History of IDEA
Jeannie Oakes, Founder and Former Director
Youth Voice in School Finance
NEW REPORT: Los Angeles' road to A-G for all
Without Dollars and Sense Powerpoint
Past Educational Opportunity Reports
Assessing teachers without fetishizing test-based reforms
- 12-07-2010
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Guest blog by Kevin G. Welner/Washington Post
Remember how “the soft bigotry of low expectations” beautifully encapsulated a serious equity issue and then led to a destructive No Child Left Behind law that has narrowed the curriculum and forced educators to over-test students and teach to tests? We are, I fear, now at the same point with teacher quality. Lost within the ongoing craziness of leaders using teacher and principal dismissal as a primary strategy to fix public schools (along with the echo chamber of irresponsible punditry and filmmaking) are some important truths about teacher quality. Teachers are indeed the most important element of formal schooling, and the current system does disproportionately burden low-income communities of color with teachers who are less experienced, less supported, less prepared, and less credentialed. This is an important equity issue, and it should be addressed in a serious way. The problem, of course, is that it’s being addressed in a foolish way. (more…)
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