Parent Cortical Mass

PCM's Top Articles of the Week

The most talked-about topic this week covered the feasibility of new tests used for accountability. These new high stakes tests, aligned to the academically challenging common core standards, were rolled out in NY, causing a hub bub. As predicted, parents were not happy. Find out why. ● A survey released this week clarifies 3 ways parents want to be involved in their kids’ educations. Where do you fit? ● Hear PCM's Top Influencers Bill Gates, Diane Ravitch, Arne Duncan, and Michelle Rhee talk about testing, teacher evaluations based on student test scores, and the rationale for universal pre-school. ● Learn more about curiosity, creativity, unsticking misconceptions, and the role of background knowledge to critical thinking skills. ● Be sure to read about the Digital Public Library of America!

Parenting

Toddlers and Touchscreens: Scourge or Salvation? - Anya Kamenetz, Hechinger Report

Not All Parents Want To Be PTA Moms - Joanne Jacobs, Linking and Thinking on Education

Organizations Vie for Parent Attention with 'Report Cards' - Michele Molnar, Education Week

Authoritarian Parenting: What Happens to the Kids? - Gwen Dewar, Parenting Science

The Kids Are Not Alright? - Polly Palumbo, Momma Data

The Girl Scouts' VERY Cool New Badge - Krystie Yandoli, Huff Post Teen

Helping Your Kids Avoid Alcohol Pitfalls in Shift to College - Cleveland & Ward, EurekaAlert!

Measuring College Prestige vs. Price - Paul Sullivan, New York Times

Learning

How to Stimulate Curiosity and Promote Learning - Annie Murphy Paul, TIME

Why Teenagers Really Do Need an Extra Hour in Bed - Russell Foster, New Scientist

How To Unlearn Mistaken Ideas - Annie Murphy Paul, The Brilliant Blog

Misconceptions about Critical Thinking and Knowledge - Lisa Hansel, Core Knowledge Blog

Is It Possible to Measure Creativity? - Elizabeth Blair, Mind/Shift

Education

Test Resentment and the Politics of the Common Core - Dana Goldstein

In an Era of Global Competition, What Exactly Are We Testing For? - K. Schwartz, Mind/Shift

Michelle Rhee and the Unproven Teacher Evaluation - Karin Klein, L.A. Times

Bill Gates On Education: "We Can Make Massive Strides" - Anya Kamenetz, Fast Company

Clueless Bill Gates, Redux - Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch's Blog

High-Quality Preschool is a Sure Path to the Middle Class - Arne Duncan, Washington Post

How High-Poverty Schools Are Getting It Done - Karin Chenoweth & Christina Theokas, ASCD

What Education Reform Looks Like - Joel Klein, Wall Street Journal

Questioning the Mission of College - Frank Bruni, New York Times

And the National Teacher of the Year Is... - Elizabeth Chuck, U.S. News

Resources

U.S. News Releases 2013 Best High Schools Rankings - Kelsey Sheehy, U.S. News

Presenting ... the Digital Public Library of America! - Rebecca J. Rosen, The Atlantic

Life360 Wins as Smartphones Become Family Utilities - Ryan Kim, GigaOm

5 Tools to Help Your Child Learn the Pencil Grip - Andrea Updyke, BabyCenter

Shakespeare's Sonnets - A Terrific App (ages 14 +) - Mary Ann Scheuer, Great Kid Books

PCM's Top Articles of the Week

This week find four articles, covering a range of viewpoints, on the issue of privacy and large student databases. The SXSWedu Conference in Austin last week proved the topic is hot, and relevant to parents. Get informed. ● Enjoy articles this week by well-respected writers and researchers like Mimi Ito, Vaughan Bell and Alison Gopnik. ● Learn more about praising kids, overconfidence, attention, and why human young require such an investment of time and patience. ● Statements from PCM Top Influencers Bill Gates, Diane Ravitch, Linda Darling-Hammond and Randi Weingarten made noisier news this week. ● The resources listed are fun--check out all of them!

