The Carnival Of Education: Week 47

Welcome to this week's edition of The Carnival Of Education. All entries were submitted by the writers except those labeled "Editor's Choice," and are grouped into several categories. As always, one can find a wide selection of posts from a variety of educational and political viewpoints.

A successful carnival is a team effort. Please consider helping spread the word. And as always, your comments and constructive criticism are most welcome.

Special announcement: If you have a site and are interested in guest hosting an edition of The Carnival Of Education, please let us know via the email address given below.

Next Week's Carnival midway will be hosted by us here at The Education Wonks. Please send contributions to: owlshome [at] earthlink [dot] net. We should receive them no later than 9:00 PM (Pacific) Tuesday, January 3rd. Please include the title of your post, and its URL, if possible. Barring unforeseen circumstances, the midway of the 48th edition of the Carnival should open next Wednesday morning.

Last week's Carnival, guest hosted by Bora over at Circadiana, is here. See the complete set of archives there. For our latest posts, please visit our home page.

Let the free exchange of thoughts and ideas begin...

Education Policy:

Many folks in the EduReform movement are enamored with the concept of merit pay for teachers. But what lessons can the corporate world teach us regarding this type of compensation? A Shrewdness of Apes has today's informative lesson. On the other hand, over at Going to the Mat, they have an altogether different take regarding this highly controversial topic.

Is it ever appropriate for a school's administration to sponsor an activity that belittles its own teaching staff in order to amuse students? Read this shocking story here and the background over there.

Chris Lehmann is the principal of a soon-to-be opened Philadelphia charter school called the Science Leadership Academy. In a great two-parter, Chris shows us the processes used to develop the school's science curriculum. See part I here and part II over there.

Quincy is reporting on what I think is a terrible case of EduCracy run amok. Don't any of Arizona's policy makers understand that schools are supposed to be about doing what's right for kids? Here's a peek:

You might wonder why Manzenberger just doesn’t bend to the bureaucracy and sign up for the course. Surely, after all, sitting through such a “methods” course might expose this old education workhorse to new and innovative methods of teaching. It’s possible, right?

Not likely. The reason Manzenberger clings to principle with his Arizona career on the line is because while he may never have taken the course, for nine years he taught the very college course that Arizona now insists he must take.

EdWahoo is bringing to our attention a disturbing trend: Higher-level comprehension skills among college graduates are falling. What is the cause of this? Wahoo offers a possible explanation.

Have you ever considered serving on your local school's committee? Diane Weir has the inside scoop on what it's like to be involved in the policy-making process.

Extreme Wisdom asks a question that is sure to provoke thought: Are Public Schools Unconstitutional?

Should limits be placed on teachers who express their opinions about the Iraq War in the classroom? Humbly submitted for your consideration is our post about free speech and the public school classroom.

Testing And Technology:

Would you believe that many of our schools are being subjected to an Invasion of Student Body Snatchers? It's true, and over at Reform K12 they show us how it's being done and why both kids and schools are being made to pay the price.

Editor's Choice: Over at Teach 42, they've got the lowdown on the comparison between Wikipedia Vs. Britannica.

Teaching And Learning:

The intense debate over the teaching of intelligent design continues in the EduSphere. Rhymes With Right offers a classroom teacher's perspective on this very controversial subject.

Snow owls in Antarctica? Ice cores two miles long? And who (or what) is a Tuck? These mysteries and more will be solved over at Donna's Mundane Little World.

We think of early winter as the "Holiday Season." But other cultures view this time of the year quite differently. Check out the Jewish perspective on winter's darkness.

Homeschooling:

The fact that many schools are no longer observing Christmas hasn't escaped notice by Spunkyhomeschool who presents an altogether new take on the classic Yuletide poem, "T'was the night before Christmas."

The Secret Lives Of Teachers:

Classroom teacher Darren has had enough of the National Education Association and the California Teachers Association. He has formally resigned from both organizations. Today, he got a refund from NEA/CTA as well as the surprising data about what percentage of dues are actually used for negotiating salary and benefits.

The Common Room offers the third installment in its highly readable and informative series about what The Teaching Life was like in 1900. Wow. All I can say is that the good old days often weren't.

Editor's Choice: Fred teaches history in a Tampa high school. See what happens when he went on a little family vacation to Disney with his wife and five girls. Key Vocabulary needed for understanding: penalty flag, skin-tight red spandex, kilts, and "special" shampoo.

Survival Guide For Students And Parents:

Here is something that is long overdue: With so many kids using code to communicate with each other on the computer, An Educational Voyage presents this handy field guide to Computer Kidspeak and keeping an eye out for our children as they use the technology.

Most teachers have experienced at least one "parent from hell." But what's a caring and involved parent to do when he or she encounters a parent from the nether regions at their child's school? Scott Elliott had that rude encounter.

The large number of kids inappropriately using prescription drugs is the subject of an informative and cautionary post that every parent should read.

Because of California's requirement that all students (including those with learning disabilities) must pass a high school exit exam in order to graduate, many students are now leaving the state in order to get their diplomas.

Inside The EduBlogs:

Editor's Choice: Jenny D. has a thought-provoking post on whether or not "School Choice" will affect the formal training that teachers receive in Ed. School.

Editor's Choice: Over at The Super's Blog, the Super (as in superintendent) has posted a "legal" holiday greeting that will confound (yet satisfy) any attorney who happens to read it.

Editor's Choice: The recent New York City transit workers strike was the topic of several posts by Edwize. One morning, they had some hot coffee for cold New Yorkers. ----------------------------This midway is registered at TTLB's carnival roundup. See The Education Wonks' latest posts here, and the complete Carnival archives over there.