Wednesday, June 07, 2006

The Carnival Of Education: Week 70

Welcome to the 70th installment of the Carnival Of Education! Here you'll find a selection of entries that have been submitted from sites all around the EduSphere. Unless clearly labeled otherwise, the posts were submitted by the writers themselves and are grouped into several categories.

If you're interested in guest hosting an edition of The Carnival Of Education, please let us know via the submission address below.

Please consider helping spread the word about the midway. Links are much appreciated, trackbacks are adored. (To get Carnival's URL, click on this link. To get the trackback URL, simply click on that link.)

Special announcement: Next week's carnival midway will be hosted by the Science Goddess over at What It's Like on the Inside. Please send contributions to: the_science_goddess [at] yahoo [dot] com . They should be received no later than 7:00 PM (Pacific) 10:00 (Eastern) Tuesday, June 13th. Include the title of your post, and its URL, if possible. Barring unforeseen circumstances, the midway of should open over at What It's Like on the Inside next Wednesday morning.

Visit last week's midway, guest hosted by Education In Texas here, the Carnival's archives
here and our latest education-related posts over there.

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


Education Policy:

Ms. Cornelius of A Shrewdness of Apes
takes a good look at an upcoming Supreme Court Decision that may have far-reaching consequences concerning the use of race as a factor in the admissions process for certain public schools.

Like teachers, classroom paraprofessionals (what some call teacher's aides) have also been subjected to higher standards of training due to the mandates of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. But NCLBlog
wonders if these increased standards will result in higher compensation as well.

Education reporter Scott Elliott has been covering the annual convention of the Education Writers Association over at his blog, Get on the Bus. In a recent post, Elliott reports on a speech by Craig Barrett, chaiman and former C.E.O. of Intel corporation. See Barrett's top three suggestions for improving public education
right here.

Alexander Russo's This Week In Education has also been taking a look at the EdWriters Convention. Russo
comments on recent remarks by U.S. Dept. of Education's Tom Luce about objectivity and bias in reporting about schools that are out of compliance with mandates imposed by the No Child Left Behind Act.

The Science Goddess over at What It's Like on the Inside
lets us know that legislation has been introduced making science test scores an additional component of the criteria used by the federal government in measuring the effectiveness of public schools. (It looks as though the bar is going to be raised yet again...)

Principled Discovery links to a story from New Zealand that
shows us that when it comes to improving public education, some issues are universal.

National Board Certified Teachers have been in the news quite a bit lately. Having such a certification confers a certain amount of cachet on those teachers that possess it. But this post by guest blogger Dan Goldhaber over at Education Sector's Eduwonk.com
may very well dispel the notion that NBCTs are significantly more effective than those teachers who are not.

This essay by Bob Sipchen over at the L.A. Times' EduBlog School Me!
really struck close to home. From an enigmatic commencement speaker at Wellesley College to a supremely effective lesson in marine biology, this post says so much about public education, teachers, and... daughters. (Our 14-year old, the TeenWonk, is already making college plans.)

San Francisco's Board of Education is considering the expulsion of the Jr. R.O.T.C. program from the district's high schools. Greg at Rhymes With Right expresses his opinion about the controversial move in
no uncertain terms.

Teaching and Learning:

How do children learn? And what is the best method of teaching them? That's the subject of
a highly readable entry by Wax Banks. Here is a sample:
The principle bubbling under these comments is straightforward: we learn by analogy, by step-by-step extrapolation, by self-motivated investigation, by visceral involvement. Therefore it is incumbent upon those who teach to strike a balance between in situ testing - a necessary pressure and useful mechanism for motivating, when handled correctly - and contiguous challenges, which with any luck and plenty of skill will themselves be sufficiently generative to allow self-motivated bursts of energy and exploration by the learner.
When is it ever appropriate to mark-up a book's pages? Over at Trinity Prep, they'll tell you!

I know that as an actively serving California middle school teacher, a few tips in
non-violent communication could sure come in handy... (I liked the analogy of the Giraffe and the Jackal.)