Parenting

Why I Want Women to Lean In - Sheryl Sandberg, Time

Why Elon Musk and Chris Anderson's SXSW Parenting Debate Matters - Lisa Belkin, HuffPost

What Teens Get About the Internet That Parents Don't - Mimi Ito, The Atlantic

Redefining Etiquette In the Digital Era - Nick Bilton, New York Times

PS4, Gaming, & the New Privacy Reality - Anne Collier, NetFamilyNews

Video Game Industry Campaign to Explain Ratings to Parents - Hayley Tsukayama, WashPost

Defining Bullying: What It Is and What It Isn't - Emily Bazelon, New York Times

Learning

How NOT to Praise A Child with Low Self Esteem - Daniel Willingham, Science & Education Blog

Why Are Our Kids Useless? Because We're Smart - Alison Gopnik, Wall Street Journal

Friend or Foe: Babies Choose Sides Early - ScienceDaily

Our Brains Are Not As Simple As We Think - Vaughan Bell, The Guardian

Why Paying Attention is Anything But Elementary - Maria Konnikova, BBC

Confidence, Overconfidence, & Knowing What You Know - Annie Murphy Paul, Creativity Post

Education

Does Closing Underperforming Schools Help or Hurt Kids? - Sarah Carr, The Atlantic

Bill Gates: The Future of Education is Data - Frank Catalano, GeekWire

Diane Ravitch and a New Advocacy Group - Motoko Rich, New York Times

Randi Weingarten on Why She Got Arrested Protesting in Philly - Valerie Strauss, Wash Post

Teachers Are the Scapegoats, But Inequity Is the Problem - Darling-Hammond & Holland, AlterNet

Standard Tests Do Reveal Which Teachers Are Best - Peter Orszag, Bloomberg

Rotten to the Core: Feds' Invasive Student Tracking Database - Michelle Malkin, Creators.com

Getting Rich Off Schoolchildren - David Sirota, Salon

People, Explain Why Education Data Collection Is Bad - Eric Horowitz, edSurge

Fragmented Data Systems a Barrier to Better Schools, Experts Say - Katie Ash, Ed Week

Our Brains Extended: Technology Is a New Way of Thinking - Marc Prensky, ASCD

Drawing a Hard Line on Third Graders - Lyndsey Layton, Washington Post

Resources

10 Best TV Shows for Young Children - Michael Petrilli, Flypaper

You Are Stardust: Teaching Kids About the Universe - Maria Popova, Brain Pickings

10 Ways Parents Can Use Spotify - Coolmomtech

Best Toys for Children in Primary Grades - Stevanne Auerbach, Huff Post

Review: Hands-on with Lego StoryStarter - Marisa Kaplan, edSurge

Parents' Choice Spring 2013 Small Screen Awards - Parents' Choice

PCM's Top Articles of the Week

The best article to gain cortical mass this week tells how genetics and dopamine affect the way kids handle pressure during high-stakes tests. In fact, dopamine stars in two articles below. ● Reinforce what you’ve learned about Incremental Intelligence with the article on praising kids. ● Bill Gates, number 2 on the list of PCM's Top 10 Influencers, explains the foundation's research on teacher effectiveness in his annual letter. ● Michelle Rhee appeared everywhere promoting her new book, Radical, excerpted below. ● You’ve heard boys outperform girls in STEM subjects, but is that true internationally? ● Monopoly replaced the iron token with a more current icon, the cat. (LOL)

Parenting

Do Gifted Kids Want to Be Zuckerberg Rather Than Einstein? - Jonathan Wai, Creativity Post

What Pygmies Can Teach Us About Child Rearing - Ericka Christakis, Time

Right Praise Sets Toddlers on Path to Success - Gwen Dewar, PhD, BabyCenter

5 Reasons Toddlers Won't Follow Our Directions - Janet Lansbury, Elevating Child Care

Playtime: Affectionate, Less Controlling Moms Make Strongest Relationships - ScienceDaily

Fearless Parenting in the Unmapped Landscape - Anne Collier, NetFamilyNews

Learning

Why Can Some Kids Handle Pressure While Others Fall Apart? - Po Bronson & A. Merryman, NYT

How to Make a Young Child Smarter: What the Research Says - Daniel Willingham, Sci & Ed Blog

How Walking or Biking to School Improves Concentration - Sarah Goodyear, Atlantic Cities

The Unsexy Truth About Dopamine - Vaughn Bell, Guardian

Primer on Success: Review of How Children Succeed - E.D. Hirsch, Education Next

Mitch Resnik: Reading, Writing, Programming - Mitch Resnik, TED Talk [Video 15 min.]

