The True Meaning of Independence Day
In the American holiday calendar no day is more significant than the Fourth of July, in which we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. That...
About: Sam Blumenfeld
Posts by Sam Blumenfeld
Hi-Tech Entrepreneurs Seek Golden Opportunities in Education
The recent annual ASU-GSV conference in Scottsdale, Arizona, drew 270 companies, including Google and Microsoft, looking for the next big thing in education. ...
Teach for America Expands Influence in Latin America
Which country has the world’s worst education system? According to the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) tests taken in 2012 by 15-year-olds in 65 countries, the South American...
Seattle Students Resist New Common Core Tests
Nathan Hale High School in Seattle has taken the lead in resisting the new “Smarter Balanced Assessment” Common Core Tests being foisted on the city's high schools. ...
Bellingham, Wash., Adopts Full-day Kindergarten With Common Core
The Bellingham, Washington, school board announced that it has adopted a full-day kindergarten using the Common Core curriculum called HighScope. ...
“College Degree Is No Ticket to Success”
Many students have come to believe that a college degree automatically provides the graduate with an open door to a good-paying job in the student’s field of study. But...
“More Than a Score” Presents the Liberal Case Against Standardized Tests
A leader in the anti-test movement put together a new book on the rebellion, More Than a Score, looking at the issue from a liberal perspective. Odd as it may seem,...
New York Public Schools to Close for Muslim Holidays
New York City Major Bill de Blasio announced that the city's public schools will be closed for two Muslim holy days, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. ...
The Push for Birth to Age Five Education
The public school establishment has long advocated government education to begin at birth in order to expand its control over American children. ...
Conservative Centers Quietly Invading U.S. Universities
Today there are about 150 college centers or institutions devoted to promoting conservative or free market ideas to America’s undergraduates. ...
Fewer Graduates Joining Teach for America
Teach for America was founded to reform American public education with an infusion of idealistic young graduates from our universities who would volunteer to teach in our failing public...
Vaccinations and Parental Rights
Why are so many well-educated parents refusing to have their infants immunized against Hepatitis B, measles, mumps, and rubella (M.M.R.), as well as diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTP)? ...
Community Colleges: Do We Really Need Them?
With President Obama’s proposal to provide the first two years of community college free to qualified students, I was reminded of what I had written about community colleges some...
America’s Math Problem
Since progressive educators decided that rote memorization is a form of child abuse, children are now taught math (formerly arithmetic) with a minimum of memorizing anything. They are now...
The Legacy of Rudolf Flesch
Rudolf Flesch, author of Why Johnny Can't Read, died in 1986, but his legacy endures among those of us who are still fighting to get intensive, systematic phonics back...