Jan 12, 2015
PARCC Standardized Test Divides Evanston – Part II
Published in ChicagoNow, January 12, 2015 Back in 1969 when I was teaching high school English, a colleague questioned how I gave a...
Jan 7, 2015
PARCC Standardized Test Divides Evanston – Part I
Published in ChicagoNow, January 7, 2015 It doesn’t take much to stir up a controversy in Evanston. At a Strategic Planning Focus Group...
Dec 8, 2014
My Sad History with Standardized Testing
Photo by Anthony Quinn Published in ChicagoNow, December 8, 2014 I have a personal aversion to standardized fill-in-the-bubble tests....
Dec 1, 2014
A Third Grader’s 10 Ideas for School Improvement
Guest blogger Published in ChicagoNow, December 1, 2014 Remember the old Dr. Seuss book If I Ran the Zoo? In it, young Gerald McGrew...
Nov 17, 2014
Common Core Testing for Dogs and Cats
Published in ChicagoNow, November 17, 2014 I’m not making this up. In the print version of Scientifics Direct, a very nice catalog of...
Oct 28, 2014
A Test No One Wants to Give but Everyone has to Take
Photo by Anthony Quinn Published in ChicagoNow, October 28, 2014 Suppose a new children’s cereal came on the market. Its manufacturer...
Oct 21, 2014
To the Parent of the Shy Kindergartener
Cartoon by Marcia Liss Published in ChicagoNow, October 21, 2014 Since when did shyness in a 5-year-old become something requiring...
Oct 16, 2014
Inequality, Poverty, and the Educational Reform Movement
Published in ChicagoNow, October 16, 2014 How can a brilliant man who received a rigorous education at a private school and graduated...
Oct 6, 2014
What will PARCC Testing do to our Teachers?
Published in ChicagoNow, October 6, 2014 (cartoon by Marcia Liss) Yesterday was World Teacher Day. In an ironic twist, an article in the...
Oct 1, 2014
How Student Essay Writing Has Changed Since 1969
Yes, it’s me! Published in ChicagoNow, October 1, 2014 You read that correctly. 45 years ago, I was teaching high school English at Niles...