book reviews/issues in education

Book Review: The Smartest Kids in the World, by Amanda Ripley (★★☆☆☆)

Posted on by Mark Isero

cvr9781451654448_9781451654448_hr_0favicon Amanda Ripley knows how to write extremely well. In The Smartest Kids in the World, Ms. Ripley follows three American exchange students as they study in Finland, South Korea, and Poland. By doing so, Ms. Ripley investigates how the American education system could improve.

I appreciated that Ms. Ripley selected three different countries to focus on in this book. But I didn’t quite figure out her central thesis.

To me, the book was a series of anecdotes and vignettes to make an overall point that different countries are different, there are some different ways to have a good education system, but that in general, the quality of teaching matters most. And the stories were well told. But I would have preferred a little more detail and concreteness.

Maybe the problem for me is that the book tried to follow three students but was only 200 pages long — with about a quarter of it to introduce the students (before they arrived overseas).

In short: This is an extremely well-written book that maybe tried to do too much. Or maybe I’m just critical and biased because I’m the education field (and this book’s audience is white middle-class parents). Yes, maybe that’s it. favicon

everything else

Just a quick tweet…

Posted on by Mark Isero

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Kindlers’ thoughts about reading on Kindles

Posted on by Mark Isero

favicon Today I had a meeting at lunch with some of the Kindlers in Hayward. The students are doing a great job reading (10 books so far this year, on average) and keeping their Kindles safe.

One of my questions was, “What’s your favorite thing about reading on a Kindle?” Here are some of the ninth graders’ responses:

  • “My favorite thing is it’s easy to flip through pages on a Kindle.” -Kaela
  • “My favorite thing about my Kindle is how lightweight it is” -Nancy
  • “I like that when I turn it off it stays on the page I left off on.” -Jocelyn
  • “You can find any book you want.” -Lydia
  • “My favorite thing about the Kindle is the Kindle speaking to you.” -Greg
  • “It’s like carrying 300 books around.” -Javier
  • “My favorite part is the anti-glare screen so I can read in the sun.” -Augustus
  • “I love that it’s small and has so many books.” -Chase
  • “I don’t have to carry the bulk of a regular book.” -Francisco
  • “I really like to swipe my Kindle Touch.” -Christopher
  • “You can carry it, the pages won’t rip like books, and it’s light.” -Yasmine
  • “You can bring it anywhere — it’s light.” -Erica
  • “It’s like having a library in one device.” -Mikaella
  • “I like it when it reads to me.” -Christopher
  • “That you can change the text size.” -Camilo

Also, here are some of their favorite books so far this year:

– The Perks of Being a Wallflower
– Always Running
– The Diary of a Wimpy Kid
– Mockingjay
– The Outsiders
– If I Stay
– The Fault in Our Stars
– Ender’s Game
– My Bloody Life
– Tyrell
– Go Ask Alice
– Wonder

It makes me happy that the Kindlers are reading a lot, liking to read, and building their reading lives! favicon

reading

2 quick ways to promote a reading culture

Posted on by Mark Isero

NJTfavicon Today I got to visit my friend and former colleague Nancy Jo Turner, an excellent ninth grade English teacher in Berkeley.

The first thing Nancy Jo did when I arrived was to show off her fancy new HP Chromebook! Last month, I challenged loyal Iserotope readers and Ms. Turner’s former students to help fund a Chromebook for her classroom. It was a huge success! Then, just for fun, I asked for another Chromebook over on DonorsChoose, which will arrive next week. That means that Nancy Jo now has four Chromebooks, with just 26 to go.

The rest of the visit, we hung out and talked about reading. This year, Nancy Jo has built a classroom library of more than 750 titles. More important, she’s building a reading culture. Here are two quick ways that she’s doing it:

1. A new arrivals bookshelf.

2014-03-06 16.35.20 copy

Nancy Jo understands that the whole point of having a classroom library is to get books “sold” (like a bookstore), to circulate them, to get them in the hands of students. One of the best ways is by having a display for new books. Nancy Jo’s is clean and classy.

2. Celebrating completed books.

2014-03-06 16.28.16These certificates are prominently displayed in the hallways outside Nancy Jo’s classroom, and they’re perfect. What’s great about the Renegade Bookworm Club is that it honors students by welcoming them into a reading community. The Dr. Seuss quotation is also perfect. And so is the language in the certificate that emphasizes celebration.

That’s what reading is, after all — it’s a celebration! (Re)building a reading culture takes time, resources, patience, and passion, and it’s wonderful to see Nancy Jo and other colleagues create classrooms where students reclaim their love of reading.

Please leave comments for Nancy Jo! favicon

issues in education

Why David Coleman is the most powerful educator in the country right now

Posted on by Mark Isero

david colemanfavicon Everyone says Arne Duncan is powerful, but if you really want to know who calls the shots about education in this country, it’s David Coleman.

Mr. Coleman is the guy responsible for the Common Core State Standards. He’s now the president of the College Board, which administers the SAT and Advanced Placement tests.

Today, Mr. Coleman announced that the College Board is changing the format and content of the SAT. This is big. The intent, he said, is to align the test with what is taught in high school and to level the playing field for lower-income students.

A few of the changes include: (1) Obscure vocabulary will go away, to be replaced with more common words students will face in college, (2) Readings will include a range of informational texts, including founding documents of the United States, (3) There will no longer be a penalty for incorrect answers, (4) The essay will be optional.

Do you see what’s happening here?

Yes, Mr. Coleman is aligning the SAT with the Common Core standards. Instead of testing students generally on their reading and math skills, the SAT will reflect the skills that students are supposed to learn in school.

This is great if you believe in the Common Core. And it’s horrible if you don’t like the Common Core. It’s as simple as that.

What’s crazy to me is how in just a few years, Mr. Coleman — a very smart guy who has never been a classroom teacher — has shifted a very decentralized American education system into an extremely consolidated one.

What’s also crazy to me is that few people know about Mr. Coleman. Except for a few radical Common Core detractors (like Diane Ravitch), Mr. Coleman is still pretty much a stranger.

Yet it’s pretty clear that he runs the show. It’s time that teachers and other folks interested in education find out more about Mr. Coleman. (I’m still a little leery about him, but maybe now it’s too late?)

Update: This week’s New York Times Magazine has an in-depth article about David Coleman and the changes to the SAT. Teachers College professor Lucy Calkins asks, “Are we in a place to let Dave Coleman control the entire K-to-12 curriculum?”  favicon