Tuesday, September 28, 2010

When Everybody is a Public School Expert is it a Null Set? Take the Test.

The list of experts about public education seems to include almost everyone.   How about you?
See if you can pass this easy test that measures if you are an Educational Expert. You only need to get one right.

1. Are you a national or state level politician hoping to get re-elected or elected in November? You're an expert.
2. Have you ever visited a school to pose for a photo op? You're an expert (and perhaps you got # 1 right too). 
3. Did you make your first million (legally or not) by the age of 30? You're an expert (and perhaps you got numbers 1 and 2 correct).
4. Do you or have you ever hosted a TV show (any will really do)? You're an expert.
5. Are you a mayor or perhaps want to be a major of a town, hamlet, village, or city and think you'd like a crack at running the public schools? You're an expert.
6. Are you a news, TV, or Hollywood celebrity? You're an expert.
7. Are you or have you ever been a CEO of anything or perhaps married to one? You're an expert.
8. Do you have $100,000,000 to give away to a school district or perhaps your favorite charter school? You're an expert.
9. Do you have a degree in education that is honorary only? You're an expert.
10. Have you been teaching for under a year in a charter school somewhere in USA? You're an expert.
11. Did you play school when you were a child and then resist actually teaching as an adult? You're an expert.
12. Have you read a newspaper article about "the crisis in public schooling" in the last month? You're an expert.
13. Do you watch NBC? You're an expert.
14. Do you like to drink tea? You're an expert and could perhaps make a break into politics (see Tea Party. Remember, the education crisis could be your platform).
15. Are you a parent and not an actual public school educator? You're an expert.
16. Are you an educational consultant or technology whiz kid who has never actually taught or did so long ago for a brief amount of time? You're an expert.
17. Have you taken a quick route to the classroom via a summer teaching immersion course and have landed your first teaching job only to find yourself being interviewed about education? You're an expert.
18. Are you a commissioner of education who is formally a lawyer, a politician, and/or a CEO of something? You're an expert.
19. Do you offer commentary on crisis situations on TV (any crisis will do) or in a newspaper column? You're an expert.
20. Are you a columnist, TV Pundit, comic, or super hero? You're an expert.
21. Do you like to use words or phrases like pedagogy, standards-based, or 21st century skills or acronyms like NAEP, RTI, or NCLB, but can't really say what each means in practice? You're an expert.
22. Do you spend a lot of time talking to anyone about the crisis in "public" education, bad teachers &  administrators, and everything going to hell at dinner parties, your corner bar, soccer practice, or at the school bus stop? You're an expert.
23. Is your opinion about public education based on TV shows? You're an expert.
24. Have you never read or participated in any actual educational research? You're an expert.
25. Are you making or hoping to make your first (or second...) million selling your scientifically based research program to a school in need of improvement? You're an expert. 

Bonus Question: Even if you got none of the above correct, you can become an instant expert if you answer yes to the following:

Do you sometimes dream that a superhero (of your choice) is coming to rescue you and your community, and perhaps your country from the evil clutches of public school educators in order for all of you to race, race, race to some elusive top that only the superhero knows? 

Wow, move over Arne Duncan. You could be the next Secretary of Education.

No Lemming Left Behind. Image by Mary Ann Reilly (2009).

2 comments:

  1. The picture grabbed me. I'm not particularly astute at aesthete, so not much to say, but it grabbed me.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good to know. it is part o a series of works I have done , titled: American Bus Stop. Social issues I think we need to slow down to notice.

    ReplyDelete

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