Are You Doing These 5 Things to Become Smarter? - Eric Barker, Barking Up the Wrong Tree

Education

Girls Lead in Science Exam, But Not in U.S. - Hannah Fairfield & Alan McLean, New York Times

The Boys at the Back - Christina Hoff Sommers, New York Times

Michelle Rhee: My Break with Democrats - Michelle Rhee, The Daily Beast

Bill Gates: Grading Our Teachers is a Good Investment - Bill Gates, CNN

Revolution Hits the Universities - Thomas Friedman, New York Times

A Double Dose of Algebra Improves Math & Verbal Skills - Maureen Downey, AJC

Global Search for Education: If Not the SAT, What? - C.M. Rubin, Huffington Post

Every Day Should Be Digital Learning Day - Karen Cator, US Department of Education Blog

Resources

Monopoly Token Contest: Cat will Replace Iron - Josh Voorhees, Slate

Disney 'Connected Learning' to Infuse Games with Learning - Betsy Corcoran, edSurge

20 Educational Games Perfect for Young Students - Julie DeNeen, edudemic

Valentine's Day Tech Gifts Last Longer than Roses - coolmomtech

10 Fabulous Science and Math YouTube Channels - Caroline Mukisa, MathsInsider

What is the 'Parent Trigger'?

Parent Trigger describes state legislation that gives parents more power to change poorly performing schools. To pull the trigger, more than 50% of the parents in the school must sign a petition to initiate the process. Once the shot is fired, parents can implement one of 4 options:

    1) shut down the school,

    2) fire the principal,

    3) fire teachers, or

    4) hire a charter organization to take over the school.

Seven states have passed laws with versions of the parent trigger. But Florida, in March 2012, voted down parent trigger legislation in a hard fought battle between activists on both sides. As many as 20 more states are considering legislation. Why? One reason is that it improves states’ chances of being waived from certain accountability requirements in No Child Left Behind.

Here are 14 articles to help you get informed. 

Reference Articles

Hopes and Fears for Parent Trigger Laws - Room for Debate, The Opinion Pages, NYT

Five Minute Primer: Parent Trigger Laws - Donna Krache, Schools of Thought, CNN

Parent Trigger Laws in the States - National Conference of State Legislatures

Roundup of Leading Thinkers on Parent Trigger - Nick Pandolfo, HechingerEd

Opinions

Can Parents Take Over Schools? - Andrew Rotherham, Time

Putting Parents in Charge - Peg Tyre, New York Times

The Trouble With the Parent Trigger - Diane Ravitch, Education Week

Not Your Mother's PTA - Bruno V. Manno, Education Next

Support Parent Power - Gloria Romero, Los Angeles Times

No Magic Bullet for Schools - Editorial, Los Angeles Times

Why Florida's Parent Trigger Bill Failed in State Senate - Valerie Strauss, Washington Post

Michelle Rhee Interview About the Parent Trigger - Jeff Solochek, Tampa Bay Times

US Mayors Back Parent Trigger Legislation - Stephanie Simon, Reuters

Mayors Gone Mad - Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch's Blog

What is the 'Parent Trigger'?

Parent Trigger describes state legislation that gives parents more power to change poorly performing schools. To pull the trigger, more than 50% of the parents in the school must sign a petition to initiate the process. Once the shot is fired, parents can implement one of 4 options:

    1) shut down the school,

    2) fire the principal,

    3) fire teachers, or

    4) hire a charter organization to take over the school.

