350 pages 351 to 400 pages 401 to 437 When the new book ‘Class Warfare’ came out, the story of the current ed reform movement … Continue reading →

Posted in Class Warfare Analysis | 33 Comments

It Was 20 Years Ago Today Part II

Posted on August 19, 2011 by garyrubinstein

Many of these ’20 years ago’ posts will begin with a short intro by the 2011 me, followed by a post by the 1991 me. If these intros distract you, I’ve set up a mirror blog at twentyyearsagotoday.teachforus.org where you … Continue reading →

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It Was 20 Years Ago Today Part I

Posted on August 14, 2011 by garyrubinstein

  So I was in my storage unit the other day and came across a box of stuff I had saved from my first year of teaching.  I had an idea which I won’t promise that I will pursue to … Continue reading →

Posted in 20 Years Ago Today | 5 Comments

Value Added — Scrutinizing The Most Widely Cited Study

Posted on August 11, 2011 by garyrubinstein

It was the best of teachers.  It was the worst of teachers. But how much better are the best teachers than the worst teachers?  Well THAT’S a tough one, but one that is very important to answer.  The corporate reformers … Continue reading →

Posted in favorites, Research | 8 Comments

Reformers Join The Mile High Club

Posted on August 9, 2011 by garyrubinstein

Debunking a miracle school can be tedious work.  Debunking an entire district is, generally, even worse. But when I heard about the recent ‘miracle’ in Denver, I was pleasantly surprised when I got the opportunity to explore Colorado’s excellent data … Continue reading →

Posted in Debunking | 5 Comments

Rhee-ality Check

Posted on August 8, 2011 by garyrubinstein

First watch the two minutes from 20:30 to 22:50 (up until the moderator asks Rhee if she is a ‘Tiger Mom’) of this excerpt from an interview Michelle Rhee did recently. Now, the video really speaks for itself, so I’ll … Continue reading →

Posted in Debunking | 8 Comments

@2011s My Framework: Teaching As … Teaching

Posted on August 8, 2011 by garyrubinstein

I am writing this post as a favor to the 2011 CMs.  It is not your fault that TFA can justify to themselves that a few hours of student teaching experience with class sizes of 15 or less makes you … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching Advice | 11 Comments

What The ‘F’?

Posted on August 7, 2011 by garyrubinstein

Anyone following this blog for the past few months know that, to me, the most disturbing thing about the current ed reform movement is the heartless shutting down of neighborhood schools, based mainly on test scores. Despite Arne Duncan’s claims … Continue reading →

Posted in Research | 11 Comments