Common Core

The question (*posted by a British educational provider) was answered and debated on twitter recently.  Tom Bennett started an interesting twitter conversation on this question.  There were several answers on why education is more than just learning how to use Google ‘facts’, the result of using Google (does it ...

Republican Proposes Eliminating Department of Education. Here Are 7 Reasons That’s A Great Idea. For years, I fought the NEA as a teacher, to teach to the student, the individual student instead of the “class.” Sadly, at tis point, the NEA is more interested in political statements an political ...

If you are offended by the word bull**** you might want to stop reading now.  However, if you think the main purpose of education is to teach human capital to be useful in the global economy, you know that this premise is indeed bull****.  If you believe the current ...

Missouri Education Watchdog by Cheri Kiesecker Even though Common Core has been acknowledged as a major campaign issue and is the focus of a heated debate in education, it was not mentioned during the hearing to confirm our new US Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos.  We have to wonder why no Democrat, no ...

The Federal bureaucrats in the US Department of Education are worried about the data mining via the structure (student longitudinal data systems) they supported which captures student/family Personally Identifiable Information (PII).  The bureaucrats endorsed the use of PII which was mandated via The State Stabilization Fund and ESSA.  Now ...

Missouri Education Watchdog by Cheri Kiesecker Jeb Bush has heavily promoted Common Core; he’s even been referred to as the godfather of ed reform. Betsy DeVos, our newly nominated US Secretary of Education,  is listed as a Board Member on Jeb’s (Pro-Common Core) Foundation for Excellence in Education. Side note: For those claiming ...

  A factual, albeit politically incorrect article has been written by Heather MacDonald on what’s wrong with public schools, Violence in the Halls, Disorder in the Malls, and here is a spoiler alert about its findings: it’s not anything that ‘higher’ standards and federalized educational mandates can fix.  The ...

The MEW January 1, 2015 article recently appeared in Facebook memories.  You can find it here.  It might as well have been written for a New Year’s greeting to the educational elites in 2017 as it dealt with the CCSS architects defending the failing standards in a National Public ...

It’s the Christmas season and most of us would like to hear uplifting stories this time of year.  The following story illustrates what can occur in education delivery/policy when teachers/administrators/private foundations think outside of a common curriculum and teaching techniques to reach students with learning disabilities.  A positive story ...

Missouri Education Watchdog by Cheri Kiesecker Betsy DeVos, President Elect Trump’s pick for US Secretary of Ed has recently stated that she is opposed to Common Core. Interestingly, her home state of Michigan is trying to pass a bill, SB-826, to repeal the Common Core standards and replace them with, not a re-brand, but Pre-Common Core ...

Missouri Education Watchdog by Cheri Kiesecker President Elect Trump’s choice for US Secretary of Ed, Betsy DeVos, is pro- choice.  So parents would like to know: Would Ms. DeVos support ensuring parents the CHOICE  of whether to have their children datamined? Apparently, Ms. DeVos supports allowing big technology companies to datamine children, ...

If you follow education reform, this Thanksgiving has been, well, interesting.  Twitter comments on the nomination of Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary have ranged from those celebrating a charter school proponent to those concerned about her apparent 11th hour conversion against Common Core and praise from Jeb Bush: Many ...

Missouri Education Watchdog by Cheri Kiesecker President Elect Trump has said he will end Common Core.  Today, he chose billionaire Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education.  As many have reported,  DeVos has been an ardent Common Core supporter.  We also know that Common Core is much more than a set of standards or ...

Missouri Education Watchdog by Cheri Kiesecker BigMedia and BigData lost their bets when Donald J. Trump was elected the next President of the United States.  Our nation surprised and divided, bloggers wrote So now what? and What happens to education? The last few days have seen a flurry of announcements concerning who President Elect Trump might ...