Public Education is Not a Charity. This is Your Best Investment
Public Education is Not a Charity. This is Your Best Investment. Lily tackles the education issues of the day on C-Span More…
Testing
NCLB: Our students Should not Have to Wait any Longer
We all know that 12 years under a broken No Child Left Behind system has failed students and schools by neglecting to close the achievement and opportunity gaps as promised. Our students, especially those most in need, should not have to wait any longer. More…
When will Toxic Testing End? When a Child is Dying? Not Always
What happened to Andrea Rediske and her son Ethan will break your heart, and illustrate the callous absurdity of high stakes toxic testing. I had the privilege of meeting her and sharing her story. (We actually met through this blog!) It is time to take action! Join us: Time to Teach, Time to Learn
What Was I Doing in New Jersey?
NEA’s Back to School Tour continues in New Jersey. Lily met with educators, community leaders and the students they love. [View the story “NEA Back to School 2014: New Jersey” on Storify]
Time to Scale Back School Testing
Do you remember a teacher or other school employee who made a difference in your life? Perhaps someone who really brought an academic subject to life, or who simply helped you through a difficult time?
New America Media: High Stakes Testing is Toxic
Check out this article after Lily’s conversation with ethnic media in Los Angeles: At a briefing for ethnic media in Los Angeles, Lily Eskelsen García acknowledged the challenges ahead of her. “What we’re up against,” she said, “are people who use good words like reform, and accountability, and progress.” But their real meaning will be More…
Uncommon Sense to the Core
I’ll admit it. They had to win me over to the Common Core State Standards. Maybe it’s because it has “standard” in the name, and I can’t help but think of standardized tests – that tail that not only wags the dog, but has become the dog. Hitting your number on a standardized test has become what it means to teach and what it means to learn. More…
High Stakes Testing Ground Zero…And the Revolution that Followed
Too many policy makers continue to bow to high-profile “reformers” who advise them that we should run our schools like a factory where assembly line workers get bonuses for hitting their number. More…
The Election is Over…So Where Do We Go From Here?
I was not neutral in this race. I see the re-election of President Obama as an important way forward for our students, preschool to graduate school. But the election is not the end. It’s the beginning of some very hard work. More…
An International Diane Ravitch Moment?
For more than ten long, empty, intellectually dry and dishonest years, we’ve lived under the insanity of No Child Left Untested. (Someone told me not to be so negative. Trust me. I’m holding back.) Children, especially poor children, have been subjected to a corporate “reform” mentality of pass/fail by making their quota of test score points on some standardized garbage never designed to gauge anything more delicately complex than a child’s understanding of where the comma goes. More…