Category Archives: book proposal

Why Some People Like TFA Somewhat Less Than Others Do

Posted on March 19, 2012 by

A recent post by one of the most thoughtful TFA bloggers on this site was called ‘Don’t Hate Me Because I’m TFA.’  In it, Tony B responds to another blogger that I think is great, Katie Osgood, from Chicago.  What … Continue reading →

Posted in book proposal, Teach For America, tfa rants | 36 Comments

The ‘three great teacher’ study — finally laid to rest

Posted on January 7, 2012 by

In today’s New York Times there was a story about a research study which supposedly proved that students who had teachers with good value-added scores were more successful in life. This inspired me to complete something I have been working … Continue reading →

Posted in book proposal, Research | 18 Comments

Why I did TFA, and why you shouldn’t

Posted on October 31, 2011 by

There was a time, not very long ago, when I was an active volunteer alumni recruiter for TFA. And, as you might expect, I was great at it. One year, I think it was 1998, I did a recruitment session … Continue reading →

Posted in book proposal, Teach For America, tfa rants, top posts | 218 Comments

Readin’ > ‘Rithmetic

Posted on October 19, 2011 by

Something that nearly every adult has wondered about, but is scared to say it out loud is “Is knowing math really that important?” They don’t say it out loud because they fear that someone, possibly a math teacher like me, … Continue reading →

Posted in book proposal, Teach For America | 15 Comments

New Orleans RSD — the ‘miracle’ district

Posted on October 12, 2011 by

The Louisiana Department Of Education just released the 2011 School Performance Data. As New Orleans has been hailed as a ‘miracle’ district, I was eager to see the results. As you might know, after Katrina the lowest performing schools were … Continue reading →

Posted in book proposal, Debunking, Tom | 21 Comments

Tilson vs. Rubinstein Round II

Posted on August 3, 2011 by

Whitney Tilson and I are engaged in a pretty fierce debate about the key issues in education reform. As he is the only corporate reformer who is willing to engage in a debate, I’m impressed he’s been willing to do … Continue reading →

Posted in book proposal, Debate Analysis, Tom | 8 Comments

Tilson vs. Rubinstein Round I

Posted on August 2, 2011 by

One problem in the current ed reform debate is that there is not enough genuine debating.  Really, there’s no communication at all between the two sides who I see as the ‘corporate reformers’ (Duncan, Klein, Rhee, and even Kopp) and … Continue reading →

Posted in book proposal, Debate Analysis, Tom | 24 Comments