Prominent American architecture critic Martin Filler once observed: “The variable posthumous reputations of even the greatest artists and the unpredictable revivals of interest in even the most obscure ones tend to reveal more about those who make revisionist assessments than about those who are being reassessed.” Filler was talking about art, of course, but his…
Who will make decisions in the future? I was on a three-way talk show on WEKU 88.9 Radio last week when the subject of who created the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) came up. A highly placed official in our public education sector challenged me when I pointed out that not one person from Kentucky…
So, why did the Common Core fail to include any? Kentucky Commissioner of Education Terry Holliday’s blog from last week, “Feedback is critical to success,” is on target. A good education system requires feedback between all the key players in the process: those who write the standards, those who create the curriculum, those who teach,…
A great example of how digital learning is opening new worlds for people with medical challenges showed up today in the Kentucky Forward news clips service. NKU professor Rebecca Bailey found herself at a crossroads several years ago. Her medical challenges took her out of her classroom at the university, and she wasn’t sure if…
A new lawsuit targeting one of the two national efforts to create Common Core State Standards tests has just been filed in Missouri. The suit relates to Missouri’s fiscal involvement with the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC), one of two federally-funded groups that are working on assessments aligned to the Common Core. It reportedly alleges…
With a review of the Common Core State Standards implementation in Kentucky already under way, it looks like still more states are finding the need to either drop or, as in North Carolina, at least consider adjusting these controversial standards. These state-by-state efforts are going to take the “common” out of Common Core, of course.
Teachers starting to speak out in Kentucky No, I didn’t create the title for this blog. It comes from an article written by Jeff Jobe, editor of Jobe Publishing Company. This article ran in that firm’s multiple newspapers that that cover the Barren, Butler, Metcalfe, Monroe and Hart County areas. Examples include the Hart County…
It looks like the release data for Kentucky’s Unbridled Learning school accountability system results from the 2013-14 school term is slipping, again. Not too long ago the Kentucky Department of Education was talking about a public release of the data in mid- to late September. Now, the earliest release expected is October 3, 2014, and…
A news report from the Times-Tribune in Corbin, “W’burg school board approves new tax rate” discusses more than local tax data. According to a presentation at recent Williamsburg Independent Schools Board of Education meeting, the Kentucky Department of Education is experiencing significant problems with its “Continuous Instructional Improvement Technology System,” or CIITS. Statewide problems center…
A long awaited audit of the Fayette County School system, which serves Lexington, Kentucky, has finally been released and some of the findings are incredibly troubling. According to the first news release from the Lexington Herald-Leader, the auditor’s findings include: • Weaknesses in budget and financial-management processes, • Administrative and management salary increases that outpace…