This list will certainly be one of the last, if not the last, in my “Best of…” series for this year.

I’ve also put quotes around the word “Best” in the title of this list since I’m sure there are many, many articles about education I have not read and posted about this year.  I’m particularly interested in hearing people’s suggestions for additions to this list.

Here are my rankings for the five “best” articles about education this year:

Number five is really two articles.  Both of them appeared in Rethinking Schools and both are about Ruby Payne, whose “deficit” perspective on low-income people continues to grow (unfortunately) in popularity among School Districts and teachers.  The first article, called Savage Unrealities and written by Paul Gorski, provides a good critique (though it’s sometimes a little too polemical for my taste).  The second, titled Revisiting Ruby Payne and written by Anita Perna Bohn, gives a good rejoinder to a nauseatingly fawning article about Payne that appeared this year in the New York Times Sunday Magazine.

Number four is an article that appeared in Scientific American titled The Secret To Raising Smart Kids. It highlights the importance of “effort” over “intelligence” or “ability.”

Number three is Collaboration — Rather Than Competition by Marvin Marshall.   Of all the different class management “systems” I’ve read and seen, I’m most impressed by his positive approach.

Number two is Changing The Way We Think About Learning by Linda Hammond-Darling.  It appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle, and compares our testing systems with how other countries measure student learning.

I’m ranking Richard Rothstein’s great article in the latest issue of The American Prospect as number one.  It’s called Leaving “No Child Left Behind” Behind.  The title says it all.

Again, I’m looking forward to hearing other people’s suggestions to add to this list.

You can see all my lists at Websites Of The Year.