Category Archives: Uncategorized

Seven years ago, as part of Tennessee’s Race To The Top plan, they launched The Achievement School District (ASD).  With a price tag of over $100 million, their mission was to take schools that were in the bottom 5% of … Continue reading →

A few years back, I wrote a series of letters to ‘Reformers I know,’ trying to engage publicly with education reformers I was, at least at one time, on a friendly basis with. I then expanded to ‘Reformers I DON’T … Continue reading →

There was a time that the ‘teacher story’ was a popular archetype along with the buddy movie, the romantic comedy, and the spaghetti western.  Starting with the novel ‘Blackboard Jungle’ in 1953, there have been a string of popular books … Continue reading →

First year teachers have a lot of decisions to make.  They need to decide how to set up their classrooms, what rules to make, how strict to be.  This year about 4,000 of these first year teachers are being trained … Continue reading →

Teach For America and the Teacher Bashing Movement are inextricably linked.  Of course the most influential teacher basher of all, Michelle Rhee, is a TFA alum and former staff member.  At the alumni anniversary summits, panels are packed with notable … Continue reading →

The Tennessee Achievement School District started in August 2012 with six schools.  With an initial budget of $20 million a year, they started their mission to take schools from the bottom 5% and, in their words, ‘catapult’ them into the … Continue reading →

Out of 73 students who began Success Academy in 2006, the first group of graduates crossed the stage a few weeks ago.  The fact that there were only 16 graduates was something that even the pro-Success New York Daily News … Continue reading →