A conversation with Michelle Rhee, Chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools - Charlie Rose

A conversation with Michelle Rhee, Chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools - Charlie Rose

Where Michelle Rhee explains that teaching is a popularity contest, and that if more teachers brought their students McDonald's, everything would be honky-dory.

Disclaimer: I am having a hard time lately seeing the difference between education reformers and the education establishment.

Update: She wasn't all bad. At least she didn't pull a Wendy Kopp and avoid substantive answers.

Even more: She is frickin impressive as hell actually. I want to work for her.

A picture is worth a thousand words (and looking at pictures is a reading strategy anyway)

click to enlarge

One of my commentors mentioned teacher creativity. My daughters teacher expressed her creativity by the use of blue paper and fancy fonts. Note the same old "looking at pictures" as a reading strategy, it even gets higher billing than sounding out words.

No Fucking Duh

I just took dropped my daughter off for her last day of school, and went in to talk to her summer school teacher.

I asked the teacher, how much progress my daughter had made and if she had any test scores, assuming that school used some sort of formal diagnostic assessment. I know, I am an idiot.

Her teacher told me that she had "done some stuff at the computer lab", had a few spelling tests, and done a lot of writing.

I asked if their was anything formal.

"It's all formal" she replied.

"So you have no way of measuring progress" I asked.

The teacher then went on to explain to me that six weeks just wasn't a lot of time, so they worked on some "reading strategies".

The teacher was obviously sensing my frustration and tried to placate me.

"You daughter is a good reader, she just has problems with her decoding"."

"No FUCKING duh", I thought to myself, "you're a fucking idiot."

"You do know what decoding is, don't you?" she asked, assuming my shock was lack of understanding.

I walked out.