Archives for 2009

I once had the great good fortune to be taken to the woodshed by Warren Simmons, head of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform. Warren gave me a brilliant lesson on advocacy through the lens of informed engagement. Without information, the engagement was likely to fail. What and how would you inform those you seek to engage, both as a precursor to engagement, and as part of … [Read more...] about Arts Education Bill of Rights

Jane Remer's Cliff Notes (Number Three):  The Arts Just Don't Fit in Most of Our Schools Face it: The arts still don't fit in most of our schools and none of the advocacy claims made for them have helped a whit in the last five decades. The arts community - arts educators, arts organizations, artists who work with schools, other friends of the arts--has tried and failed … [Read more...] about Jane Remer, Guest Blogger: The Arts Just Don’t Fit in Most of our Schools

Reading the news on NewMusicBox just this moment brought a big smile to my face. There was a time, a long, long time, when Reich didn't stand a chance to win a Pulitzer, as there was a stylistic bias against such music at the Pulitzer and any other number of important music awards. So many of my Reich favorites, Music for 18 Musicians, Drumming, Tehilim, Different Trains...they … [Read more...] about Steve Reich Wins 2009 Pulitzer Prize!!!!

In one of my entries last week, Diane Ravitch on Mayoral Control of the Schools, I highlighted Ravitch's New York Times Op-Ed piece on school governance.This week, the chancellor of the New York City public schools, Joel I. Klein, responded with a letter to the editor:New York Schools: The Chancellor's Report Card "The national tests she cites are not the measure of … [Read more...] about Joel I Klein, NYC Schools Chancellor Responds to Ravitch Op-Ed

No, that's not a mistake, it's not one of those moments when you screw up while doing a spell check. Ever have that happen with an email, you approve the correction that changes the word to a non-sequitur and off it goes!! (Lord knows, I've gone back to a blog or two I've written and wanted to insert a combination spelling, syntax, style, and grammar check into my … [Read more...] about Intellectual Stimulus Package