On this month’s Conversation, Editor RiShawn Biddle chats with Connecticut Parents Union President Gwen Samuel and mothers running the Hartford Parents Organization about their efforts to champion school choice and teacher quality reforms in one of Dropout Nation‘s States to Watch. They discuss their recent protest efforts in the districts of state legislators who, at the behest of National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers affiliates, have all but eviscerated Gov. Dan Malloy’s school reform plans.

You can listen to the Podcast at RiShawn Biddle’s radio page or download directly to your iPod, Zune, MP3 player, smartphone, Nook Color or Kindle.  Also, subscribe to the Conversation podcast series and the overall Dropout Nation Podcast series. It is also available on iTunes, Blubrry, Zune Marketplace and PodBean. Also download to your phone with BlackBerry podcast software and Google Reader.

Disclosure: Dropout Nation Editor RiShawn Biddle is a member of the Connecticut Parents Union’s advisory board.

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On this month’s The Conversation, Ben Austin of Parent Revolution chats with Editor RiShawn Biddle about the battle between parents at Desert Trails Elementary School and the Adelanto School District, discusses how Parent Trigger laws can help families play real decision-making roles in education; and opines on the reasons behind the opposition to Parent Power laws from education traditionalists and skepticism from Beltway reformers.

You can listen to the Podcast at RiShawn Biddle’s radio page or download directly to your iPod, Zune, MP3 player, smartphone, Nook Color or Kindle.  Also, subscribe to the Conversation podcast series and the overall Dropout Nation Podcast series. It is also available on iTunes, Blubrry, Zune Marketplace and PodBean. Also download to your phone with BlackBerry podcast software and Google Reader.

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On this month’s Conversation,  the former D.C. Public Schools chancellor and StudentsFirst founder explains why we need more Wayne Wheelers, Lee Atwaters, and James Carvilles for advancing reform, the need to build stronger ties with grassroots, and why reform-minded younger teachers will have to look outside of the NEA and AFT to overhaul American public education. She also talks about what she would have done differently during her tenure overhauling what was once the Superfund Site of traditional districts.

You can listen to the Podcast at RiShawn Biddle’s radio page or download directly to your iPod, Zune, MP3 player, smartphone, Nook Color or Kindle.  Also, subscribe to the Conversation podcast series and the overall Dropout Nation Podcast series. It is also available on iTunes, Blubrry, the Education Podcast Network,  Zune Marketplace and PodBean. Also download to your phone with BlackBerry podcast software and Google Reader.

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On this month’s Conversation, the former New York City schools chancellor talks about the obstacles to launching and sustaining urban reform, expresses dismay with the conversation over reauthorizing the No Child Left Behind Act, and discusses the promise of blended and digital learning.

You can listen to the Podcast at RiShawn Biddle’s radio page or download directly to your iPod, Zune, MP3 player, smartphone, Nook Color or Kindle.  Also, subscribe to the Conversation podcast series and the overall Dropout Nation Podcast series. It is also available on iTunes, Blubrry, the Education Podcast Network,  Zune Marketplace and PodBean. Also download to your phone with BlackBerry podcast software and Google Reader.

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On this special Conversation with Editor RiShawn Biddle, Arthur McKee of the National Council on Teacher Quality offers an opposing view on Dropout Nation‘s commentaries on the future of ed schools. While he defends the need for their existence, McKee also argues that their efforts in teacher training and education research are sorely in need of reform.

You can listen to the Podcast at RiShawn Biddle’s radio page or download directly to your iPod, Zune, MP3 player, smartphone, Nook Color or Kindle.  Also, subscribe to the Conversation podcast series and the overall Dropout Nation Podcast series. It is also available on iTunes, Blubrry, the Education Podcast Network,  Zune Marketplace and PodBean. Also download to your phone with BlackBerry podcast software and Google Reader.

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On this month’s Conversation with Editor RiShawn Biddle, principal, school reformer and CNN commentator Dr. Steve Perry discusses his new book, Push Has Come to Shove, explains the steps parents, policymakers, and think tankers must take in overhauling American public education, and takes aim at teachers’ unions, principals and education traditionalists such as Diane Ravitch who defend failure and the Poverty Myth of Education.

You can listen to the Podcast at RiShawn Biddle’s radio page or download directly to your iPod, Zune, MP3 player, smartphone, Nook Color or Kindle.  Also, subscribe to the podcast series. It is also available on iTunes, Blubrry, the Education Podcast Network,  Zune Marketplace and PodBean. Also download to your phone with BlackBerry podcast software and Google Reader.

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