Year: 2011

The “Failure” of Head Start

John Merrow Early Childhood Education, innovation, parenting, pbs newshour, Pre-K Education, Preschool, President Obama

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Every American toddler should have the opportunity to attend a high-quality, free preschool.  Whether they go or not would be up to their parents or guardians, of course, but the opportunity should be there. We now know that most brain growth occurs before a child reaches kindergarten age. It is a fact that most American parents are working outside the home. Our economic competitors are already providing this opportunity for their 4-year-olds (and often their 3-year-olds), a fact that has implications for our economic health.

It’s not that we haven’t made a stab at creating preschool programs. Lyndon Johnson’s “War on Poverty” created Head Start back in 1965, but I would say (tongue firmly in cheek) that Head Start is a “failure.” The federal preschool program for 4-year-olds was supposed to level the playing field for poor children, and it has not done that.

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Can American teachers truly be ‘nation builders?’

John Merrow innovation, President Obama, teaching, The Influence of Teachers

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In his State of the Union speech in January and in subsequent appearances, President Obama has likened teachers to ‘Nation Builders.’ Here’s what he told Congress and the American people:

“…(A)fter parents, the biggest impact on a child’s success comes from the man or woman at the front of the classroom. In South Korea, teachers are known as ‘nation builders.'”

But are American teachers “nation builders?” Could they be? What tools does a ‘Nation Builder’ (or any other builder) need to be able to get the job done?

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WNET’s Celebration of Teaching and Learning needed more embrace of conflict

John Merrow innovation, media, Op-ed, The Influence of Teachers

The two-day event run by New York City’s public television station (WNET) isn’t called “A Celebration of Teaching and Learning” for nothing.

I spent most of last Friday and Saturday sampling the smorgasbord of education offerings and came away impressed by the event’s focus on that operative word: celebration.  More than 2,000 people — most of them teachers — came to the Hilton to be buoyed up by dozens of speakers.  The stated goal was to “share insights and perspectives on what it takes to provide the absolute best in educational opportunities for our students.”

Among those sharing insights were Dr. Mehmet Oz, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Oliver Sacks, NBC’s Brian Williams, and ABC’s Cynthia McFadden.

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Now more than ever, we must speak up for teachers

John Merrow innovation, joel klein, Op-ed, parenting, pbs newshour, teaching, The Influence of Teachers

American public education remains front and center, which is mostly good news.  Let me start this ‘news summary’ in Washington, DC, where President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan are calling for fundamental changes in the law known as No Child Left Behind, the Bush Administration’s version of Title One of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

No Child Left Behind

I doubt you could find more than a handful of educators who like NCLB these days, but whether anyone in the nation’s capital will be able to agree on what a new version should call for is highly questionable.

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In education, a lack of response to basic demand

John Merrow innovation, joel klein, media, new york city, parenting, parents, pbs newshour, reading, teachers unions, Testing, The Influence of Teachers

I started writing this blog entry on a flight to California from New York; I’m headed there for another book party and a meeting of the Learning Matters board.

For the last 30 minutes or so, I have been listening to a father talk about his two young children, ages 7 and 10.  He’s an older Dad with at least one adult child, and he radiates child-like enthusiasm about what amounts to a second go-round of childrearing. He’s been telling me about their endless curiosity; they always are asking “why?” and “how does this work?” and so on.

As I listened, a dark cloud flickered across my eyes and I wondered: what would their schools do to their spark?

Nurture it, tolerate it, or extinguish it?

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E.D. Hirsch, Mike Smith and Linda Katz offer insights on reading development

John Merrow charter schools, parenting, parents, reading, school reform, teaching, The Influence of Teachers

If journalism is history’s first rough draft, then perhaps blogs like this one are journalism’s notes and outline. For me, this blog continues to be a wonderful learning opportunity, largely because of thoughtful readers who question my assumptions and provide me with information I have either forgotten or never seen.

In the few days since I posted my thoughts about early reading, I have received several (welcome) wake-up calls from E.D. Hirsch, Jr. (of Core Knowledge fame), Marshall ‘Mike’ Smith (former Deputy U.S. Secretary of Education under Bill Clinton), and Linda Katz (Director of the Children’s Literacy Initiative in Philadelphia).

