See students as individuals!

By Conny Jensen On May 19, 2012 · Leave a Comment

I came across this note worthy comment by Algot Runeman on the Diane Ravitch Blog.

“A funny thing. No two districts are the same. No two schools are the same. No two classes are the same. No two students are the same. What worked once for one of them doesn’t [...]

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What’s your viewpoint?

By Conny Jensen On April 13, 2012 · 4 Comments

The concern: “..when is recess coming back in the elementary schools? That is an ax all of us parents have been grinding for a long time. Parents were very angry about recess being taken away almost ten years ago. Many parents left the district over that alone. It’s time to reinstate afternoon and morning recess. [...]

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Afraid to opt out of testing?

By Conny Jensen On March 13, 2012 · 4 Comments

“Coercion has no place in a democratic society, least of all in school where it flies in the face of everything that quality education should  stand for!”

Parents,  have you or your child been threatened, punished, or coerced  by school administrators and/or teachers for opting your child out of high-stakes standardized state testing? [...]

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Looking the other Way

By Conny Jensen On February 21, 2012 · 1 Comment

The following is an excerpt from Peggy Robertson’s blog Post  ”Looking the other Way”

“Once you open your eyes to what is true – there is no turning back.”

I work with a group of educators at United Opt Out National who are asking for one act of [...]

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Parents must read “Seeds of Tomorrow”

By Conny Jensen On January 29, 2012 · Leave a Comment

In my many years as education advocate I have read many great, informative books by true educators with a heart for kids like Alfie Kohn, Jonathan Kozol, Wiliam Glasser, John Holt, and John Taylor Gatto, and Angela Engel now belongs in that category as well.

Her phenomenally engaging writing style makes Seeds [...]

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Schools in the Plastic Age

By Conny Jensen On January 27, 2012 · Leave a Comment

Welcome to the PC  (Plastic and Computer) Age kindergarten where kids no longer play.

(Phot0: Denver Post,  Jan. 17, 2012; a kindergarten class at the Ricardo Flores Magon Academy K-8 charter school in Westminster.)

Standardized test scores say nothing about a student’s creative ability or potential. If curriculum focuses on prescribed skills, [...]

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Low test scores, grades? Short lunchbreak!

By Conny Jensen On September 14, 2011 · 1 Comment

High School Junior Colton Davisson about CSAP tests, ”You try hard in elementary and middle school…By the time you’re in ninth and 10th grade, you just want to get through it. You just sit and wait for the day to be over. It doesn’t mean anything. To me it meant a longer lunch and snack breaks.”

In [...]

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Don’t all children deserve the same opportunity?

By Conny Jensen On August 22, 2011 · 1 Comment

Sahila Changebringer is an amazingly knowledgeable and perceptive woman regarding the current education reforms.  She’s being interviewed here by TFT, The Frustrated Teacher who set up the Facebook page Miseducation Nation which she co-administers.

He says about her: “She is a single mom trying to make her world [...]

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Reading is not a race!

By Conny Jensen On August 13, 2011 · Leave a Comment

By Laura Manuel

Will the following nonsense words encourage you to read further? Bov Nuk Thi Toc Puv. I doubt it. Yet this is exactly what DIBELS — Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills — has our children reading in the name of literacy. DIBELS is a test that presumes to judge how well [...]

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Well-paying jobs will be few!

By Conny Jensen On August 11, 2011 · Leave a Comment

If only people, especially those in business, including students majoring in business, would read books like “Turbo-Capitalism: Winners and Losers in the Global Economy” by Edward Luttwak, they would realize that only a small number of all the envisioned “proficient” students will ultimately find a slot away from the base of the pyramid [...]

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