An interview with author and activist Sikivu Hutchinson
Good discussion of the reasons secularism hasnât caught on with black Americans, and why black churches have remained the home for black social activism.
Los Angeles has a complicated relationship with the single-family house. For much of its history, the city has been billed as place to buy a piece of land and...
A year or two ago, as the economy and real estate markets started to recover from the recession, our single-family neighborhoods in Los Angeles started seeing a lot of older single family homes (even those in wonderful condition) being torn down to build huge "McMansions" or multi-unit "Small Lot Subdivision" projects that neighbors hated but the city seemed to welcome.
Being involved in scores of neighborhood discussions about these new projects, I also started to get the sense that there was something deeper at work - not just a cyclical building boom, but a darker undercurrent of new opinion that single family housing and low-density urban neighborhoods in general are unsustainable dinosaurs whose extinction must be hastened along as quickly as possible. Even to the point of completely re-developing and densifying existing (and often historic) single family neighborhoods.
People I mentioned this to usually said I was imagining things and blowing it out of proportion...but in the last few months, the tide has grown into a real wave, and the discussion is now very public and above ground. This became obvious to me most recently when the Third Los Angeles program ("A series of public conversations examining a city moving into a dramatically new phase in its civic development.") announced that one of its major events would be a discussion of single family housing. I tried to get a ticket as soon as I heard about it, but the event sold out immediately, weeks in advance.
Today, I attended a discussion with the two candidates for the city council seat in a district dominated by low-density, largely single family (and fairly well-off) urban neighborhoods. Both candidates promised the angry neighbors that theyâd do all they can to preserve our historic low-density neighborhoods, including creating new zoning and preservation tools if possible.
But with mounting pressure not only from developers with seemingly bottomless pockets, but a mayor and city administration who are also pushing for new density of almost every form in almost every location imaginable (not to mention a certain demographic of civic watchdog and gadfly who like to derisively label any neighborhood advocate nothing more than a selfish "NIMBY"), I'm starting to wonder if even committed city council members will be able to stem the tide.
I sense some really nasty battles coming, and by the time the air starts to clear in 10-20 years, I'm guessing we're going to see a lot of scorched earth in what are now our most appealing neighborhoods. If those neighborhoods and their single family homes even exist by that time. Also, while I'm guessing much of this is still pretty LA-specific, it would not surprise me to see it start spreading soon, as many things do, from this bellwether metropolis to other urban areas around the country.
By Carol Ann Tomlinson, Ed.D, The University of VirginiaSome people suggest that gifted education is just sort of "fluffy" or enriching-gravy on the potatoes, perhaps, but not anything especially substantial or critical in the way of mental fare. Others propose that all gifted education is what's good for all students. Unfortunately, those two criticisms sometimes stem from observing classrooms where gifted learners are taught inappropriately.
An elementary school abolishes homework and parents freak out so much they start creating their own assignments. Yet another case of people not trusting the data (numerous studies show homework in elementary school does not increase test scores or learning).Â
The first time you did it I was ok with it. It had been a long 40 weeks and after a rough labor I had given birth to what appeared to be a naked, nine pound version of Rupert Murdoch.  Something shriveled and bald that couldnât see more than six inches in front of itsâŠ
About six months ago someone stole my child and replaced him with a pre-teen. It's so strange not to have a little kid in the house any more. And yes, this whole child-switching thing would be so much easier if the new models came with instruction manuals.
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools released a report last year titled âSeparating Fact & Fiction: What You Need to Know About Charter Schools,â which takes 21 statements that it calls âmythsâ about charters and attempts to debunk theâŠ
The people most often cited as 'education experts' in blogs and news stories may have the backing of influential organizations - but have little background in education and education policy, a new study suggests.
Are we measuring what we really want to measure in education? A flood of recent research has supported the idea that creative problem solving, oral and written communication skills, and critical thinking, plus social and emotional factors, including grit, motivation, and the ability to collaborate, are just as important in determining success as traditional academics. All of these are largely outside the scope of most standardized tests, including the new Common Coreâaligned tests.
What skills do kids need in order to succeed in school? Most people would no doubt say verbal skills - reading, writing, and speaking - are among the most important skills needed for success. So it seems logical to believe that verbally gifted children be at an advantage since they tend to be good readers and are good with language. Right? It may surprise you, but that may not be right. Verbally gifted children may actually be more at risk for underachievement than many other children.
Pretty much hits the nail on the head for my verbally gifted son.
This is a nice little wrap-up. Â And pretty spot on. Â (Especially the part about the Thanksgiving play. Â I still have the puppet show - puppets, scenery and script - from the Thanksgiving puppet show my best friend and I went ahead and produced when inspired by the much smaller project in our 2nd grade class...48 years ago!)
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