Opinion Forum

In Public Education, It’s the Family, Stupid

March 21st, 2011

By Dr. Jim Taylor I love it when I’m right (a rarity, some would argue), or rather, when there is compelling evidence supporting a controversial position I’ve taken. This post is one of those moments. I have argued in previous posts that the billions of dollars being spent on public education reform at the school […]

Articles written by Dr. Jim Taylor
Tags: family, federal spending, inequality, NCLB, parents, public education, reform
Categories: Education, Life, News, Politics, Science | Comments (0) | Home

Failing Kindergarteners?: You Cannot Be Serious!

January 11th, 2011

By Dr. Jim Taylor Some recent news out of the bizarro world of public education caused me to have a John McEnroe moment (for those of you who didn’t follow his illustrious and animated tennis career, the statement, “You cannot be serious!,” is one of his most famous tirades against the injustice of an allegedly […]

Articles written by Dr. Jim Taylor
Tags: failure, kindergarten, public education, reading, standardized testing
Categories: Education, Life, Science | Comments (6) | Home

Are Public Education Chicken Littles Wrong?

December 20th, 2010

By Dr. Jim Taylor We have been hearing a constant drumbeat from politicians, policy wonks, and pundits that America’s public education system is losing the educational “arms race” against other countries around the world. These advocates for reform use the widely reported results of testing of students from dozens of countries showing that U.S. students […]

Articles written by Dr. Jim Taylor
Tags: international rankings, PISA, poverty, public education, reform, TIMSS
Categories: Education, Politics | Comments (2) | Home

S.T.A.M.P.E.R. not S.T.E.M. For Public Education Reform

October 25th, 2010

By Dr. Jim Taylor S.T.E.M. is one of the acronyms du jour in the current public education debate. It stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, which represent, some argue, the four areas that act as the foundation for America maintaining its preeminent position as world leaders in innovation and technological advancement. Some education reformers […]

Articles written by Dr. Jim Taylor
Tags: creativity, innovation, public education, reform, STAMPER, STEM
Categories: Education, Science | Comments (6) | Home

Seven Reasons I Really Dislike Public Education Reform

August 19th, 2010

By Dr. Jim Taylor Anyone who follows my posts on public education reform (here’s a good place for a primer) knows that I am not a fan of the Obama administration’s public education initiatives, including Race to the Top. The programs are, in my view, mislabeled, misdirected, and misguided. I would have used the word […]

Articles written by Dr. Jim Taylor
Tags: NCLB, poverty, public education, Race to the Top, reform, teachers, unions
Categories: Education, Politics | Comments (30) | Home