The Early Presidential Debates in a Single Chart

  It is very encouraging to see the discussion of student debt and of early-childhood education, at least on the Democratic side, as well as the fact that standardized testing has been included among the topics not yet discussed by either party. From our perspective, it would be very helpful to see a discussion of…

Why is ABC Hiding from the Public the Ugly Truth about the Treatment of Refugee Families?

The author of this post is Ana Fores Tamayo, and it is a somewhat edited version of what was was originally published on her blog Adjunct Justice on September 18 [http://adjunct-justice.blogspot.com/2015/09/why-is-abc-hiding-from-public-us-dirty.html].   When Pope Francis touches US soil, he will begin a whirlwind tour through the northeast corner of our vast country. So, he decided to hold a…

Sometimes a Single Statistic Is a Terrible Revelation

Over the past decade, any number of commentators have noted the striking differences between our national discussions of and our national responses to terrorist attacks and domestic gun violence. In fact, that contrast has now been referenced so frequently that it has become something of a truism. But, in an op-ed for the Los Angeles…

Pedagogy of “Doubt” and the Attack on Colleges of Education (Part II)

Guest Blogger Morna McDermott teaches in the College of Education, Towson University. This post originally appeared  here. Supporting evidence for Part I Corporate Control of Higher Ed A Deeper Examination of the Messaging In Part One I mentioned two articles: http://edexcellence.net/articles/reforming-ed-schools-from-within and https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/teacher-prep-programs-need-to-be-accountable-too/2015/02/20/ed140f44-b8fc-11e4-aa05-1ce812b3fdd2_story.html . The first one is published by Fordham Institiute (known for a its corporate-model reforms) promoting ““Deans…

Pedagogy of “Doubt” and the Attack on Colleges of Education (Part I)

Guest Blogger Morna McDermott teaches in the College of Education, Towson University. This post originally appeared  here. Let’s Start with a Few Recent Headlines: Teacher Prep Colleges Are Failing the Teachers Study Delivers Failing Grades For Many Programs Training Teachers  States Slow to Close Faltering Teacher Ed. Programs (also see more recently: http://edexcellence.net/articles/reforming-ed-schools-from-within and https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/teacher-prep-programs-need-to-be-accountable-too/2015/02/20/ed140f44-b8fc-11e4-aa05-1ce812b3fdd2_story.html ) Traditional colleges of…

Experts and Adjuncts: The New Model for Higher Education

The American professoriate once ranged from professionals who taught a course as an adjunct—a contribution to their professions, the compensation being almost nothing—to the regular (but generally poorly paid, often relying on family fortune to sustain them) faculty who generally assumed lifetime security at institutions whose operation their colleagues dominated. That changed over the decades starting…

Let’s at Least Talk Realistically about Guns

In a comment on my recent post “Four Things to Know about the Debate over Guns,” a reader quoted John F. Kennedy and George Washington on the value of an armed citizenry as a hedge against government tyranny. Yet, in the post itself, I never suggest eliminating gun ownership. I simply present statistics. Though I…