About Author: Bob Valiant

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http://valetc.com

Posts by Bob Valiant

  • Ever wonder what it would be like to grow up, then teach in inner city, NY.  Pamela Lewis presents a heart-felt description of her experiences in a letter to President Obama:     A Message to the President From a Bronx Teacher Pamela Lewis (Written to Be Delivered at Occupy DOE 2.0) Good Afternoon, Angela Davis once said, “The word radical simply means a grasping of the root.” By that definition, Michelle Rhee is not a radical, as her book title suggests. I am a radical because I grasp from the root. In our world of education, that translates to looking to fix the origin of the achievement gap rather than divert from it by blaming teachers for something that we did not cause. The root of this problem is poverty. I come from humble beginnings. I grew up in...

    The Big Apple Blues

    Posted on April 12, 2013 | No Comments
    Ever wonder what it would be like to grow up, then teach in inner city, NY.  Pamela Lewis presents a heart-felt description of her experiences in a letter to President Obama:     A Message to the President From a Bronx Teacher Pamela Lewis (Written to Be Delivered at Occupy DOE 2.0) Good Afternoon, Angela Davis once said, “The word radical simply means a grasping of the root.” By that definition, Michelle Rhee is not a radical, as her book title suggests. I am a radical because I grasp from the root. In our world of education, that translates to looking to fix the origin of the achievement gap rather than divert from it by blaming teachers for something that we did not cause. The root of this problem is poverty. I come from humble beginnings. I grew up in...

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  • Our friend, Mike Martin, is the author of the most popular article we have ever posted, by far.  Since we first posted it, Waiting for Super Fraud has been viewed by more than 10,000 visitors.  Mike has written a piece describing the role of students in the civil rights movement for Inauguration Day and has allowed us to print it here.  The article piqued my interest because of the role I think students must play in stemming the tide of privatization of the public schools that is sweeping the nation.   ***** It was interesting to watch the inauguration of President Obama on Martin Luther King Jr. Day but I still say people need to understand what really brought about the Civil Rights Act. What really allowed Barack Obama to win the Presidency in the United States of America. People...

    Inauguration Day

    Posted on January 21, 2013 | No Comments
    Our friend, Mike Martin, is the author of the most popular article we have ever posted, by far.  Since we first posted it, Waiting for Super Fraud has been viewed by more than 10,000 visitors.  Mike has written a piece describing the role of students in the civil rights movement for Inauguration Day and has allowed us to print it here.  The article piqued my interest because of the role I think students must play in stemming the tide of privatization of the public schools that is sweeping the nation.   ***** It was interesting to watch the inauguration of President Obama on Martin Luther King Jr. Day but I still say people need to understand what really brought about the Civil Rights Act. What really allowed Barack Obama to win the Presidency in the United States of America. People...

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  • Full disclosure: I spent 36 years in public education as a high school math/science teacher and as a district-level administrator responsible for curriculum, instruction and assessment. At the university level I have taught graduate-level classes in curriculum, instruction, and especially in the teaching of higher-level thinking. My background includes speaking in venues across the continent on higher-level thinking, school facility design, and brain research as it applies to teaching. I spent the last 20-plus years in the private sector. I worked for a design firm that specialized in school design and have served as a consultant to districts regarding curriculum, instruction, assessment, and facility design. So I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck. Why am I a telling you this? My half-century of serving the public schools tells me we have ignored the vast research base regarding human development...

    Full Disclosure

    Posted on December 21, 2012 | 2 Comments
    Full disclosure: I spent 36 years in public education as a high school math/science teacher and as a district-level administrator responsible for curriculum, instruction and assessment. At the university level I have taught graduate-level classes in curriculum, instruction, and especially in the teaching of higher-level thinking. My background includes speaking in venues across the continent on higher-level thinking, school facility design, and brain research as it applies to teaching. I spent the last 20-plus years in the private sector. I worked for a design firm that specialized in school design and have served as a consultant to districts regarding curriculum, instruction, assessment, and facility design. So I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck. Why am I a telling you this? My half-century of serving the public schools tells me we have ignored the vast research base regarding human development...

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  • Our friend, Marion Brady, put together a comprehensive list of what is wrong with high-stakes standardized tests.  Feel free to copy and pass around to parents, teachers, and other concerned citizens. PROBLEMS: HIGH-STAKES STANDARDIZED TESTS A partial list of problems with standardized, machine-scored tests, problems which should be addressed before such tests are used to determine student life chances, establish teacher pay and reputation, trigger school closings, affect real estate values, and undermine confidence in public schooling to pave the way to privatization. Commercially produced, standardized, machine-scored tests: 1. Can measure only “lower level” thought processes, trivializing learning 2. Provide minimal to no useful feedback to classroom teachers 3. Are keyed to a deeply flawed curriculum adopted in 1893 4. Lead to neglect of physical conditioning, music, art, and other, non-verbal ways of learning 5. Unfairly advantage those who can...