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The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading helps with a national crisis

John Merrow innovation, parenting, pbs newshour, reading, school reform, teachers unions, The Influence of Teachers

I am currently in Washington, DC attending the kick-off of what is being called “The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading,” a three-day event focused on an issue constantly growing in importance. Its organizers, led by the irrepressible Ralph Smith of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, initially expected to attract between 50 and 70 participants; more than 200 of us signed up, including Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who will deliver the closing address on Tuesday.

Because we are now editing a piece for PBS NewsHour about what is often called ‘the vocabulary gap’ that develops in the first three years of life, I am especially aware of the need for public action.  We know that about 75 percent of the children who aren’t reading competently and confidently by the end of third grade will never catch up.

No mistake: This is a crisis!

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Another year without Fred Rogers, and more reminders of why we miss him

John Merrow Fred Rogers, media, parenting, teachers unions

With some members of Congress intent on eliminating federal funding for public radio and television, a friend sent me this remarkable video.  It reminds us of what we lost when the remarkable Fred Rogers died eight years ago this Sunday, but it has a second powerful message about the value of public television and radio, then, now and tomorrow:

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The hypocrisy of Scott Walker … and whether teachers are becoming the enemy

John Merrow media, Michelle Rhee, pbs newshour, Scott Walker, The Influence of Teachers, Wisconsin politics

EDITOR’S NOTE: In concurrence with the launch of John Merrow’s book, The Influence of Teachers, he’ll be using this space as a place to discuss some central ideas explored in the book. All proceeds from the book, available on Amazon for $14.95, are being donated to Learning Matters, a 501(c)(3) organization committed to independent coverage of education. We invite you to join in the conversation by commenting on these posts or reviewing the book online!

Is the direct attack on collective bargaining for teachers in Wisconsin likely to spread around the US the way the demand for democracy is spreading across the Middle East? I think it just might.

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The Influence of TFA

John Merrow innovation, Op-ed, teachers unions, teaching, TFA, The Influence of Teachers

EDITOR’S NOTE: In concurrence with the launch of John Merrow’s book, The Influence of Teachers, he’ll be using this space as a place to discuss some  central ideas explored in the book. All proceeds from the book, available on Amazon for $14.95, are being donated to Learning Matters, a 501(c)(3) organization committed to independent coverage of education. We invite you to join in the conversation by commenting on these posts or reviewing the book online! Learn more about the book at www.theinfluenceofteachers.com.

By all reports, Teach for America’s 20th Anniversary Celebration in Washington last weekend was a star-studded event–as well it should have been given TFA’s growing importance. What began as a Princeton student’s senior thesis has become the proverbial 900-pound gorilla in education, a leader and a lightning rod. I’ve been part of what I believe has been balanced coverage of Teach for America, on the NewsHour, in a web-based series, and in my new book; that is, I’m not in either of the two large camps—those who love TFA and those who detest/fear/suspect it. The middle can be lonely, by the way.

Quick story here:  We followed seven Teach for America corps members in New Orleans for an entire year, part of our NewsHour coverage. We were being opportunistic: that is, we knew that only two or three of the teachers would make a NewsHour piece but we imagined that we could also get a pretty darn good documentary out of it.  By year’s end, we had some terrific material, and at that point I began looking for money.  I went to a number of foundations and individuals who have an interest in teacher education generally or in TFA specifically and made my pitch: 7 profiles, lots of good video of the nitty-gritty of the life of a first- or second-year teacher.

Fund-raising is tough sledding under normal circumstances, but this was downright depressing.  In every instance, I was asked a bottom line question, essentially “Is it all positive?” or “Is it all negative?”

Well, duh, of course it wasn’t.  We had captured reality, and reality is full of small victories and defeats.  A couple of the TFA teachers were splendid, seemingly born to teach.  Two were flops.  One got a raw deal from his principal and never hit his stride.  It was life, but no potential funders were interested in that story.
We ended up creating seven profiles and putting them on our web site, where you can see them for yourself and make your own judgments.
But it’s a shame that the world of teacher training has become so political. There’s no question that Wendy Kopp and Teach for America have changed the landscape and made a significant contribution.  But let’s not pretend that it’s all good or all bad.

As I write in my book, “It may well be that Teach For America’s greatest contribution to education will not be the kids who are helped or the talented young men and women who develop a connection with and affection for public education, but its relentless self-examination – a process that quite simply puts the rest of teacher education to shame. If Teach For America can work hard to figure out why some of its trainees become better teachers than others, why can’t regular schools of education?”