Jeffrey Austin

Coming to a workplace near you

I'm not surprised given some of the folks I've encountered, but I'm absolutely horrified about the harm that they are doing and have done with those views.

EDUCATORS: Education policy that mandates curriculum and legally limits pedagogy in many states, including blue states, is reducing access to books across classrooms and kids are reading way less as a result, which is both sad and dangerous.

NON-EDUCATORS: Shut up and vote blue no matter who.

We are really going to regret the technology we have built.

Realizing as I read Maxine Greene for the first time how unusual it is to read people who study education make the case that teacher autonomy is central to the success of public education’s goals, the most important of which is fostering autonomy in our students.

nces.ed.gov/nationsrepor...

Opinion | Michigan schools need more than Mississippi - Bridge Michigan Higher-level skills are not taught through phonics alone. That’s why improving early decoding isn’t enough to prepare kids for real-world reading and writing.

bridgemi.com/guest-commen...

a cartoon of homer simpson standing in front of a crowd of people with monorail written on the bottom Alt: a cartoon of homer simpson standing in front of a crowd of people with monorail written on the bottom

If we are supposedly basing our policies and success criteria on standardized metrics, Mississippi cooks the books with strict retention policies and the use of "growth data" in 4th grade, but struggles when it can't do that anymore at the secondary level.

It's all a grift!

When we talk about the "Miracle," we should also mention that:

👉MS ranks near the bottom on 8th grade NAEP.
👉MS did not have a Black student score at the advanced level on the 8th grade NAEP.
👉Only 1 in 4 MS 11th graders meet the ACT "readiness" benchmarks.

Why is this a system to emulate?

From Yong Zhao's "What Works Can Hurt," which should be a must-read for governors and legislators making education policy with low expertise, high urgency, and big time corporate lobbying money.

You joke, but there are now “Science of Writing” and “Science of Math” trainings springing up all over the place!

Please let me know how it goes!

I think participating in the process is not only optimistic, but a smart advocacy move.

With friends like these, who needs enemies?

My math colleagues are very nervous watching what happened in literacy sweep over math instruction in our state by many of the same players.

An Open Letter to Governor Healey Why I believe an act "promoting high-quality comprehensive literacy instruction," doesn't.

Everyone should read @rachegabriel.bsky.social's open letter to Governor Healey about when legislation "promoting high-quality comprehensive literacy instruction" doesn't.

rachaelreadingpolicy.substack.com/p/an-open-le...

Maintaining robust public education will require us to hold "blue state" governors and legislators accountable for their crusade to "Make Literacy Technical Again" by turning classrooms over to corporations through curriculum mandates and testing requirements while failing to stand up to censorship.

✅ Core Knowledge Foundation Board Member
✅ "Race to the Top" Advocate
✅ EngageNY Curriculum Developer

Steiner checks so many of the ed reform boxes that many liberals on this site love and say we can't criticize!

I'm reading now!

I did not!

Corporate Dems are undermining the democratic foundations of schooling with legislation cloaked in co-opted notions of "science" and "equity." An unwillingness to hold them accountable because they have a "D" by their name will be the end of public ed.

As always, listen to @mraleosays.bsky.social.

The OP accused me of "not doing a damn thing" to fight censorship and book banning, but I'd argue that those not clued into the state and local conversations are those who are whistling past the graveyard.

A willingness to hold Democrats accountable is critical to academic and intellectual freedom.

Holy cow! You’re spitting BARS tonight! 🔥🔥🔥🔥

🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯

I’m writing about this currently.

Thank you for laying it out like this. People who are not in schools don’t understand the existential threat these laws pose to intellectual and academic freedom. The overt censorship is easier to fight, but what comes in under cover is harder to argue against and stop.