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The Emperor's Clothes: Traditional and "Avant Garde" at High Tech High
Abstract: High Tech High is not an empire but it does have an emperor, and that's not all that makes it interesting and fascinating. Read the full case study.
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Learning 2.0: A Summary of Posts and Reports
Abstract: A reference to the Learning 2.0 series of articles and posts.
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The California Virtual Academy
Abstract:
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God's Politics: A Personal Introduction
Abstract: Here's the text of a talk that grew out of reading Jim Wallis' and relating it to the prophets in my own life.
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Can Teachers Run Their Own Schools? Tales from the Islands of Teacher Cooperatives
Abstract: Teacher-run schools are delightful islands, freed from many of the battles that rage around conventional public schools. They are unlikely to constitute the "next" public education, and there are probably significant limits on how fast and far they will grow. Still, they exhibit changes in responsibility and job roles that would have great promise if they were artfully borrowed by district-run schools. This case study visits the Avalon School in St. Paul, MN and schools in Milwaukee as it examines the politics of learning and teaching in unusual ways.
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Disrupting Class The Internet and the End of Batch Processing Teaching
Abstract: A review of the book by Clayton Christensen, Michael Horn, and Curtis Johnson
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Learning from L.A.: Institutional Change in American Public Education
Abstract: Los Angeles serves as a great example of how public education is changing--abandoning an old institution and trying out a new one. Disucssion,links and background material, too.
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For Teacher Unions: Things That Go Bump In The Night
Abstract: Computer networks and organizational networks pose serious threats to conventional collective bargaining arrangements. But the best strategy is to embrace the beasts.
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Teacher Work and Teacher Unionism
Abstract: Teachers are mind workers; they think for a living, and they need unions organized around this proposition. Articles and links to research, including United Mind Workers: Unions and Teaching in the Knowledge Society:
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Firing Bad Teachers? Just You Try
Abstract: The whole system needs an overall. Here are half a dozen points to consider.
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Communities and Schools
Abstract: Communities are more than the context for schooling. They are sources of knowledge about how to make ones way in the society and economy. And parents are rightly seen as first educators as well as advocates. Articles and documents, especially about the Boyle Heights Learning Collaborative in Los Angeles.
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The Relationship Between Teacher Unionism and Educational Quality: A Literature Review
Abstract: In 2003, the National Education Association asked me to review the literature on the relationship between teachers participating in collective bargaining and student achievement. Not surprisingly, the research results tend to reflect the ideological predispositions of the researchers.
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Charter Schools and Collective Bargaining: Compatible Marriage or Illegitimate Relationship?
Abstract: In this article published in the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, (Summer 2007) 30:3, Martin Malin and I examine the legal tradition that supports the industrial definition of teaching work in light of the avowed intent of charter school legislation to crate high performance/high involvement work places. The article concludes that embedding methods of worker representation in the charter itself, instead of in labor law, provides the best mechanism for experimentation and flexibility, which charter schools are supposed to bring to public education.
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Negotiating What Matters Most: Collective Bargaining and Student Achievement
Abstract: In this article in the American Journal of Education, (2007) we argue that negotiating over student achievement ought to be a mandatory part of public school collective bargaining. For teachers to have a labor contract that allocates a substantial part of a school's resources, they should reach agreement on achievement targets.
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Learning From L.A Background Papers
Abstract: Stephanie Clayton, one of the co-authors of Learning from L.A., produced background and briefing papers that were essential to the book itself, and as stand alone reports they provide valuable historical perspective on LEARN, desegregation, and school board elections since 1950.
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A Union of Professionals
Abstract: In this book we show how teaching might be organized around professional rather than industrial principles. The book resulted from an extensive field study supported by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. We followed the progress of 10 school districts that were trying new forms of unionism in the late 1989s and early 1990s. Many of these efforts continue today. Published in 1993 by Teachers College Press.
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Rethinking Labor-Management Relations; It's a Matter of Trust, Or Is It?
Abstract: Improved labor relations are conventionally thought to begin with high-trust relationships. In this paper, we take a somewhat contrary view. We are not opposed to unions and management developing more trusting and collaborative relationships. We believe this would be a good thing. But our experience and research suggest that trusting relationships will not, by themselves, bring about education improvement. More important is a fundamental commitment on the part of both teacher unions and school districts to change both the purpose and the scope of negotiated agreements.
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The Struggle For A Knowledge-Based Work Place
Abstract: Teacher unions in the United States have broken the bounds of industrial unionism, departing from the traditional bounds of "wages, hours and conditions of employment." They are claiming their place as school reformers. But they face stout barriers. Educational politics, the organizations of unions themselves, and the culture of both teachers and school managers push back hard. This paper explores current practices and offers policy alternatives. [Paper first presented at the Society for the Advancement of Socioeconomics, July 2000]
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Peer Review's Advantages for Teachers, Schools, Kids
Abstract: An op-edit column in the Sacramento Bee, January 21, 1999, page B9
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United Mind Workers: Unions and Teaching in the Knowledge Society
Abstract: In this groundbreaking work, the authors make a compelling case for transforming teacher unions into champions of quality schooling. This new model of teacher unions would be organized around issues of quality teaching and professional development, as well as economic fairness. As organizing themselves as knowledge workers, unions can position themselves as leaders in what will surely be a revolution in public education.
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Organizing Around Quality: Examples and Policy Options from the Frontiers of Teacher Unionism
Abstract: Can teachers unions successfully organize around quality? This paper reviews the attempts from some unions that tried and concludes that organizing around quality is possible but difficult. There are substantial organizational, cultural, and policy impediments, not the least of which is the culture of teaching itself. A revised version of the paper has been published as part of a collection of assembled by Tom Loveless. Most pursue an anti-union line; some present an interesting viewpoint.
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Encounters with a Hoosier God
Abstract: This is the first of what will be a series of personal essays. It's about growing up Presbyterian in Indiana.
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William Lowe Boyd
Abstract: To add your remembrance of Bill or a note to Emily and the family.
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Implication of Social Capital for Schools, Communities and Cities
Abstract: Using social capital theory, we discuss the role of schools as agents of community and urban development.
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