Schools Matter

Hey Hey,

  Check out this new source out in the blogosphere (man, I love using that word)....

Schools Matter

This space will explore issues in public education policy; and it will advocate for a commitment to and a re-examination of the democratic purposes of schools. If there is some urgency in the message, it is due to the current reform efforts that are based on a radical re-invention of education, now spearheaded by a psychometric blitzkrieg of "metastasized testing" aimed at dismantling a public education system that took almost 200 years to build.

Comments

[Rob H.]

On teachers that blog...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2006-09-17-teacher-blogs_x.htm

and this one seems kinda cool:
http://theschoolofblog.blogspot.com/2006/09/radicalism-neoliberalism-and-other.html#comments

[Sharon Farr]

I hear much comparison between secondary schools in the United States and other countries from the "pundits" on television. Supposedly our students are behind, especially in science and mathematics; our students do not have the same percentage of graduation, etc. Of course, schools, especially teachers are blamed for this difference in the quality of education. But what about the possibility (that no one every mentions) that we are comparing apples and oranges? I visited a friend in Sweden (granted, this was years ago) and she explained to me that students are separated early in their educational careers into two tracks; vocational and university preparatory. We don't do that in the United States. We assume everyone can go to college and all students take courses, including algebra, chemistry and so on, with that end in view.

I would like to know if that is true in countries such as Japan, China, and other European countries. If it is, why is this difference never mentioned when we compare ourselves to these countries?