...The
Athenians formed their ranks for battle. The right wing was commanded by
the polemarch, Callimachus...Under
his leadership the tribes followed in succession. Finally, the last in
order were the Plataeans, holding the left wing... (T)he middle of the Greek side was only a few ranks deep...but
each of the two wings was very strong. [The formation is called a
phalanx. Eight or so rows of soldiers are lined up behind the man in
front. Shield on the left arm; spear held by the right.]
The lines were drawn up, and the sacrifices were favorable; so the Athenians
were permitted to charge, and they advanced on the Persians at a run. ...
The Persians, seeing them coming at a run, made ready to receive them, but they
believed that the Athenians were possessed by some very desperate madness,
seeing their small numbers and their running to meet their enemy without the
support of cavalry or archers... but the Athenians, when it came to hand to
hand fighting, fought right worthily. They were the first Greeks we know
of to charge their enemy at a run... The fight at
Friends and Foes
The Education Establishment
[Frothy, Odiferous, Dismal-dreaming, Folly-fallen, Slattern-begotten,
Bladder-brained Devil monks]
1. Whole language at http://www.google.com/search?q=whole+language&btnG=Google+Search&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8
2. Developmentally
appropriate practices at http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&q=developmentally+appropriate+practices
3. Critical pedagogues.
Michael Apple, Peter MacLaren, Henry Giroux, and
Paulo Friere
http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~mryder/itc_data/crit_ped.html
http://www.wvu.edu/~lawfac/jelkins/critproj/pedagogy.html
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=critical+pedagogy&btnG=Google+Search
4.
Alfie Kohn http://www.alfiekohn.org/
5. Organizations that promulgate
and legitimize the dominant ideas and practices, and ensure proper (mal)socialization via certification.
a. NCATE http://www.ncate.org/
b. NBPTS
http://www.nbpts.org/
c. NCTM
http://www.nctm.org/
d. NAEYC
http://www.naeyc.org/
e. NCTE
http://www.ncte.org/
f. NCSS (social studies. The font of multi-cultibabble http://www.ncss.org.
6. Ed schools at http://www.alleducationschools.com/find/
7. Praxis exams. Tests degree of indoctrination. Only an idiot could
fail. Makes ed schools look good.
"99% of our students pass the PRAXIS." http://www.ets.org/praxis/
Note the superficial fluff. Nothing on TEACHING. http://ftp.ets.org/pub/tandl/0522.pdf
The
Anti-establishment
[Right-thinking, Varlot-thumping, Death-spitting,
Witch hammers]
A. Scholars and Organizations
1. Richard Mitchell, The Underground
Grammarian. "The
2. J.E. Stone. "Developmentalism:
An Obscure but Pervasive Restriction on Educational Improvement."
On-line at http://olam.ed.asu.edu/epaa/v4n8.html
3. Grossen, B. (1998).
"What does it mean to be a research based teaching
profession?" On line at http://www.higherscores.org/
4. The case against teacher certification.
See also Mike Podgursky's critiques of NCATE,
national boards, and teacher certification. At
http://www.missouri.edu/~econ4mp/Downloadable_Articles.htm
http://www.missouri.edu/~econ4mp/Downloadable_Papers
5. Eric Hanushek's critiques
of the assertion that class size and advanced teacher training make a
difference in student achievement http://edpro.stanford.edu/eah/eah.htm
6. Lance Izumi's and K. Gwynne Coburn's critique of constructivist
curricula in schools of education, Facing
the classroom challenge: Teacher quality and teacher training in
7. Pacific Research Institute at http://www.pacificresearch.org
8. Education Consumers at
http://www.education-consumers.com/ See articles by John Stone.
9. Fordham Foundation at http://www.edexcellence.net/ See
this on social studies (history stripped on content and lessons) http://www.edexcellence.net/foundation/publication/publication.cfm?id=317
10. "The Tyranny of
dogma." Chester Finn & Dianne Ravitch, at
http://www.edexcellence.net/foundation/publication/publication.cfm?id=192
11. Hoover Institution at http://www-hoover.stanford.edu/research/k-12initiative/k12publications.html
12. National Council For Teacher Quality. Alternative
certification at http://www.nctq.org/
13. Education Leaders Council at http://www.educationleaders.org
14. Dale Ballou.
Better Teachers... at
http://www.edexcellence.net/foundation/publication/publication.cfm?id=15
15. Oregon Education Consumers
16. No Excuses
17. Diane Ravitch
at www.dianeravitch.com
18. John Gatto
at http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/
19. Heather
MacDonald at the Manhatten Institute and here and here.
20. Martin
Rochester's Class
Warfare.
21. The indomitable Cheri
Pierson Yecke here.
22. American Federation of
Teachers (AFT) on SOME things, like reading http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/issues/index.htm
and math
http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/fall99/wu.pdf
And see the Quirk Seminars here http://www.wgquirk.com/
B. Breaking the EduMonopoly
1.
2.
3.
4.
5. US Charter Schools at http://www.uscharterschools.org/pub/uscs_docs/index.htm
6. Baltimore Curriculum
Project at http://www.baltimorecp.org/
7. American Board for the
Certification of Teacher Excellence at http://www.abteach.org/handbook_information.html
8. Home schoolers.
[Provided, with thanks, by Henry Cate]
http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/
This has a very complete set of information about homeschooling
http://www.midnightbeach.com/hs/
This is one of the oldest, and most complete, set of resources on the web about homeschooling
http://www.mises.org/fullstory.aspx?control=1167
Isabel Lyman's article about why to homeschool
http://www.homeeducator.com/FamilyTimes/current.htm
This is the web presence of a homeschooling magazine
http://www.home-school.com/
Another web presence of a homeschooling magazine
http://www.homeschool.com/
Fairly comprehensive list of information about homeschooling
http://www.hslda.org/
The Home School Legal Defense Association only represents something like 5% of homeschoolers, but they
are a fairly vocal group.
C. Scientific Research That Provides Sounder Instructional Design and
More Effective Curricula Than Child-Centered, Constructivist Hugger-muggery
1. Barak Rosenshine's papers at http://www.uncwil.edu/people/kozloffm/rosenshine.html
2. Papers on effective instruction at http://www.usu.edu/teachall
3. Ellis et al., "Research synthesis on effective
teaching principles and the design of quality tools for educators."
On-line at http://idea.uoregon.edu/~ncite/documents/techrep/tech06.html
and
http://idea.uoregon.edu/~ncite/documents/techrep/tech05.pdf
4. Grossen, B. et al., "Reading Recovery: An evaluation of costs and
benefits.
On-line at http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~bgrossen/rr.htm
5. Effective reading instruction and arguments
against whole language at http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/reading.html
6.
On-line at http://act.psy.cmu.edu/personal/ja/misapplied.html
7.
8. Critiques of constructivist math.
Mathematically Correct at http://www.mathematicallycorrect.com/
9. Heartland Institute: School
Reform News at http://www.heartland.org/
10. Market Driven Schooling; e.g., vouchers "Understanding market-based
school reform." Walberg, H.J., & Bast, J.L. (1998). Heartland Institute. Online at http://www.heartland.org
11. Publishers of scientifically researched curricula: Sopris West (http://www.sopriswest.com),
Curriculum Associates
(http://www.curriculumassociates.com),
SRA/McGraw-Hill
(http://www.sraonline.com/index.php/home/curriculumsolutions/di/9).
12. Federal and state
government: money, law, certification, moral leadership. Examples include the
Reading First Program, large-scale research on reading, and research
reviews. See
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/reading_resources.html
13. Direct Instruction at http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/DI.html
14. Rory Donaldson at http://brainsarefun.com/