Month: May 2012

The New Jim Crow

The New Jim Crow

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Thank you, Deborah Meier, for being able and willing to reveal your own racism! As Meier tells Diane Ravitch in the blog they write to each other and willingly share with the world:

I think I have fallen into the trap, too, when pointing out that the white poor face many of the same obstacles that the black and Hispanic poor do. I, too, have been urging a more colorblind attack on our school system’s miseducational policies. Tactically, it might have seemed wise, but factually, it’s nonsense. Continue reading “The New Jim Crow”

Should Professional Learning be Required?

Should Professional Learning be Required?

Reading Time: 3 minutes

I recently observed a conference room full of superintendents sitting in complete silence as they pondered a challenging question, “Should teachers be required to participate in professional learning?” Richard Elmore posed this question, and after what seemed like an uncomfortable amount of wait-time, a superintendent responded in an uncertain voice, “Yes.” The audience was engaged in learning how to improve student learning through the implementation of the Instructional Rounds approach and Elmore was pressing them to think about how to advance reforms that are likely to make a difference in improving student learning. Continue reading “Should Professional Learning be Required?”

Observing Cultural Heritage Months: Not a Simple Decision

Observing Cultural Heritage Months: Not a Simple Decision

Reading Time: 3 minutes
Created for West Wind Education Policy by Leah Dusterhoft

As a company passionate about imagining and enacting a public school system that overcomes historic and persistent inequities, you might think that celebrating national cultural heritage months is a standard staff activity for us.  It is not.

Don’t get me wrong.  The West Wind staff agrees that these observances are important.  Our dilemma is, what is what are we recognizing? What does it mean to celebrate groups based on certain shared physical or genetic attributes? When we try to decide we find ourselves with all sorts of questions: Which cultural heritage months do we observe? Which cultural/social attributes count: Race? Ethnicity? Gender? Is it an observation or celebration and what action do we take to observe or celebrate? By making these observances are we taking part in something that separates specific groups from the whole of American history and experience? Continue reading “Observing Cultural Heritage Months: Not a Simple Decision”

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

Reading Time: < 1 minute

“Whatever we do to strengthen and elevate the teaching profession, we should bear in mind that reforms that fail to heed the voice of teachers are doomed.” Secretary Duncan

West Wind took to Twitter (using the below hashtag) to thank some of the influential teachers in our lives. It was often difficult to come up with just one!

#ThankaTeacher

Continue reading “Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!”

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