Nancy E. Bailey's Blog, page 47

Public Schools and Texas Priorities

Texas has their share of students in poverty, so why did the Katy Independent School District spend $72.1 million on a new football stadium? Remember a few months ago when we learned how the state had shut students with special needs out of services due to an unlawful cap?  State officials did not seem to […]

Code of Conduct Books and Pasco County’s Kindergarten “Anarchy”

It’s important to pay attention to how discipline will be used in a child’s school. On the first day, a parent might be shocked upon entering their child’s kindergarten classroom to be handed a student conduct code or rule book by a smiling teacher. This book will have all the dos and don’ts involving behavior. […]

Addressing Mental Illness in Children During Trying Times

As schools open their doors for the 2017-2018 school year, it is a good time to discuss students, schools, and mental health. Recently, we learned that suicides have spiked in middle school. Young people are still bullied, often online. Sadly, national and world events can be far more alarming to children than adults might realize. […]

Ignoring Common Core Infomercials: 15 Better Ways to Teach Writing and Self-Expression

New York Times journalist Dana Goldstein, who isn’t a teacher but likes to write about them, recently wrote “Why Kids Can’t Write,” an infomercial for Common Core. A takeaway from the article is that Common Core may not be working to teach writing, but it’s the teacher’s fault. The real danger here, however, is the […]

Real Teaching? Looking Beyond the GAP and Booking.com Ads

Two ads on television need to be discussed because they each send problematic messages to the general public about teaching. GAP Back to School Ad The most recent is a back to school ad by GAP. This ad might seem upbeat, but these actions demonstrate student compliance. If you disagree, ask yourself, how many prestigious […]

“Imploding” Healthcare and Destroying Public Schools and Picnics

That’s the standard technique of privatization: defund, make sure things don’t work, people get angry, you hand it over to private capital. ~Noam Chomsky “Imploding” the Healthcare System is Frightening and Unnecessary When it comes to healthcare, many breathed a sigh of relief. Because of Democrats and three courageous Republicans, it looks like there will […]

Peer Tutoring: When is it Student Exploitation?

How much should children help each other learn? Peer tutoring, or peer-assisted learning, is trendy. Search the literature and it’s all over the place, although much of the research involves peer tutoring in higher education. When does peer tutoring cross the line? How much tutoring should a child do, or get? Is the tutee (child […]

Teaching and Purpose: A Response to Bill Gates and his Purpose Problem

I recently ran across Bill Gates’s blog. He was reviewing Yuval Noah Harari’s book Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow. The title of his post was, “The Purpose Problem: What if People Run Out of Things to Do?” Gates ironically reflects on what it means to have purpose in one’s life. I say ironically, […]

Betsy DeVos Speaks About Special Education!

While parents wonder what will happen to their children with disabilities and their schooling due to the possibility of cuts to Medicaid, we’ve wondered, where’s Betsy? As families try to make sense of the information provided online by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, it would be nice to see DeVos speak out in support […]

Will Medicaid Cuts Mean the Death of Special Education?

The new American Health Care Act (AHCA) will be a disaster for children with special needs. The GOP still doesn’t discuss what those cuts will mean to children with disabilities, even though they appear to be praying awfully hard. Back in May, in a PBS report with Judy Woodruff, correspondent William Brangham told us that […]