Teacher, My Dad Lost His Job. Do We Have to Move? is the title of a NY Times article today.

Here’s an excerpt:

While Washington measures a school’s worth by test scores, here, on Northland Street, there’s more to it. A few weeks before Christmas, a girl in Mrs. Smith’s class went to school with broken eyeglasses patched together with tape. Each time the girl looked down to read, the glasses fell off. This is a small town, and Mrs. Smith knew the girl’s family was struggling. At 9 a.m., Mrs. Smith asked to borrow the glasses; during her lunch period she drove to her eye doctor; by 12:30 the girl had new pink and green frames.

Yes, Secretary Duncan (and your allies), there is more to teaching than test scores…

“It makes no sense”: Puzzling over Obama’s State of the Union Speech is the title of an excellent new post by scholar Yong Zhao.

His perceptive analysis touches on many points, including demagoguery around U.S. international rankings. Because of that, I’m adding his post to The Best Sites For Getting Some Perspective On International Test Comparison Demagoguery.

But, as I mentioned, it offers important commentary on much more than that, and I’d strongly encourage you to read it.

He ends with a recounting of a Chinese story is a thoughtful reflection on the President’s speech and, I think, on the education agenda of his administration and many “school reformers.” I’m going to reprint it here (I hope he doesn’t mind):

A Chinese story best illustrates the danger of choosing the wrong path for the correct destination. This story was recorded in Zhan Guo Ce or the Records of the Warring States, a collection of essays about events and tales that took place during China’s Warring States Period (475-221 BC). Here is my recount of the story.

The king of the state of Wei intends to attack its neighboring state of Zhao. Upon hearing the news, Ji Liang, counselor to the king rushes to see him. “Your Majesty, on my way here, I met a man on a chariot pointed to the north,” Ji Liang tells the King, “and he told me that he was going to visit Chu.”

“But Chu is in the south, why are you headed north?” I asked.

“Oh, no worry, my horses are very strong,” he told me.

“But you should be headed south,” I told him again.

“Not to worry, I have plenty of money,” he was not concerned.

“But still you are headed the wrong direction,” I pointed out yet again.

“I have hired a very skillful driver,” was this man’s reply.

“I worry, your majesty, that the better equipped this man was,” Ji Liang says to the King, “the farther away he would be from his destination.” “You want to be a great king and win respect from all people,” Ji Liang concludes, “You can certainly rely on our strong nation and excellent army to invade Zhao and expand our territory. But I am afraid the more you use force, the farther away you will be from your wishes.”

The Children Must Play: What the United States could learn from Finland about education reform is a very good article in The New Republic.

I’m adding the link to The Best Resources To Learn About Finland’s Education System.

I briefly look at the difference between “transactional” and “transformational” parent involvement/engagement in a post at my other, Engaging Parents In School.

I look at it through the lens of the Chicago mayoral race. You might want to check-out Rahm Emanuel’s “Transactional” Perspective On Parent Involvement/Engagement.