School reforms that matter

~ Laura

I'm in a car driving through Rhode Island (hello, Provincetown!) on our way to Cape Cod. Snuggled under a blanket and catching up on reading and email. This is the first break that I've had in days. I need to catch up on blogging.

First up is an article by Amanda Ripley in Atlantic Monthly about a German number cruncher who used test scores to compare countries. He found that the best schools put their energies on teacher training and good principals. Less energy went towards small class size and sports. Equal or more resources went to poor schools.

OK. I take it back. I'm not blogging until Tuesday. Too many technical woes.
question of the day. – what are you doing this weekend?

Published by Laura

8 thoughts on “School reforms that matter”

  1. Too bad I am in Old England, not New England. You’re driving literally less than a mile from my house.

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  2. This weekend? On Friday afternoon we will go out to our summer house on Fire Island. I am having rotator cuff problems, so I can’t engage in my usual Fire Island activities of home repair and sailing. As an alternative, I was thinking that this summer I would try to write a memoir (not that my life has been very interesting, except as a representative of a type, but that might be interesting to some). Additionally or alternatively, I was thinking of writing a brief history of rural Denmark, as part of a family history that I have been working desultorily for several years. It remains to be seen if I have the energy to accomplish these two projects.
    In any case, Sunday night we are having dinner with some friends, and Monday evening our church fellowship group is having a picnic back in the city, assuming we get back in time. The rest of the time is unplanned.

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  3. This weekend I’ll likely be reading, editing and writing when I’m not walking the dogs with Mike, taking Youngest to the park for her time with the swingset and driving Eldest to the stables for riding.
    Oh, and laundry. Lots and lots of laundry!

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  4. You drove by my house as well. We are planning to take the family and some friends to the Pawsox (AAA baseball) game and fireworks tomorrow evening, then race through the yard work and other chores on Saturday so we can go kayaking. Monday is reserved for the parade in Bristol, RI, the oldest continuous 4th celebration in the country. Happy Fourth!

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  5. I am having rotator cuff problems, so I can’t engage in my usual Fire Island activities of home repair and sailing.
    You could try nude sunbathing. That’s a typical fire Island activity, and one that can be done w/ a bum arm, too.

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  6. Sunday spending the day with a friend whose birthday it is; Sunday night early-Independence-Day party with my gaming group (tabletop RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons). Monday my husband is planning us a picnic–he picked the park and is packing the picnic basket. I guess we’ll have to do all the weekly chores on Saturday!

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  7. I think I’ll be miffed that if I don’t feel like being patriotic or at least lazy, things won’t be open or arranged to suit my needs. Harrumph. (And I probably shouldn’t drink for a while after that low blood-pressure scare this week, double harrumph.)
    You all go and have fun I guess….

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  8. Thanks for the article, that was interesting. I know about PISA, of course (it’s a big thing in Germany) but I didn’t know about Schleicher. Very cool. I’d like to talk about that! But first, have a happy 4th!

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