Month: April 2020

Of Reading Proficiency and Civil Rights

Eduflack Achievement gap, equity, Parents, reading, reform, SBRR, Teacher Education, teachers

“Literacy is an educational right. Every learner needs to be reading at grade level by fourth grade. The science is clear on how to best teach young children to read. Our educators and the teacher education programs that prepare them must adapt and transform to embrace both these obligations and the science on effective instruction.”

From dear ol’ Eduflack’s latest commentary on Project Forever Free, detailing the latest court ruling declaring Detroit students are constitutionally guaranteed a basic education, including literacy.

Give it a read! And give Project Forever Free a follow.

It’s Time for Reading Rights

Eduflack accountability, Achievement gap, early childhood education, reading, Reading First, reform, SBRR, Students, Teacher Education, teachers

“Producing a strong research study that collects dust on the shelf can hardly win the day. For generations now, we have fought ideological skirmishes over literacy instruction, watching the pendulum swing as classroom educators simply waited it out until the latest “hot” thing lost favor and classrooms returned to what they were previously doing. If we truly want to declare a reading victory and tout our collective instructional successes, we need to commit to some basic truths.”

From Eduflack’s latest for The 74 Million

How Important, Exactly, Is Learning Today?

Eduflack BAM, Parents, polls, reform, Students, teachers, TrumpED

For weeks now, we’ve seen experts declare “victory” when it comes to virtual education in the time of Coronavirus. Voice after voice has taken to social media claiming to have solved the puzzle and gotten students learning again.

In reality, there probably isn’t a great deal of new learning happening online these days. In the Eduflack homeschool, we are seeing a lot of reviewing of last lessons and a lot of digital busywork. And we are only doing a half of a traditional school day each day (and that’s following the 10-day virtual spring break we just had).

And maybe that’s just fine and dandy. According to a new survey of parents across the United States, they aren’t expecting or desiring new learning between now and the end of the school year. They just want their kids to survive the lockdown, both psychologically and emotionally.

On the latest episode of TrumpEd on the BAM! Radio Network, we explore this new student data and how it is OK to just be OK, education wise, these next few months of school.

Give it a listen.

No, We Don’t Have Equity. But This Could Start the Discussion.

Eduflack accountability, Achievement gap, BAM, equity, Online Education, reform, TrumpED

We shouldn’t fool ourselves into thinking that the institution of virtual education in response to the coronavirus epidemic means we now have equitable k12 education. But if we are fortunate, it just might force a very real discussion of how we start working toward equity in teaching, learning, and access.

How? We explore the topic on the most recent episode of TrumpEd on the BAM Radio Network. Give it a listen here.

Equity, Access and Online Learning, Oh My!

Communicating During Covid

Eduflack accountability, Media, reform, Social media

It’s safe to say that the coronavirus is dominating virtually all corners of public debate and consideration these days. It is definitely true of education, as our collective shift to virtual education is driven by talk of flattening the curve and a timeline for returning to “traditional” school.

Back in the day, dear ol’ Eduflack spent a great deal of time working on crisis and risk communications, particularly in the healthcare space. In 2004, for instance, I collaborated with the Hong Kong Department of Health to examine its communications response to SARS, what it could learn, and how the government could better engage with citizens to address the healthcare crisis.

Over at Medium, I reflect on those lessons and how they can be applied to our current pandemic and the communications response to it. Some of these ideas may seem common sense, but they are essential reading – and essential action – as we all try to deal with Covid19 response.

Please give it a read. And a share.

Who’s Looking out for IDEA?

Eduflack BAM, equity, Parents, reform, Students, teachers, TrumpED

It’s very easy to say we just need to do as much as we can for as many students as we can. That tends to be the mantra for public education, as has been for generations.

But when dear ol’ Eduflack gets into a Twitter fight with a teacher about how special education is both unnecessary and gets in the way of what public schools ahold be focusing on, we are clearly losing something in the IDEA translation.

Over at the BAM! Education Network, I explored the topic, discussing why it is even more important today than usual to make sure we do not lost sight of special needs families during such an educational crisis. Hard times don’t mean we abdicate our responsibilities to the students and families who need us the most.

Give it a listen here!

What Should Come Next?

Eduflack 21CS, BAM, Online Education, PD, reform, Teacher Education, teachers, technology, TrumpED

Across the nation, schools and educators are doing everything they can to react to the new normal that is our covid society. For most, that has meant shifting to virtual education and trying to deliver existing lesson plans online.

It’s only natural that this past month – and likely the next two or three – will largely be reactive to the current circumstances. It what if were to spend the summer being proactive, using the warmest of months to focus on educator professional development and how best to empower teachers to take full advantage of the new instructional world likely before ya?

https://www.bamradionetwork.com/track/managing-the-evolving-new-normal-reactive-versus-proactive/Dear ol’ Eduflack explores this topic on the latest episode of TrumpEd on the BAM! Radio Network. Give it a listen!