Hope on the Board of Ed

Over the weekend, Professor James E. McDermott, former South High and University Park English teacher, current professor at Clark, and, not-so-incidentally, current member of the Massachusetts Board of Education, gave the keynote address at the Western Massachusetts Writing Project. I have, with his permission, posted the whole of his address here. I'd highly recommend the whole thing, particularly for any who have given up on any in Malden having any idea on how education actually functions in a classroom; an excerpt to pique your interest:

Uncommon teachers understand that the MCAS test is misnamed; it is not comprehensive assessment system.
They shake their heads at the Orwellian notion that the MCAS Growth Percentage Profile demonstrates actual growth of a real human being.
Uncommon teachers’ souls often seem way out of sync with educational policy. To them policy seems overly politic, meticulous, cautious, trite, and common– directly in contrast with fantastic learning that requires openness, imagination inspiration, innovation, wonder, whimsy, and wit.

 Thanks for your service, Professor McDermott. You give the rest of us hope.