Teaching & Learning Blog

Living in Dialogue

Anthony Cody spent 24 years working in Oakland schools, 18 of them as a science teacher at a high-needs middle school. A National Board-certified teacher, he now leads workshops with teachers on Project Based Learning. He is the co-founder of the Network for Public Education. With education at a crossroads, in this blog he invited you to join him in a dialogue on education reform and teaching for change and deep learning. This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: education reform.

School & District Management Opinion Six Years Under the Masthead: Farewell to Ed Week
This post marks my last appearance at Education Week, after six eventful years. The summer of 2008 was the beginning of Living in Dialogue,
Anthony Cody, August 3, 2014
4 min read
College & Workforce Readiness Opinion Trouble in Common Core City: Too Many Music Men, Not Enough Librarians
Therefore, the Common Core project itself is also an exercise in fear-mongering about the future of our children, and has its own version of Professor Hill in its chief promoter, Bill Gates.
Anthony Cody, July 29, 2014
3 min read
College & Workforce Readiness Opinion John Thompson: Oklahoma's Chief for Change Barresi in Trouble With Voters
My experience this week helps explain why I believe we must take more time to celebrate our victories. If we can win in Oklahoma, victory is achievable anywhere and everywhere.
Anthony Cody, July 22, 2014
7 min read
Ed-Tech Policy Opinion Paul Horton: Will the Market Destroy Public Education?
Public schools and public teachers have been subjected to a relentless barrage of negative propaganda for almost thirty years. Many corporations want to force open education markets, Microsoft and Pearson Education to name two of the largest, demand "free markets," "choice," and "free enterprise."
Anthony Cody, July 18, 2014
15 min read
Equity & Diversity Opinion John Thompson: Time to Kill the Testing Vampire
My three decades of experiences dealing with the crack and gangs era of the 1980s, and then teaching in inner city schools, taught me to have an even keel.
Anthony Cody, July 16, 2014
7 min read
Equity & Diversity Opinion Questioning Education Reformers' Motives: The Big Taboo
When Lyndsey Layton interviewed Bill Gates a few months ago, she violated one of the major taboos of the education reform discourse.
Anthony Cody, July 13, 2014
6 min read
Education Opinion Response: The Real Story in Camden, N.J.
Laura Waters says that Camden, N.J., is finally addressing the needs of a school system that has failed families for decades.
Guest Blogger, July 11, 2014
4 min read
Equity & Diversity Opinion Paul Horton: The Technocrat's Revolution: Progressivism's Dark Side
Teachers need to wake up and understand that the country's biggest corporations are coming after their jobs. They have little respect for teachers because they want to market products that they think will do a better job than teachers.
Anthony Cody, July 10, 2014
9 min read
Families & the Community Opinion Charter School Networks and Shady Political Dealings: The Camden, N. J. Story
Last week, while many of us were busy making plans for the summer, something much more sinister was happening in the halls of the State Capital in Trenton, N. J..
Anthony Cody, July 5, 2014
9 min read
Standards & Accountability Opinion A Question for Bill Gates: How Can We Motivate Students When Their Futures Are Bleak?
I am trying to make sense of the education reform project, which seems a mass of contradictions. On the one hand, we have a seemingly utopian project with bold pronouncements about the boundless capacity of all students
Anthony Cody, July 3, 2014
7 min read
Standards & Accountability Opinion Gates' Excuse for Poor Results of Educational Technology: "Unmotivated Students"
If there is one thing Bill Gates has been a fan of, it is the role of technology in improving education. But recent comments show he may be starting to see that even technology may not be all powerful. And this leads to some deeper questions about the viability of the entire education reform project.
Anthony Cody, July 2, 2014
3 min read
College & Workforce Readiness Opinion Common Core-Aligned Tests and the New Pearson GED: Failure By Design?
If the pass rates on Common Core tests and the new Common Core-aligned GED plummet, it is because they were designed to do so. If there is an outcome that has been engineered, there must be a reason that outcome is desirable.
Anthony Cody, June 30, 2014
6 min read
Families & the Community Opinion Protesters to Gates Foundation: "Divest from Corporate Education Reform"
Bill Gates has it exactly upside down. The innovators are the classroom teachers. The innovators are the students. The innovators are the people working in the schools creating new things every day.
Anthony Cody, June 29, 2014
6 min read
Standards & Accountability Opinion Michelle Gunderson: Teacher Union Conventions to Debate Common Core
This summer educators around the country will congregate in the political workings of our unions at the AFT and NEA conventions. This is no small business.
Anthony Cody, June 24, 2014
4 min read