Dropout Nation: Coverage of the Reform of American Public Education Edited by RiShawn Biddle » Dropout Nation Podcast

Rewind: The Dropout Nation Podcast: Why Civil Rights Activists Should Embrace School Reform

RiShawn Biddle — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 04:07:45 +0000

Photo courtesy of the New York Daily News

With old-school civil rights groups complaining about President Barack Obama’s embrace of the school reform movement — and its commitment to improving the quality of education for all children — listen to this Dropout Nation Podcast from February on why their approach to educational equity doesn’t work. The only way educational equity will actually be achieved for every child is by addressing how public education is structured — including giving parents their proper place as kings at the education decision-making table, and improving the quality of curricula in every school. Not only does this commentary apply to these groups, but to fellow-travelers such as the Civil Rights Project at UCLA and New Jersey’s Education Law Center.

You can listen to the Podcast at RiShawn Biddle’s radio page or download directly to your iPod, Zune, MP3 player or smartphone. Also, subscribe to the podcast series. It is also available on iTunes, Blubrry, Podcast Alley, the Education Podcast Network, Zune Marketplace and PodBean. Also, add the podcast on Viigo, if you have a BlackBerry, iPhone or Android phone.

The Dropout Nation Podcast: Five Steps Toward Fostering Great Teachers

RiShawn Biddle — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 11:24:29 +0000

On this week’s Dropout Nation Podcast, I offer some important steps towards recruiting and developing more high-quality teachers. Eliminating tenure, eliminating seniority-based benefits and embracing the use of student performance data — along with moves such as the dismissal of 241 poor-performing teachers last week by D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee — are important steps towards improving teacher quality. But we must also improve how we recruit, train and reward good-to-great teachers in order to improve instruction for every child and foster high quality performance throughout all of American public education.

You can listen to the Podcast at RiShawn Biddle’s radio page or download directly to your iPod, MP3 player or smartphone. Also, subscribe to the podcast series. It is also available on iTunes, Blubrry, Podcast Alley, the Education Podcast Network, Zune Marketplace and PodBean. Also, add the podcast on Viigo, if you have a BlackBerry, iPhone or Android phone.

Rewind: The Dropout Nation Podcast: Building Ties Between School Reformers and Grassroots Activists

RiShawn Biddle — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 04:03:09 +0000

As part of a further discussion about the importance of Beltway school reformers to embrace the grassroots, here is a rewind of a February Dropout Nation Podcast on the subject. Inside-the-Beltway policymaking, important as it is, will mean nothing for improving the educational destinies of children if school reformers don’t reach out to urban groups such as the Black Star Project and activists working in suburban and rural communities.

The Dropout Nation Podcast: Rallying Single Parents, Grandparents and Immigrants for School Reform

RiShawn Biddle — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 04:03:34 +0000

On this week’s Dropout Nation Podcast, I discuss the importance of rallying single parents, grandparents and immigrant families for reform of American public education. For school reformers, these families are hungry for ways to improve the quality of education for their children. All they need is for reformers to actually come to the ground and help them turn policy into reality.

Rewind: The Dropout Nation Podcast: Building Long-Lasting Connections Between Teachers and Students

RiShawn Biddle — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:32:28 +0000

Steven Evangelista with Eva Moskowitz. Photo courtesy of GothamSchools.org

For those who read the New York Times report on the use of Facebook by students to praise their teachers — or Bijan Sabat’s own thoughts on the matter — listen to this Dropout Nation Podcast on Harlem Link Charter School co-founder Steven Evangelista and how his rediscovery of one of his former students — and where the kid landed — is forcing him to look at one of the biggest challenges to stemming the nation’s dropout crisis.

In an age in which Facebook and Twitter can help friends and family deepen connection, why isn’t American public education using technology and social media — including school data systems — to broaden the crucial bond between teacher and student (especially a student who needs those bonds to stay on the path to graduation) long after the child leaves the classroom. Unfortunately, the same rules that hinder the development of school data system — a matter about which I discussed in A Byte At the Apple also complicate this work.

You can listen to the Podcast at RiShawn Biddle’s radio page or download directly to your iPod or MP3 player. Also, subscribe to the podcast series. It is also available on iTunes, Blubrry, Podcast Alley, the Education Podcast Network and Zune Marketplace.

The Dropout Nation Podcast: Why We Need College Prep Curricula

RiShawn Biddle — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 12:12:13 +0000

On this week’s Dropout Nation Podcast, I examine arguments made by Charles Murray and others that American students don’t need high-quality college prep curricula — and explain why such thinking is mistaken. As nearly every aspect of the American economy — and the global economy at large — has become knowledge-based, every job (including blue-collar position s) require strong skills in algebra, trigonometry and the kind of knowledge that used to only be required for college. College prep curricula is also fundamental for American society to keep its place as the economy and culture in which even the poorest can rise to the top.

Rewind: The Dropout Nation Podcast: Finding Courageous Politicians for School Reform

RiShawn Biddle — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 18:37:00 +0000

Charlie Crist has a fellow traveler.

Given the sparring over the edujobs bill and attempts by Rep. David Obey (with backing of the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers) to gut President Barack Obama’s Race to the Top effort, it is time for school reformers to listen to this Dropout Nation Podcast on how to deal with Obey and fellow pols such as Florida Gov. Charlie Crist. More often than not, the biggest obstacles for school reformers lie not with teachers unions, suburban school districts and other defenders of traditional public education, but politicians who lack courage or conviction. School reformers must take five steps towards making their issues the top priority for support by political leaders.

The Dropout Nation Podcast: Building a Culture of Genius in Education

RiShawn Biddle — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 12:02:42 +0000

On this week’s Dropout Nation Podcast, I elaborate on famed teacher John Taylor Gatto ‘s signature quote that we should educate from the perspective that almost all children are geniuses. The emergence of high-quality alternatives to traditional public education, along with research on child development and teacher quality shows that all children can succeed if we foster a culture of genius in American public education.

Rewind: The Dropout Nation Podcast: Read to Your Boys

RiShawn Biddle — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 18:19:27 +0000

For those further interested in learning how to solve America’s reading crisis — especially among young boys — that I discussed earlier this week in The American Spectator, listen to one of Dropout Nation’s most-popular podcasts. As I’ve noted, young men (and women) who have difficulty reading will also struggle with math and their other studies, contributing to low academic achievement and exacerbating the nation’s dropout crisis.

The Dropout Nation Podcast: School Reform As the Cornerstone of Community Renewal

RiShawn Biddle — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 12:02:20 +0000

On this Dropout Nation Podcast, I take a look at one community and explain how education reform can help foster community renewal. Contrary to the arguments of defenders of traditional public education, school reform is critical to addressing other community needs and ultimately building the middle class needed to improve neighborhoods.