Poverty and Education; Common Core and Residencies on NBC News
Three good news items for your attention...
MTR and Character
On March 2, James Q. Wilson died at the age of 80. He was He was the co-author of the 1982 "Broken Windows" study. In addition to this important study, he was also a huge proponent of the role of CHARACTER in improving the health...
Arne Duncan, Harvard and MTR
This morning I read Arne Duncan's (US Secretary of Education) speech at Harvard's Askwith Forum that he gave this past Tuesday. I thought I would pull out four items he discussed that have the most relevance to us at the MTR. Remarks of Secretary Duncan at the Askwith...
Community-Based Ed Reform starts before birth…
Please see Saturday, January 7th's NY Times piece by Nicholas Kristof on the importance of education, particularly early education. (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/opinion/sunday/kristof-a-poverty-solution-that-starts-with-a-hug.html?_r=3&ref=nicholasdkristof) He's saying what we're saying...
Urban Education in an American Passport
I’ll do lots of things to pass the time waiting in long immigration lines. Recently, while leaving Hong Kong, I began to more closely study the pages of my American passport. The first page is the one with my picture and personal information. After that there are 26 more...
The Status Quo is No Longer Welcome
Contributed by Memphian and former NBA player, Elliot Perry.In some ways, we have allowed our education system to sink to a bottomless pit of status quo primarily at the expense of the underserved....
TN DOE approves MCS Teacher Effectiveness Measure
With the approval of their new teacher effectiveness measure (TEM), MCS will initiate for the 2011-2012 school year a new and more rigorous process to evaluate the quality of teaching and learning in the classroom. In prior years, teacher evaluations have been a formality...
A Great “Word” from the New York Times
Op-Ed Columnist - NY TimesIt’s Not About You By DAVID BROOKS Published: May 30, 2011 Over the past few weeks, America’s colleges have sent another class...
TN Charter Law removes cap and enrollment restrictions
In a move that most certainly will transform the public education landscape in Tennessee, the TN State Legislature voted last week to:1. Remove the cap on the amount of charter schools in TN. Currently the cap is 90 statewide. 2. Remove any restrictions...
President Obama and Memphis
President Obama was in Memphis Monday, May 16th to give the graduation commencement address and hand out diplomas to Booker T. Washington High School's 155 graduates.I was particularly interested in this quote: "So that’s why I came here today. Because if success...