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Church Leaders Raise Concerns Over Obama Education Agenda
An Alternative Vision for Public Education–A Patoral Letter on Federal Policy in Public Education: An Ecumenical Call for Justice, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. This is one pretty great letter and I would urge you to read it. Here are a few “choice” excerpts: Not only has the…
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Arts Eduation and ESEA: Where do the Arts fit in National Education Policy?
National Education Policy you may ask, you didn’t know there was one! Well, after reading the USDOE’s A Blueprint for Reform–The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, it struck me that this was the closest thing we will get to a national education policy. For those hell bent on seeing something like this…
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STEM To STEAM: Is it Just a Lot of Hot Air?
And I am not talking about how to get the old school radiators in my office to stop all that loud banging when they heat up. (That is technically known as Steam Hammer.)There’s a funny look people get on their face when they use the line: let’s turn STEM to STEAM! It’s a cute little…
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The Federal Govermment Should Mandate that Every Child Should Study A Musical Instrument
That quote comes from Diane Ravitch, who was presented at an American Enterprise Institute forum last Wednesday night in DC. In addition, the program featured AEI’s Rick Hess as moderator, and AEI’s Mark Schneider, NEA President Dennis van Roekel, and the Boorkings Institution’s William A. Galston, as panelists. This was part of Diane’s book tour,…
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The Official USDOE Summary from the ESEA Arts Stakeholders Meeting
This was sent along by the USDOE just yesterday: ESEA Meeting on Arts Education Summary
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The American Teacher Magazine Cover Story on Arts Education
The American Teacher is the bi-monthly magazine published by the American Federation of Teachers. The February edition has a cover story on arts education in the United States. And it’s quite a swell cover! Click here to read it. For some reason, there is this underlying element in the arts that makes you feel you…
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The True Nature of Mayoral Control Strikes Hard for 19 School Communities
Sometimes people lose track of what mayoral control means, particularly the pure form that we have in New York City. In New York City, it means that the mayor controls the schools and can do whatever he wants, for he appoints the majority of the the local school board (the Panel for Educational Policy) and…
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Oh NCLB, Where Art Thou?
On January 20th, the USDOE is hosting an information session for arts education constituents concerning the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), otherwise known during the Bush administration as No Child Left Behind. In regards to the arts, I know no one who holds the view that NCLB was anything but bad…
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Art, A Music Video by Andrea Dorfman
I love this video. My daughter Sophie and I were watching this morning and she agrees, giving it a four and a half year old’s seal of approval. The director is the artist Andrea Dorfman. The music is by Tanya Davis. Click away, it’s a sweet and appealing video, and even if you don’t like…
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US Secretary of Education Is Convinced that Arts Education Raises HS Graduation Rates
”I’m convinced when students are engaged in the arts, graduation rates go up, dropout rates go down,” Duncan said. One thing we do know about graduation rates and arts education in New York City public schools, is that the schools that offer more arts have higher rates of graduation. It’s in this report. And, according…