Art of Teaching Science

Progressive and Humanistic Education

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Deal, The Bully, Calls Local School Boards Power Hungry Monopolies Because They Oppose His Misfortunate School District

Deal, The Bully, Calls Local School Boards Power Hungry Monopolies Because They Oppose His Misfortunate School District

Deal, The Bully, Calls Local School Boards Power Hungry Monopolies Because They Oppose His Misfortunate School District

monopoly: exclusive control of a commodity or service in a particular market

bully: a blustering, quarrelsome, overbearing person who habitually badgers and intimidates smaller or weaker people.

Governor Nathan Deal is calling local school boards a power-hungry monopoly because…

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Truth Be Told: Power, Money and the Georgia Opportunity School District

Truth Be Told: Power, Money and the Georgia Opportunity School District

Truth Be Told: Power, Money and the Georgia Opportunity School District

Some politicians not only seek office, they relish in the power that elected officials have once they get there.  There is also a lot of money in politics, and there is money to be made, especially if you have connections.  You know what I mean?

The Georgia Opportunity School District is a politically motivated plan to enable…

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Gov. Deal's Opportunity School District is Now About Poverty and Crime!

Gov. Deal’s Opportunity School District is Now About Poverty and Crime!

Gov. Deal’s Opportunity School District is Now About Poverty and Crime!

That’s right.  In a paid TV advertisement, the Governor is pleading with folks in Georgia to Vote Yes on Question 1 on the November 8th ballot.  His message is that if you vote Yes, then poverty and crime will be affected.

Where did this language come from?  Why is Deal using it to promote his pet education project?

In…

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If We Vote Yes on Georgia's Opportunity School District, We're Doing the Wrong Thing

If We Vote Yes on Georgia’s Opportunity School District, We’re Doing the Wrong Thing

If We Vote Yes on Georgia’s Opportunity School District, We’re Doing the Wrong Thing

The Artofteachingscience.org blog is up and running.  All of my sites were hacked around October 5, and its taken quite awhile to get all the files cleaned and free of malicious content (malware) that attacked my sites.  This site is one of thousands that are compromised every day.  I spent more than 20 years…

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If Poverty & Financial Hardship Affect Cognitive Function, Then is the Opportunity School District a Good Idea?

If Poverty & Financial Hardship Affect Cognitive Function, Then is the Opportunity School District a Good Idea?

If Poverty & Financial Hardship Affect Cognitive Function, Then is the Opportunity School District a Good Idea?

The Opportunity School District is a plan by the Governor’s Office in Georgia to take over “chronically failing” schools across the state.  To be voted on in the November 8 election, if passed, schools will be selected by an OSD Superintendent (Czar), from a list of schools that fall at…

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P.L. Thomas On "Miracle" Schools or Political Sham?--Take Heed Georgia

P.L. Thomas On “Miracle” Schools or Political Sham?–Take Heed Georgia

P.L. Thomas On “Miracle” Schools or Political Sham?–Take Heed Georgia

Georgia is on the verge of approving a constitutional amendment (Amendment 1 on the November 8 Georgia ballot) that would enable the Governor’s office to go in and rescue children who are enrolled in “failing schools” across the state, that got on a list based on student performance on state mandated multiple choice tests.  The…

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The Real Deal: How the Opportunity School District Campaign to Pull the Wool Over the Eyes of Georgians is Being Funded

The Real Deal: How the Opportunity School District Campaign to Pull the Wool Over the Eyes of Georgians is Being Funded

The Real Deal: How the Opportunity School District Campaign to Pull the Wool Over the Eyes of Georgians is Being Funded

Ever since the US Supreme Court agreed with Citizens United, a Political Action Committee (PAC) in Washington, DC, eliminating restrictions on how corporations and groups can spend money in elections, state and Federal elections, amendments, and other ballot initiatives, the…

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Who Are the Elites Responsible for November Debacle Known as the Opportunity School District?

Who Are the Elites Responsible for November Debacle Known as the Opportunity School District?

Who Are the Elites Responsible for November Debacle Known as the Opportunity School District? (Amendment 1 on your Georgia Ballot)

The Opportunity School District will be voted on by the citizens of Georgia on November 8.  It is amendment 1 on the Georgia ballot.