Seven states have passed laws with versions of the parent trigger. But Florida, in March 2012, voted down parent trigger legislation in a hard fought battle between activists on both sides. As many as 20 more states are considering legislation. Why? One reason is that it improves states’ chances of being waived from certain accountability requirements in No Child Left Behind.

Here are 14 articles to help you get informed. 

Reference Articles

Hopes and Fears for Parent Trigger Laws - Room for Debate, The Opinion Pages, NYT

Five Minute Primer: Parent Trigger Laws - Donna Krache, Schools of Thought, CNN

Parent Trigger Laws in the States - National Conference of State Legislatures

Roundup of Leading Thinkers on Parent Trigger - Nick Pandolfo, HechingerEd

Opinions

Can Parents Take Over Schools? - Andrew Rotherham, Time

Putting Parents in Charge - Peg Tyre, New York Times

The Trouble With the Parent Trigger - Diane Ravitch, Education Week

Not Your Mother's PTA - Bruno V. Manno, Education Next

Support Parent Power - Gloria Romero, Los Angeles Times

No Magic Bullet for Schools - Editorial, Los Angeles Times

Why Florida's Parent Trigger Bill Failed in State Senate - Valerie Strauss, Washington Post

Michelle Rhee Interview About the Parent Trigger - Jeff Solochek, Tampa Bay Times

US Mayors Back Parent Trigger Legislation - Stephanie Simon, Reuters

Mayors Gone Mad - Diane Ravitch, Diane Ravitch's Blog

Arne Duncan

Secretary of Education

Arne Duncan is considered the most powerful Secretary of Education ever, for one reason:  money.  Unlike the past 8 Secretaries, and because of the Great Recession, the Education Department received a windfall 100 billion stimulus dollars to invest in public schools.  To create incentives for President Obama’s reforms, Duncan put 4.35 billion of these dollars into a fund he named "Race to the Top” and then invited states to apply and compete for these funds.  To be eligible, states had to strike down laws that were obstacles to the administration’s reforms.  The cooperation from financially strapped states to change these laws was unprecedented.

Before his appointment as Education Secretary, Duncan ran the Chicago Public Schools.   As CEO, he was the very model of a modern education leader, in charge of a mayor-controlled school system.  Proponents of this new model of leadership make this case: if a mayor takes away authority for a city schools from the elected Board of Education and gives that authority to an appointed, business-style executive, then that executive can by-pass the conflicting groups in the educational bureaucracy that hinder progress.  The new leader can make top-down decisions that will allow for rapid change and big gains in student achievement.  In practice the model has achieved rapid change, but gains in student achievement hasn’t been as rapid as hoped.  To those who believe schools must be improved using free-market reforms like choice, competition, and accountability, Arne Duncan is their champion. 

Because of the stimulus money he controls, the corporate leaders who support him, and his full court press commitment to improve education for all children, Arne Duncan is PCM’s selection for the most influential education leader in America.

-- Go to PCM's Top 10 Influencers List --

Bill Gates

Co-Chair, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Bill Gates’ is PCM’s second most influential education leader for two reasons: the billions of dollars in his Foundation and his longstanding commitment to education.  By using his “philanthro-capital," Gates can impact public education policy without needing to be elected and reelected. 

His alpha-executive skills, sharpened in the fast-moving business world, get put to nimble use by partnering with political leaders possessing the skills to manage slow-moving government institutions.  Gates partnered with Arne Duncan when Duncan was CEO of the Chicago Public Schools.  He also partnered with Joel Klein, former Chancellor of NYC Education Department, investing 150 million dollars into the city’s reforms.  Joel Klein was the lead prosecutor for the Justice Department in the anti-trust case against Microsoft, so they found common ground in education.

The Gates Foundation acts as an R & D unit by funding research to discover the best ways to raise student achievement.  To get Gate’s funding, the investment must be scalable and have a financial model that allows it function on public funding after the Foundation withdraws.  Since 2000 Gates invested more than 2 billion dollars into “small school” high schools.  After a decade the research concluded that, even though high school completion rates improved, student achievement didn’t budge.  Undaunted, Gates said, this is what happens in R&D—finding out what doesn’t work makes us smarter and informs our next steps. 

