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Students for education reform receives donations from Whitney Tilson. Seems like more astroturf.

Please see reason why they updated their website:

http://teacherunderconstruction.com/2012/08/08/sfer-post-3-days-after/

I understand it was a light hearted post, but  I just wanted to point out a few errors Ed people in general tend to make as revealed by Michael Goldstein’s piece.

1. They tend to misread or misunderstand research (Michael Goldstein seemed to imply that his child learned 60% from one TV network and 40% from another. That’s false. His child learned from him and his wife and if that child did watch enough TV to learned more from it than from them, then I’d have reservations about the role Goldstein has in Ed (which I do not. Should I?)). As a result, the competition proposed would reveal nothing about Nick Jr. or PBS Kids and everything about the parenting from both homes. Looks like Goldstein forgot about this).

2. They tend to get the students a little too involved in the discussion (Goldstein wanted to use his child (his child!) to challenge Petrilli’s child to a ‘who knows more stuff’ contest. They’re FOUR! I’m the parent of a four year old I wouldn’t want to involve my kid in any type of competition like that (Could you imagine emotional fallout from losing? Or worse (as is the case with my child): from winning!?  Yikes! My opinion about which TV network is better should have no bearing on my child’s development of her self-concept. Now granted it was (I hope) a joke, but I’m a helicopter parent, as a helicopter parent, I have to look at that joke and recoil with a minor ‘yuk’.

3. They seem to think that the way to determine how smart a child is goes through competition (this is a classic ‘pro-market’ Ed person’s biggest mistake. Here, Goldstein seems to reveal that he would know how much his child knows (and would know which children’s TV network is better) only after some of “I know more than you do!” competition. Competition isn’t the answer. Developing a strong interest and love for learning new things, and then setting clear SWBATS for children entering and exiting each level is. If memory serves, this blog’s previous posts seemed to reflect an interest in clear expectations. I hope Goldstein stays in touch with that).

4. They tend to place too much emphasis on schooling and not enough on parenting when deciding which schools are better or worse (see my first explanation). 

5. They sell Spongebob short (who does that!?!)!! It’s the only show that can bridge multiple generations and still reinforce awesome social and even emotional behavior (schools still do that). The dialogue is witty, the characters are powerfully symbolic (Petrilli and Goldtsein are symbolized by Squidward) and it is quite satirical (our kids do need to be exposed to Satire, no? Well. L. Frank Baum seemed to think so). I invite Mr. Goldstein to check out the episode entitled “Mrs. Puff, Your’e Fired” (season 4) and tell me whether he couldn’t enjoy that with his four year old or not.