A very small number of political elites is responsible for this debacle, and putting thousands of students and their parents, as well…

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The Un-Democratic Character of Improving Strugling Schools: Hint--Look to the Opportunity School District

The Un-Democratic Character of Improving Strugling Schools: Hint–Look to the Opportunity School District

The Un-Democratic Character of Improving Strugling Schools: Hint–Look to the Opportunity School District

Research reported by William J. Mathis and Trina M. Trujillo in their new book, Learning From the Federal Market-Based Reforms does not bode well for state and Federal reforms that are based on so-called “turnaround” strategies.  Yet, in the U.S., because of the requirement that school…

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The Undemocratic Character of Georgia's Chronically Failing School Turnaround Amendment

The Undemocratic Character of Georgia’s Chronically Failing School Turnaround Amendment

The Undemocratic Character of Georgia’s Opportunity School District

Over the next several weeks, leading up to the November 8th election, we will explore the Opportunity School District from the standpoint of research just published by the National Education Policy Center.  The 697 page book of 28 research chapters addresses the nature of schooling entitled Learning from the Federal Market-Based…

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Vote No On the Misfortunate School District on November 8, 2016

Vote No On the Misfortunate School District on November 8, 2016

Misfortunate School District

The Governor and a few elected Georgia legislators–Democrats & Republicans alike, approved a bill that will be voted on in the November 8, 2016 election. If passed, the state constitution will be will enable the Governor to create his own school district.i

It will be called the Opportunity School District (OSD).

It will round-up the worst of Georgia’s schools (up to…

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Winners and Losers

Winners and Losers

In his Op-Ed in the Nation, Henry A. Giroux links Donald Trump to the plague of atomization in a neoliberal age.  What was important to me, among other things in his Op-Ed was his reference to a 1946 essay by Leo Lowenthal, entitled “Terrors Atomization of Man, which was also reprinted in Lowenthal’s book, False Prophets: Studies in Authoritarianism.

The Twentieth Century had…

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I'm For Her

I’m For Her

In the November, there is the national election, and one ballot measure that will encourage me to share my thoughts and encourage people to join me in electing the next President, and making sure that the Georgia Governor’s Opportunity School District amendment is defeated. There is a link between the election of our next president and the campaign to defeat Georgia’s Opportunity School District.…

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Open Your Eyes, Georgians---The Misfortunate School District is on the Way

Open Your Eyes, Georgians—The Misfortunate School District is on the Way

Open Your Eyes, Georgians

As I was thinking about the calamity facing education in Georgia, Governor Neal’s Opportunity School District, I thought of the phrase “open your eyes.”  I had actually thought of the phrase, “now is the time,” but it was replaced with “open your eyes.”

In 2006, the fantastic Northern Ireland band, Snow Patrol, recorded the song “Open Your Eyes” as part of its…

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How Can We Challenge the Standardization of Science and Other Aspects of Education?

How Can We Challenge the Standardization of Science and Other Aspects of Education?

I received an email from Professor Emeritus Charles “Kip” Ault, Lewis & Clark University.  He wrote to my from this blog site.  We’ve never met, but we have a connection through each others’ writing.  In 1992, I wrote and published a science education book, Minds on Science (Library Copy) and he used the text in one or more of his graduate classes at Lewis & Clark.  In 2010, I found his and Jeff…

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The Dangerous Path for Georgia Schools Created by the Purdue, Deal and Hames Troika

The Dangerous Path for Georgia Schools Created by the Purdue, Deal and Hames Troika

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The Dangerous Path for Georgia Schools Created by the Purdue, Deal and Hames Troika

Sonny Purdue: Former Governor of Georgia when Georgia was awarded $400 Million Race to the Top Grant

Nathan Deal: Governor of Georgia who inherited the $400 million RTT funds, and instigator of the Georgia Opportunity School District

Erin Hames: Former Governor’s Office staff memberunder Purdue…

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Atlanta Take Note: There is New Science Educator Intown!

Atlanta Take Note: There is New Science Educator Intown!

Latest Story

Ed Johnson sent an email out a few days ago in which he described the kinds of experiences that students at a local elementary school might experience if the school took advantage of its place right next to an Atlanta system of Trails and Greenways that ultimately create miles of paved trails through forests and waterways that will connect to the Atlanta Beltline, a network of public…

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