Julie Davis

I am a retired high school media coordinator in a rural area of NC.

[Merriam-Webster @MerriamWebster]

Why is it ‘cancelled’ in the U.K. but ‘canceled’ in the U.S.?

Because we gave them that L in 1776.

[Jen @jenteach13]

Your child's school has an assistant superintendent for curriculum, an assistant superintendent for instruction, a director of teaching and learning, and a coordinator of academic services. Your child's teacher has thirty-two kids and no copy paper. This is not a funding problem. It is a priority problem.

[Daniel Buck, “Youngest Old Man in Ed Reform” @MrDanielBuck]

Hear me out:

Whenever I bring up suspensions or expulsions, the response is “but what are we going to do with those kids?” as if it’s the fault of the system

That’s on the parents. They bear final responsibility for that kid, not the school.

And other students shouldn’t have their own learning jeopardized because a few children were poorly parented.

[Daniel Buck, “Youngest Old Man in Ed Reform” @MrDanielBuck]

Education circa 1880:

Greek, Latin, the Aeneid, Euclid in 8th grade

Education circa 2025:

Remedial math and reading at Harvard

[Fixing Education @FixingEducation]

The farther administrators are from the daily reality of students and teachers, the more harmful than helpful they become.

[Daniel Buck, “Youngest Old Man in Ed Reform” @MrDanielBuck]

Schools would be a lot better if they just stayed in their lane, focused on academics, and stopped trying to solve every societal problem

[Julie Davis @jfdmidlibrary]

@SamuelD58848869 I got a 20!

[Jack @tracewoodgrains]

Checking sources is a superpower--you would not believe the stuff people sneak into things.

As one example: the book "Keeping Track" is by far the most influential anti–ability grouping book. Key to its argument is a claimed finding that 90% of students can master course material under the right circumstances to argue that all students should be placed into the same courses.

Where does that footnote - footnote 7 - lead? Benjamin Bloom's "All Our Children Learning." Not to a specific page. Not to a specific note within it. The entire book.

So let's dig in! What does Bloom say?

He notes his belief that around 90% of people differ in rate of learning rather than the level of learning theoretically possible, but that it will take some students more time, effort, and help to reach that level than others (sometimes prohibitively so). Some, he'll note, might take several years on high school algebra, while others can do it in a fraction of a year.

Then he provides suggestions. How do you structure a school so that students can learn at appropriate paces to meet his "90%" goal? He has a few ideas:
1. Give each student an individual tutor.
2. Let students go at their own pace.
3. Guide students towards or away from specific courses.
4. Provide different tracks for different groups of learners.

Did you catch that?

Bloom says: obviously kids learn at different paces, so if you want them to master the material, either let them rush ahead individually or group them by ability. If we do that, everyone's level will improve.

Oakes takes that, strip-mines the entire book down to a claim she paraphrases as "under appropriate learning conditions, more than 90 percent of students can master course material," and then uses it to argue that we should not let kids rush ahead individually or group them by ability.

This book has been cited more than 10000 times. It is by far the most influential single thing ever written on ability grouping. And it cites sources it knows nobody will examine to argue for the polar opposite of what those sources advocate.

Check sources.

[Julie Davis @jfdmidlibrary]

So excited to have won this in a @goodreads giveaway! I have loved all of @OfficiallyAlly books and am looking forward to reading this sequel to The Blonde Identity. If you haven’t already, you need to read it. Romance, mystery and humor- a great read!

[Daniel Buck, “Youngest Old Man in Ed Reform” @MrDanielBuck]

Replacing textbooks with Chromebooks was a mistake

[Julie Davis @jfdmidlibrary]

@goodreads All night! And last night until 5 am! You get to a certain point and you just have to finish the book.

[James A. Furey @JamesAFurey]

“Isn’t it more important that they learned than that they got it right on the first try?”

I mean, yes, to a certain extent.

But, you can’t give students unlimited time, unlimited tries, and unlimited forgiveness and then claim they “mastered the standard.”

They didn’t. You just stopped measuring.

[Daniel Buck, “Youngest Old Man in Ed Reform” @MrDanielBuck]

American education needs a little more “kids don’t know what’s best for them”

[James A. Furey @JamesAFurey]

Should we allow bullying in schools? No? Well, if you allow phones in school, you allow bullying.

Should we allow cheating in schools? No? Well, if you allow phones in schools, you allow cheating.

Should we allow porn in schools? No? Well, if you allow phones in schools, you allow porn.

Should we allow violent media in schools? No? Well…..

[James A. Furey @JamesAFurey]

Teachers don’t burn out from working hard. They burn out from working hard while being undermined at every turn.

[Daniel Buck, “Youngest Old Man in Ed Reform” @MrDanielBuck]

If a student misses 50, 60, 80 days of school, I’m sorry but they have no right to move onto the next grade and a school does them no good by promoting them

[Daniel Buck, “Youngest Old Man in Ed Reform” @MrDanielBuck]

A great day to remember that we live in a great country and our students deserve to learn that

[Revolving_Door_Admin @RAD_is_awesome]

With less than a week before graduation, any senior who has done nothing for four years will earn their way to the procession by spending a couple of hours looking up answers on their phone to complete their online recovery classes.

[Julie Davis @jfdmidlibrary]

@jk_rowling Can’t wait! Hoping to see Robin and Cormoran get closer 🤞

[Fixing Education @FixingEducation]

When a state addresses its teacher shortage by lowering the standards to become a teacher, rather than focusing on making teaching a more sustainable and respected career, it signals a HUGE PROBLEM!