Monthly Archives: August 2013

The Underachievement School District

Posted on August 20, 2013 by garyrubinstein

If you’re a parent, a student, or a teacher, the last thing you want to hear is that the state you live in has been commended by Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, as a ‘reform’ leader.  This has been occurring … Continue reading →

Posted in asd, Research | 23 Comments

Petrilli’s Desperate Attempt To Save Democracy Prep’s Reputation

Posted on August 19, 2013 by garyrubinstein

The hardest thing about trying to have an intellectual debate with ‘reformers’ is every time they start to lose, they try to change the rules. First they say “poverty doesn’t matter” and when it becomes clear that it does, they … Continue reading →

Posted in Debunking | 58 Comments

How to Survive Education Reform Without Losing Your Job, Your Ideals, or Your Mind

Posted on August 15, 2013 by garyrubinstein

About a year and a half ago, The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) contacted me to ask if I’d write something for the new teacher edition of the magazine Educational Leadership.  So I wrote something called ‘The Don’ts … Continue reading →

Posted in Teach For America | 5 Comments

How To Define ‘Success’?

Posted on August 13, 2013 by garyrubinstein

The new and improved New York State tests have arrived and the higher standards have taken much of the air out of many charter chain’s balloons.  Schools, in particular, from KIPP and Democracy Prep have seen their status change from … Continue reading →

Posted in Research | 35 Comments

Join me and guest Dr. Camika Royal live on Wednsday at 2:00 PM

Posted on August 12, 2013 by garyrubinstein

I’m doing another Spreecast show this Wednesday and I’m excited to announce a very special guest, Dr. Camika Royal.  She is awesome and definitely one of the wisest voices in the education discussion today.  She is often on Huffington Post … Continue reading →

Posted in Teach For America | 4 Comments

My New eBook Available On Amazon

Posted on August 9, 2013 by garyrubinstein

But it’s not the book you book think. People who like this blog would probably like to see a book about my ed reform tales and research, and I have actually started that book a few times.  I even have … Continue reading →

Posted in Teach For America | 5 Comments

Driven by data … right off a cliff

Posted on August 9, 2013 by garyrubinstein

Yesterday the big announcement in New York was the results of the latest ‘common core aligned’ state tests.  As expected, the scores plummeted.  The New York Times reported that from last year to this one, the percent of students scoring … Continue reading →

Posted in Research | 92 Comments

Villanueva-Beard Strikes Back

Posted on August 1, 2013 by garyrubinstein

A few weeks ago I wrote a post called ‘TFA co-CEOs vs. The Boogeyman’ in which I challenged Elisa Villanueva-Beard’s frequent use of the term ‘status quo’ to define people who are opposed to unproven theories of the corporate reformers, … Continue reading →

Posted in Teach For America, tfa rants | Tagged | 35 Comments

Fat (Lie) Tuesday

Posted on August 1, 2013 by garyrubinstein

Yesterday, there was some exciting news out of New Orleans.  I learned about it from a tweet by TFA co-CEO Elisa Villanueva-Beard. Now I’ve written before about The New Orleans ‘Miracle.’  They generally have a way of twisting whatever numbers … Continue reading →

Posted in Debunking, Research | 20 Comments