After An Educator's Journey
Out of the classroom & into the universe
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Once upon a time, I taught 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders. Now I’m retired and working on new ventures.
Tag: public education
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Yesterday’s presentation of the Senate bill proposing a compromise to the Charter School ballot question got a predictable reaction. No one is totally happy, but the unhappiest reactions came from those who advocate lifting the cap on charter schools in Massachusetts – the ones who continue to quote the 34,000 student waiting list even in the face…
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School Committee Meeting: Wednesday, March 16, 2016 All members present. Item 19, a motion by Ms. Martin meant to highlight innovative curricula in the Lowell Schools, was taken out of order. The featured school, The Pyne Arts (link here), is a Grades PK-8 magnet school. It is unique because of the grade span that the…
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Ludlow Superintendent Todd Gazda posed this question in a recent Commonwealth Magazine article: What is equity? Because, as Dr. Gazda points out, current education policy tends toward equalizing education for all students with standardized curriculums proven by standardized assessment and incentivized “business systems” for implementation. Equity, like fairness, is not treating every student the same, but rather focuses on…
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School Committee Meeting: Wednesday, February 3, 2016 All members present. Subcommittees The Subcommittee on Policy, chaired by Mr. Hoey, met on January 27th. The report from the meeting suggested a change to the LPSD school purchasing policy so that LPSD purchasing aligns with the City of Lowell purchasing policy. Much discussion about the threshold of…
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As I sat down to write about my personal opinions about PARCC and standardized testing in general, I came to the realization that a single post might not be enough. Over the course of the next week, I’ll be posting about PARCC and some of the reasons it merits the attention of anyone connected to…
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School Committee Meeting: Wednesday, January 20, 2016 All members present. Twenty-seven items were posted on this agenda which included an Executive Session to discuss contract negotiations and consideration of contract extensions for two Assistant Superintendents. Although most of the meeting was routine, there were two points that caused longer discussion: STEM at Lowell High and…
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Our local CBS affiliate posted a public opinion question this morning. The “No Nonsense Nurturing” is rearing its ugly head once again because teachers and schools using this program (see link ) have gained some news cycle traction: teachers are being told not to use “please” or “thank you” with students. As Amy Berard, former Lawrence…
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Project Learn Recently I had the pleasure of talking about education with LZ Nunn and Brittany Burgess from Project Learn, a nonprofit supporting education and educators. LZ recently accepted the challenge of becoming the ED of Project Learn. One of the topics we tossed around was grant writing, and ways Project Learn might offer support to…
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School Committee Meeting: Wednesday, December 2, 2015 Five members present, Mr. Gendron was absent. This meeting again featured a public portion and an Executive Session. Most of the agenda items were dealt with quickly with little discussion. Motions There were two new motions, both made by Mayor Elliott. Agenda Item 5 (2015/453) addressed some concerns…
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Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Lesley University Professor Emerita, recently stated the following during an acceptance speech for the Deborah Meier award. Dr. Carlsson-Paige cites a statistic from the DOE Department of Civil Rights which reports that 8,000 Preschool students (!) were suspended at least once in a school year. “There is a connection, I know, between these…
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