    PROBLEMS: HIGH-STAKES STANDARDIZED TESTS

    Posted on December 19, 2012 | No Comments
    Our friend, Marion Brady, put together a comprehensive list of what is wrong with high-stakes standardized tests.  Feel free to copy and pass around to parents, teachers, and other concerned citizens. PROBLEMS: HIGH-STAKES STANDARDIZED TESTS A partial list of problems with standardized, machine-scored tests, problems which should be addressed before such tests are used to determine student life chances, establish teacher pay and reputation, trigger school closings, affect real estate values, and undermine confidence in public schooling to pave the way to privatization. Commercially produced, standardized, machine-scored tests: 1. Can measure only “lower level” thought processes, trivializing learning 2. Provide minimal to no useful feedback to classroom teachers 3. Are keyed to a deeply flawed curriculum adopted in 1893 4. Lead to neglect of physical conditioning, music, art, and other, non-verbal ways of learning 5. Unfairly advantage those who can...

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  • I know that no one on the Kennewick School Board or at the upper levels of administration gives a darn about research on what works (or what doesn’t) but here are recent findings on 8th grade algebra for all: http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2012/12/algebra_for_all_yields_failure.html

    8th Grade Algebra for All Leads to failure for many

    Posted on December 2, 2012 | No Comments
    I know that no one on the Kennewick School Board or at the upper levels of administration gives a darn about research on what works (or what doesn’t) but here are recent findings on 8th grade algebra for all: http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2012/12/algebra_for_all_yields_failure.html

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  • A Facebook friend who is a college professor and father of school-age kids in Pennsylvania recently posted this message he delivered to his local school board.  It is so well done I thought it needs to be shared with others.  So with Tim Slekar’s approval: Diane Ravitch, former Assistant Secretary of Education under President George H. W. Bush and prolific educational researcher asks these questions: Can a mathematical formula sum up a school or a teacher? Can a letter grade give an accurate portrait of a school? Last year I appeared before this board and asked what all of you planned to do when the state forces teachers and principals to be evaluated with our childrens’ test scores. I pointed out that using high stakes test scores (derived from NCLB tests) to evaluate teachers and principals is wrong-not because of...

    A Message to Local School Boards Across America

    Posted on December 2, 2012 | No Comments
    A Facebook friend who is a college professor and father of school-age kids in Pennsylvania recently posted this message he delivered to his local school board.  It is so well done I thought it needs to be shared with others.  So with Tim Slekar’s approval: Diane Ravitch, former Assistant Secretary of Education under President George H. W. Bush and prolific educational researcher asks these questions: Can a mathematical formula sum up a school or a teacher? Can a letter grade give an accurate portrait of a school? Last year I appeared before this board and asked what all of you planned to do when the state forces teachers and principals to be evaluated with our childrens’ test scores. I pointed out that using high stakes test scores (derived from NCLB tests) to evaluate teachers and principals is wrong-not because of...

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  • Open Letter to Michelle and Barack Obama: Here is what the experts say our kids will need to be successful in the 21st Century: Basic, scientific, mathematical, and technological literacies. Inventive thinking including curiosity, creativity, and risk taking as well as higher order thinking and sound reasoning. Effective Communication including teaming, collaboration, and interpersonal skills. High     Productivity refers to the ability to prioritize, plan, and manage for results. It includes the use of real-world tools and the     production of relevant, high-quality products. Here is what your kids get at Sidwell: Pretty much everything on the list Here is what the kids get in our local public school thanks to NCLB and RttT: High-stakes bubble-in tests in a narrow range of subjects (mostly reading and math), beginning in the lowest grades and extending through high school Test-prep curriculum designed...

    Open Letter to Michelle and Barack Obama:

    Posted on November 13, 2012 | No Comments
    Open Letter to Michelle and Barack Obama: Here is what the experts say our kids will need to be successful in the 21st Century: Basic, scientific, mathematical, and technological literacies. Inventive thinking including curiosity, creativity, and risk taking as well as higher order thinking and sound reasoning. Effective Communication including teaming, collaboration, and interpersonal skills. High     Productivity refers to the ability to prioritize, plan, and manage for results. It includes the use of real-world tools and the     production of relevant, high-quality products. Here is what your kids get at Sidwell: Pretty much everything on the list Here is what the kids get in our local public school thanks to NCLB and RttT: High-stakes bubble-in tests in a narrow range of subjects (mostly reading and math), beginning in the lowest grades and extending through high school Test-prep curriculum designed...

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  • The debate regarding charter schools is of great importance to local school districts throughout Washington State.  I-1240 has the potential of diverting millions of dollars from local school coffers to charter schools which are operated by non-democratically selected boards and have no oversight by elected school boards.  Here is an analysis by Dr. Wayne Au, a University of Washington at Bothell professor.  Please read carefully and if you agree with his analysis, contact local school board members and urge them to pass a resolution opposed to I-1240.   http://seattleducation2010.wordpress.com/2012/10/22/policy-memo-on-washington-state-initiative-1240/

    Analysis of I-1240

    Posted on October 22, 2012 | No Comments
    The debate regarding charter schools is of great importance to local school districts throughout Washington State.  I-1240 has the potential of diverting millions of dollars from local school coffers to charter schools which are operated by non-democratically selected boards and have no oversight by elected school boards.  Here is an analysis by Dr. Wayne Au, a University of Washington at Bothell professor.  Please read carefully and if you agree with his analysis, contact local school board members and urge them to pass a resolution opposed to I-1240.   http://seattleducation2010.wordpress.com/2012/10/22/policy-memo-on-washington-state-initiative-1240/

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