In the Foundation’s 2011 Annual Letter, Gates outlined their next two areas of investment—researching the best methods to increase teacher effectiveness and on-line learning technology.

-- Go to PCM's Top 10 Influencers List --

Rep. George Miller, (D-CA)

Ranking Member, Education and Workforce Committee 

Rep. George Miller is one of the most experienced lawmakers on public education.  In 2001, along with Speaker John Boehner, Sen. Ted Kennedy and Sen. Judd Gregg, he actually wrote the No Child Left Behind Act, the name given to the most recent reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.  What has Rep. Miller said about this legislation?  A great many things, but most memorable is:  "At the end of the day, No Child Left Behind may be the most tainted brand in America." 

With the results of the 2010 election, Rep. Miller, a democrat, lost the Chairmanship of the Committee on Education and Labor.  The new Chairman, Rep. John Klein of Minnesota, might usurp Rep. Miller’s place on this list, but for now, Rep. Klein’s influence is unexercised.  With reauthorization of NCLB on the congressional agenda for 2011, leading educational thinkers, movers and shakers will want to appear before the committee to present the case to include their preferred reforms in the next reauthorization.  Because Rep. Miller is the Ranking Member, and further, due to his deep knowledge of education legislation, he has a great deal of power and influence.

 -- Go to PCM's Top 10 Influencers List --

Linda Darling-Hammond

Charles E. Ducommon Professor of Education at Stanford University

Linda Darling-Hammond is a national treasure.  In 2006, Education Week selected her as one of the ten most influential people in education policy for the previous decade.  This list included two presidents, a governor, a senator, a congressmen, as well as billionaire Bill Gates.  That’s powerful company.

During the 2008 election and transition, Obama asked Darling-Hammond to serve as his chief education advisor, causing her to be the most-mentioned person for Education Secretary.  Why was she was passed over?  Her positions on teacher effectiveness and the No Child Left Behind Act were politically on-target, but corporate, free-market reformers didn’t like that teacher unions preferred her.  Her stand against merit pay was a political liability.  The corporate reformers preferred, and got, Arne Duncan.

Politics aside, Darling-Hammond is regarded perhaps as America’s most distinguished education leader and academic.  She has published a dozen books and more than 300 articles, has served on the most prominent government and corporate advisory boards, holds 8 honorary degrees, and has received many prestigious awards for service.

Her life’s work has focused on improving teacher effectiveness by improving the profession as a whole.  She is at the top of the knowledge mountain when it comes to designing effective teacher education programs and teacher credentialing systems.  She is an expert on how to restructure low performing schools.  Her purpose with all these efforts is to cut into America’s persistent achievement gaps.  Her latest book, The Flat World of Education, is a magnum opus.   

"Education is a public good.  We all benefit, or we all hurt, depending on the quality of education other people's children get." -Linda Darling-Hammond

-- Go to PCM's Top 10 Influencers List -- 

Diane Ravich

Education Historian; Research Professor of Education, NYU

The day Diane Ravitch published her book, The Death and Life of the Great American Public School System, and made mincemeat of her former positions on accountability, standardized testing and charter schools, her allies and colleagues cried, “Left wing!”  How could the former Assistant Secretary of Education, one of the founding thinkers at the table when the reform era was born, board member on prestigious conservative think tanks, make such a public about-face and reject their fixes for American education?  Courage.  That is why Diane Ravitch receives the award for the bravest thinker in the education world this year and makes PCM’s Top Ten Influencers list. 

With 18 books to her credit, positions held in the Bush, Sr. and Clinton education departments, and 8 honorary degrees, she has the credentials and intellectual clout to create some policy dissonance.  She says the research is in.   Reforms are not producing the results anticipated and promised.  Worse, unintended consequences, such as teaching to the test, gaming the system, lowering standards, and narrowing the curriculum, are stalling our progress, even undermining the role of public education in our democracy.  She is the only education leader asking publically if Bill Gates, someone outside the electoral process, should have so much influence over public education.  That’s bold.

-- Go to PCM's Top 10 Influencers List --