This post from Brad H. over at HUNBlog got me thinking. What are my core beliefs as a teacher? And just when does a teacher have sufficient expertise to offer advice to others? First Brad briefly outlines his own background and experience and then
makes his case.

Nerd Family asks an intriguing question with an
even more intriguing answer: What is missing from education today? (We agree with their answer, but for a different reason.)

Here's an interesting post from a non-EduBlog about using mental games in order to sharpen thinking skills.
Worth a look.

I Thought a Think compares and contrasts the teaching styles of two college professors. One that
that is liked, and one that is not. (I have to agree. If only 10% of the students are learning, then the teacher needs to reassess his or her method of delivering instruction.)

From The Classroom:

What would you do if you were a teacher and a child showed up to your classroom wearing a tshirt that loudly proclaimed the "F-word?" See what NYC-Educator did when a kid showed up wearing
just such a fashion statement.

"Senioritus" (A medical condition exemplified by high school seniors who "skip" classes or don't otherwise want to work as graduation approaches.) makes its unwelcomed appearance over at 3σ → Left. So far so good. But then math teacher IB
is forced into deciding whether or not a pupil will graduate.

High School math teacher Darren over at Right on the Left Coast
tells us about an old idea that is certainly new to some: A high school senior's "Last Will and Testament." (Consider following the link he provides to "Cardioid.")

The title of this entry from Polski's View From Here says it all:
Are You Ready For School To Start?

Bora from Science and Politics
continues his series of classroom notes and invites readers comments concerning the efficacy of a recent college biology course that he is teaching.

Substitute teachers have it tough. At the school where Mr. Lawrence worked, 'subs are not issued keys to the classroom that they've been assigned to work in. So what was he to do when he arrived home and
someone from the school called asking about some missing laptop computers?

Humor:

I couldn't get enough of this post from ChemJerk about a "painless" way to
assign report card grades that would seem to make everyone happy.

Student And Parent Survival Guide:

What is a gap year? A gap year is when a student takes a year "off" between high school and college. The idea seems to be catching-on. Over at EducateDeviate,
they have a post that may help one make an informed decision.

Education Finance:

A few weeks ago,
we reported on a scheme cooked-up by Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich of to "lease" that state's lottery in order, he said, to boost education funding. In a related post, Education Matters urges the governor to sell the public education system instead!

Inside The EduBlogs:

British EduBlog The Sharpener shows us that America isn't the only place where bloody battles over EduReform
are being fought. Who would have thought that social mobility for our transatlantic cousins has been on the decline?

In this post NCLB world, what place should "values education" occupy? Daniel Mangrum, an American teacher who happened to be born in Keflavik, Iceland and now working in the United Arab Emirates, offers
an interesting perspective.

Editor's Choice: Writer and EduBlogger Joanne Jacobs
will pull at your heartstings with this story about a baby girl that was left behind a stonewall alongside a road to die, was found by a highway patrol officer, and is now all grown up and graduating from high school. Can you guess who will be one of the guests at her graduation party?

Humbly submitted for your approval is
our take on the rumored appearance of a comments enabled weblog sponsored by.... The National Education Association. (Let us count the ways that we would love to see an NEA blog that permits comments from readers...)

Editor's Choice: This week's Carnival Of Homeschooling is
all about the fishies.

Not Really Education-Related But Readable:

We received
this submission about how some hucksters and other con-men use technical jargon in order to confuse their intended targets before skinning them out of money. This reminds us at least one EduConsultant that we know all too well...

And finally: As always, this journey around the EduSphere has been both enjoyable and informative. We've always been pleased to read so many different political and educational viewpoints from so many folks who care so deeply about education. Thanks to all the contributors whose submissions make the midway's continuing success possible, the folks who help spread the word, and the readers who continue to make it rewarding.

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This midway is registered at TTLB's carnival roundup. See our latest posts here, and the complete Carnival archives over there.